I have a 2007 ram 1500 sport quad cab. It has 54,000 miles and bought it used. I'm looking to service everything as preventive maintenance. I just did the plugs and am going to do the trans fluid and filters. Question is, has anyone had a negative experience with any particular filters? I bought mine at Napa along with 8 quarts of napa atf4.

 

I'll say, I regret having my PS and Trans fluid flushed. I did so at 34k miles and my truck hasn't felt right since. Others can chime in more but maybe it just had something to do with Pepboys doing the job. They really ****ed **** up. I've got a 2007 2500 HEMI with 39k miles.

 

Well. Flushes are different than drain and fill. Flushes are not recommended as they actually cause damage to transmissions. I'm simply going to drain, replace the filters and refill with fresh fluid.

 

Im having mine does this friday at my dealer. I already did it once last year but it was by a local mechanic and i have some trust issues now there.

The reason i am going the dealer route and paying a bit more is i know they will use ATF+4 since it's all they have. They also know these trannies have TWO filters that need to be changed. And i don't want to drain whats in the pan, i want ALL the fluid changed. They claim they can do this without using a flush. They apparently just pump new fluid in till the old fluid comes out clean.

 

I bought my filters from AZ and replaced all 17 qrts in my trans with Royal Purple ATF Max. I havent had any issues. A good thing to do while you have the pan down though is to add flat magnets inside the pan and add a drain bolt.

 

Scff,

When it comes to fluid filters I would recommend the Mopar filters, especially for the trans.

 

Any particular reason why? I have the napa filters. Just want to know if there's any problems with them. I've seen some here use the wix filters and have problems

 

Scff,

All the forums I follow have threads on transmission fluid changes and filters. I have found many posters complain about aftermarket filters of one brand or the other regarding how they fit and their performance. I am not saying that there may not be other good manufacturers out there as I am sure there are, and I am not on here to just push Mopar parts, but when it comes to fluid filters on your vehicle I believe that using OEM parts is the best idea.

While you may or may not be under warranty, the last thing you want if you are under warranty or service contract is for your trans to fail and when the dealer takes a look, they find an aftermarket filter that does not fit correctly. Again, I am not saying all aftermarket filters don't fit correctly, as I am sure many do, I am just indicating from my experience that there are many complaints about them. There are also many complaints about many Chrysler parts but filters are not one of them. So why risk it?

 

While Chris B.has a natural bias (and he should), I have found that the service stations that I trust in my area are utilizing more and more oem parts. Since I'm getting on in years and doing less and less of my own work, I take my vehicles in more often. They have explained that since they have to stand by their work, they have had better luck with parts engineered by the manufacturer. This does not mean that if you are upgrading or looking for specific performance improvements, you should stay with oem since better parts and supplies can be found.

 

Pepboys sucks. They pay $8/hr so you get crap mechanics if you'd even call them that?
Theres nothing wrong with a natural flush. It does not impede transmission performance or cause damage. I just dont understand why guys think this??
A natural flush is different than a chemical type power flush(backflush in most instances which is bad)
I've flushed hundreds of cars, NEVER NOT one problem.
Drain and fill is fine at 54kmi, but I would do a flush.to stay ahead of the game.

A natural flush lets the trans pump work as it should and pumps the fluid out of the trans itself.(which is through the filter the normal way) If you are doing preventative maintenance, then your fluid should be fairly clean and there is no downside in doing this.
I think the problem people have is they wait too long and then get hooked up to an old flushing machine that either is internally dirty or uses pressure to flush the fluid through. I unhook the return line and let the trans pump out the fluid itself. It's totally harmless.

I too would use Mopar filters and gasket. If the ATF+4 was anything more than $6/qt, I would use Mopar fluid as well.