I am thinking about changing the tranny fluid and the filters in my 2004 Ram. Is there any special tools that I will need or will basic stuff do it? Also how hard are the filters to change. I am going to put Royal Purple ATF in it, then all my fluids in the truck will be Royal Purple. Any thoughts?

 

I changed mine earlier this year, and used Amsoil ATF. Transmission shifts better and runs cooler.

You may want to pick up a couple plastic drop cloths, cuz it's going to get messy. Also, make sure you have a large drain pan. There are two filters in the transmission; one is the sump filter and you will need to install a new seal for it BEFORE you install the sump filter; the other is a spin on. There's no gasket from the factory, so you will want to pick up a tube of High temp RTV. Make sure to thoroughly clean out the pan, and make sure there's no fluid on the sealing surface of the pan or the transmission. Let the RTV setup for a few hours before adding any fluid. If you plan to flush out the torque converter, you'll need a special tool to disconnect the cooler line.

Here's a link from a guy that did his, and it's very thorough. If the pics don't show up, there's a link on the site to download a pdf.

http://www.60ateight.com/DodgeRam/

Good luck.

 

Good stuff, thanks for the info mazz. Sounds like it will be a fun project.

 

Wow he broke off two bolts, he must have been really cranking down on them.

 

May I ask you how you adjusted the fluid level ?

According to the service manual, the bottom two dots on the dipstick are for COLD fluid (70F) and the top two for HOT fluid (180F). However, in my case, impossible to get the fluid hot to the touch, just warm, so I am somewhere between 70F & 180F but don't know exactly where.

This is a problem because the difference between the two levels (COLD & HOT) is about 1.5-2" on the dipstick ... So risk of either overfilling it or not filling it enough ...

The best way is to read the temperature with a DRB scan tool but I don't have one ...

Any tips ?

Thanks.

 

check it when the fluid is cold. Then you dont have to worry about the top dots.