Hey guys, been a lurker of this forum for awhile but ehh finally decided to join and get my hands dirty.

So to business, I have a 2005 Quad Cab 4.7 4x4 automatic w/ 79k on it. Its my first vehicle, I bought it used in 2006 with 21k on it, and jeez the girl has taken care of me through moving, and a couple changes in duty stations.

Anyways ive kept up as far as I can tell with the maintenance pretty well, but im starting to think a few shops I went to and dumped out a decent amount of cash isn't really doing squat.(probably for the peace of mind that I was paying attention to it, rather than the work itself)

So as of now, the honest to god only issue with my truck is a small shift in how it runs, the idle seems a pinnnnnnch stressed periodically, and where i used to do 75mph ish at 16rpm.. now is about 19-21. Trans fluid looks like it could use a little add, and im thinking the last time I got it serviced they probably just screwed me. So now im just gonna "drop the pan" and try it myself..It doesnt look too hard, researched enough online, and noticed the pan is very accessible. I just dont know filter n fluid( atf4 for the type I believe, but how much?).

Im about to PCS to Hawaii and mainly I just want to take the time n keep the truck running at its best running strong like it has been for years.

Also I bought 4 alpine speakers and a head unit to replace, I can not stand having 40 CDs and a fm transmitter for my mp3 player.. was curious if anybody had a preference on best way to do the wires with a new harness, thanks. -Aaron

 

Welcome and congrats on Hawaii. What branch are you in? I'm in the AF. As for the tranny fluid change make sure you get mopar filters and I would use mopar fluid as well. I tried royal purple and it was shifting really hard out of 1st so I changed back to mopar fluid and it fixed that problem. Make sure you get the sealant for the pan it's not a seal like I thought it was but it's RTV. The dealership has it for about $5 a tube and it'll only take about half the tube to seal the pan. It's pretty easy to change everything the only hard part I found was getting to the back bolts on the pan. They are right above the cross member and it makes it a pain to get to them, but it's very doable. It will cost you about $150 for everything. I would do it at the hobby shop on base. $5 an hour for the lift and there will be guys there that can help if need be. As for the radio stuff I don't know cause I still have my stock one. but someone will chime in here soon with some info.

 

150? where do you get that number from? the fluid, filter and rtv is maby 60$ depending on what kind you get.

dont forget to toque your bango bolts.

 

Hey thanks for the reply. Im Army. I went into Advanced Auto and asked what I needed for a "drop the pan" change. Ended up walkin out with 7xCastrol ATF+4 and a Pro-King Automatic Transmission Filter Kit, of which has a gasket that looks about like my trucks pan size. What im worried about is researching online I see some people mention there are 2 filters you should change. The guy that pulled this up in the computer and pulled it from the back was like " oh its allllllll there man" , and opening it up im sure I should use some type of adhesive on the gasket, already this guy mine as well be a window licker in my eyes. At least the oil says certified on chysler vehicles

 

yes there are two filters. one looks like a regular transmission filter, the other resembles an oil filter. they do make gaskets for these transmissions. Aamco put one on when I had mine serviced.

 

I'll leave the tranny question to the other experts here.

For the Radio I recommend investing in a stereo wire harness and aftermarket radio antenna adapter.

Here is for the wiring harness:
http://www.amazon.com/Stereo-Harness.../dp/B000KL0JO6

Here is for the antenna adapter:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...d_i=B000KL0JO6

For the price it will save you a lot of time from slicing wires and if you ever decide to put the old radio back in it's plug and play and you are done.

Good Luck and Welcome to Forums.

BTW I am ex-Navy and I loved port calls in Hawaii.

 

keithhud - haha I actually bought both of those, from amazon ..as well as the 2005 dakota dash kit... with a Alpine CDE-100 head unit and new front/back SPE-6000 speakers.The wire harness is the only thing I dont have in the mail yet, so im just trying to get a good grasp of what im doing before that "whoops" flys out.

Jkeaton- I believe im good on the transmission filter + gasket.. I just need to make sure I have the right adhesive, which im sure is very simple. Any ideas on where I could find the filter that looks like a mini oil filter? I figure as long as im doing it, mine as well do all I can and maybe learn something for next time.

rapta- I gotta agree with ya man, so far for all the fluid, filters, speakers, stereo and harness I havent touched 300 yet. So at least I have some motivation to keep learning here.
Thanks guys for the quick responses, it looks like I gotta work the next 4 days and the post shop is closed until Jan 2nd anyway, hopefully by then ill know everything I need to.

 

I would go to the dealer on the filters. aftermarket filters wreak havoc on these transmissions. post up some pictures of your truck....

 

I haven't checked at any dealers, Ya I bought the truck in VA but im currently stationed in MD, ill call around a few of the dodge dealers in the area and see if I have any luck, thanks for idea. As for pictures, id feel a little outta place seein you guys all have nice adds to your truck.. man it really is a stock black quad cab SLT 2005 model, all the little projects I could think of before I joined the army I didnt have the extra $$$ or the confidence to dive in. Lately looks like thats all about to change though, wouldnt mind a lift kit and a bed cover/shell.

 

this is what you need:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/07-08-09-10-...item4cebb82aec