Here is a list of Authorized ATF+4 namebrands. Notice Amsoil, RP & Redline aren't on there....

http://centerforqa.com/licensedatf4brands.html


Just so you are aware...... "Manufacturers can make ATF+4 fluids, but to use the trademarked ATF+4 name in their compatibility list, they must have their fluids tested and licensed by Chrysler engineers, and must use Lubrizol in their formulations. Licensed fluids are periodically sampled from stores to assure quality"....allpar

The whole idea and planning behind ATF+4 was for backwards compatability as well as to meet frictional coefficient requirements of newly designed clutch materials to prevent shudder.

 

That's all I meant, just use a good ATF+4 like Nothin'_but_trucks said in an earlier post.......don't use "house" fluids.
Al.

 

At the cost of 17 qrts or Royal Purple ATF Max, I cant afford to flush my system and put all new oil in it. Its cheaper for me to change the pan. LOL

 

OK, I've got both filters, the seal, pan gasket, and some gasket silicon stuff. And 17 quarts of ATF +4. Do you recommend running ALL the oil out through the return line at the start or just 7 quarts or so to make sure the pan is empty?

I figure that if I run 7 out, drop the pan, change the filters, clean and reinstall the pan, put 4 or 5 in, I can then pump some more and maybe backfill as I run the stuff through until the new fluid shows up at the return line and then shut it down, close everything up, get it almost full, warm it up good, and top off the transmission as needed. That way, I'll always have some oil in the transmission, or at least in the torque converter.

Am I risking mixing the old and new this way, and not getting as good a flush? I'd just as soon get all the old stuff out and start fresh.

Or am I being too **** here - I'm thinking that if I run it all out at the start, I'll have a transmission with little lubrication. Of course, I won't be driving anywhere like that (not that I could) so the friction isn't going to be much of an issue. And it's just turning at idle and there will still be a little fluid "hanging" around.

 

you want to empty the pan first. Then drop it. Once you get the new filters back in and it's all sealed up, you then re-fill the pan with 7qts of new fluid and continue the flush until the pan is empty. Then add 7 more qts and flush again. You want to keep flushing until the fluid that is coming out of the return line looks like new fluid and then you'll want to re-connect the return line and fill your pan to it's appropriate level.
If you leave the return line hanging into a bucket, you will essentially flush out 95% of the old fluid. There will be some minor mixing, but if you flush 7qts at a time, the likelyhood will be less. If you only flush 3 or 4qts at a time, then you will end up mixing new/old fluid more than doing 7 or even overfilling it with 8qts at a time.
The fact that the return line stays disconnected means you won't be recirculating old fluid back into the pan and the only way the new fluid and old fluid will have minor mixing will be within the TC.
You'll do the intial flush to empty the pan and then 2 more flushes of 7wts each and then a 3rd of just a few qts until the old fluid turns bright red. I like to "waste" a few qts when doing this. By this I mean I let an extra 2 or 3 qts of new fluid come out of the return line to ensure the new fluid gets as much of the old out as possible.
This is the same procedure that the shops use except they have a machine they hook up to catch all the fluid.

Long story short...Leave the return line disconnected for the ENTIRE flush. You'll want to shut the truck off between flushes. DON't re-install the line and let the fluids all mix together. It would defeat the entire purpose. You can do this hot or cold. I prefer a cold engine so the fluid isn't scorching hot to deal with. Makes no diff hot or cold until you button everything back up and get your final top-off AFTER the return line is reconnected.

 

Thanks for the clarification. Will 17 quarts be enough? Fortunately, I have 2 cars so I can go out and get more if needed. I will make sure I don't block the other one in when I start this in the morning!

When the shop did my Escape (no filter, just fluid), they tapped right into the cooler line, pushing fluid out towards the transmission while taking in the old stuff in the other side. They did basically the same thing, when they saw the bright red fluid being drawn out, they stopped the process and put everything back together. Took about 5-10 minutes but they had the machine. And, I'm sure that that little auto is a lot smaller than the one on the Dodge.

 

is there a gasket on some models as well, the tutorial I posted said nothing about a gasket, kust use the RTV ( silicon stuff ^^ ) as the gasket ???? I'm totally confused now

and 2 nd question which one is the return line the top or bottom of the cooler ??

 

OK, my filter came with a transmission pan gasket, but I used a small amount of RTV on the pan side anyway, along with the gasket.

Return line is on the bottom.

Job is messy. I will report more later.

 

All right, a few more details for the flush/fill/filter job. I used basically Dirtydog's procedure, but I also printed out the instructions in post #9 as a guide.

First, taking apart the return line is really easy with the proper tool - once you figure out how to use it. Like the link back in post #9, I attached a tube to the metal tube coming out of the cooler and ran it directly down to my drain pan.

As luck would have it, I had a clear plastic tube which ended up fooling me into thinking that it was finished pumping because I saw air gaps in the flow. It wasn't done pumping, which I found out when I loosened the pan and got a little shower of transmission fluid. I quickly retightened a bit, then restarted the truck and let more flow out until it REALLY sputtered. This emptied most of the fluid out of the pan, as it was supposed to do.

For some strange reason, my filter kit came with a gasket as well as the seal. I used it, but I still put some "gorilla snots" (RTV) on the pan side once I had cleaned it off. Just a small bead to fill in the grooves that are on the lip of the pan, and a tiny amount around the bolt holes.

Make sure that you don't forget to put the magnet back in. I'll say it again - don't forget to put the magnet back in BEFORE you put the pan on. I remembered mine, right after I torqued down all the pan bolts. I'm glad it had a gasket because I had no problem removing all but one side so that I could drop the magnet back in the pan and then retorqued the bolts.

It's a messy job - my experience with transmissions is that they're always messy. Wear old cloths. The advice to put down cheap drop-cloth plastic is a good idea. I didn't, so I'll be scrubbing the garage floor with laundry detergent soon (this cuts the grease so you can just hose and squeege it after mopping - use cheap powdered detergent so you can sprinkle it around).

Found a fair amount of gunk clinging to the magnet when I dropped the pan. I expected this, since the truck had been towing some pretty heavy loads. I don't know what a normal amount is, so I can't say whether it's worse or better than average.

Not much else to say - I went through 15 quarts, the output was looking clean so I stopped dumping. Truck seems to operate properly so far. Had a little excess in the pan when all was done, so I took a little hand pump and pulled out about a pint through the dipstick tube. I don't know what the downside is to overfilling, but it says not to overfill right on the dipstick. One must always heed the warning of the dipstick!

 

Does this mean I MUST use RTV silicone when dropping the pan? Can't I just use the rubber gasket that comes with many aftermarket filter kits?