Last week, the hose that's by the radiator popped off when I was driving. Lost probably all of the fluid. Walked to Walmart at 3am and they didn't have ATF+4, so since I was stuck I put in plain ATF.

I've heard people saying to not get trannys flushed. But considering what's in it now, should I get it done or would just a change work?

It's an 01 Ram with 115k miles.

 

The +4 is a friction modifier, so yea you need it. I would think that if you haven't logged a lot of miles on that change, then a simple drain and refill with the right fluid would work. I know of some people that add a friction modifier to a regular atf or a dex mec and they claim it's the same as using ATF+4, but I have seen no proof to back it up and no ill comments.

At this point, I would say just change it.

Flushing is usually considered a no no on an older trans just for the fact that the procedure has a good chance of freeing some gunk that would be better left where it was. Clogging up the filter and then things go to hell.

 

You can remove all the tranny fluid, by disconnecting the inbound line from the cooler and putting it into a large bucket. Crank engine and put tranny in neutral and add fluid from the top until you get the right amount out .

 

the same thing happened to me (line popped off and lost fluid)...

But you need to flush and put atf+4 in it...make sure you secure the line good as well...for after i replaced with a new line, it blew off again, so i got fuel lin clamps,and its held up since...

 

I hate when that happens, I dumped 6 qts in the street one time, walked up to a gas station and blew $50 on new fluid.
The quick connect of the tranny line apparently malfunctioned, and I made a new line to get rid of the check valve ,, Which I'd advise you do if you haven't already.

I'd drop the pan, let it drip for hours, and refill with the proper fluid.
Yeah, you'll still have a couple quarts of the old stuff, I don't think that would be much of a factor.

 

To add to Laramie about the friction in ATF4....our trannys have a tendency to overheat and die (what happens in 90% of our trannys) and ATF4 helps reduce friction, thus keeping the tranny cooler. Putting in atf3 its going to be overheating...it may not die right away, but each mile you drive with that fluid, its taking many miles off your tranny life.

 

Well, ATF 3 was what was recomended for our transmissions, but it was replaced with ATF +4. It's supposedly a little better in Chryat's eyes, hell they still use it in the new rams.

There is a reason why our transmissions overheat. It's not because of the mechanics of the transmission at all, but rather, a little check ball on the inline going to the cooler. It gums up, and usually sticks closed. When this happens, the transmission itself begins to super heat. The fluid begins to blacken- hence why that's the first thing we ask a person when they proclaim transmission issues. Then the clutch plates slip, and after that, things start getting welded in place and you're out about $2,000.

 

Same thing happened to me. While you're at it, do a check valve delete. Since I've done mine, it stopped leaking because the line pressure went down. Here's a DIY;

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...ve-delete.html

 

question about check valve...i dont know if PO did it, but mine does not look like any of the pics in that write up...i have a rubber line going into the radiator spout. do they come stock like this?

 

same thing happened to me the other day, except i called wifey to take me to walmart where i bought all the ATF+4 they had (9 qts).

+1 on remove check valve, fix hose with universal hose and double clamps.
pump out all old fluid with truck running and in neutral, you'll be amazed at how quickly this occurs.... shut off truck immediately when it stops pumping. at this point most of the fluid is out except for what's below the pickup level. i'm not sure how much that is. you could quit now and refill, or add in about 3-4-5qts ATF+4 and pump it out again, then refill with about 9 or 10 qts ATF+4 and you should be fine.

take care in refilling to get the lowest point of the lowest side up to the max. it seems to just keep swallowing fluid forever and the level doesn't change... check fluid with engine running and in neutral. walmart has a nice little red funnel that sticks in the pickup tube with an elongated pouring in hole.