Just had my truck in for an oil change at the dealer. While it was in they called and told me my transmission fluid was bad and needed to be exchanged. My truck has 35k, the service manual states for normal operations the fluid needs to be changed at 120k, and in severe operations (taxi, police, fleet, towing) the fluid needs to be changed at 60k.

My thoughts are that if the fluid is already bad there must be an issue with the transmission and they need to find out what it is and change the fluid while they are at it. The dealer is saying that they will inspect the transmission but if they don't find anything wrong I need to pay for the fluid ($200).

My truck is not abused and I regularly take it to this dealership for maintenance. They are saying that if they don't find anything wrong the problem is with the way I drive my truck and it is a maintenance item not covered under warranty. And if I don't change it now my warranty could be voided if my transmission fails in the future.

This seems wrong to me and was wondering if anybody else has been threatened with a voided warranty if they don't changed their fluid earlier than the recommended time.

 

Dustin,

I sent you a PM on this.

 

Sounds like they are trying to screw you over like most of the dealers by me. I really wonder sometimes why they have a 5 star rating, after dealing with my local dealer as much as I have had to, I will not be buying another Chrysler product.

 

Did they say BAD or suggested servicing due to? Read the owners manual maintance section. Now if its dark and burned looking thats different. If you have been stuck,towing heavy or off roading its maintance on you. All stores Chrysler to Mercedes are run similar.

 

The service manager said it was dark and needed to be exchanged. I tow a small boat (3k lbs) maybe 1k miles a year but even the owners manuals states that even with severe operation fluid does not need to be changed unit 60k.

 

Thats right.

 

Change the engine oil and engine oil filter.
Replace the engine air cleaner filter.
Replace the ignition cables (3.7L Engine).
Replace the spark plugs (3.7L and 5.7L Engines).
Lube the front drive shaft fitting (2500/3500 (4x4) models only).
Inspect the brake linings; replace if necessary.
Change the automatic transmission fluid and filter if using your vehicle for any of the following: police, taxi, fleet, or frequent trailer towing.
Change the transfer case fluid if using your vehicle for any of the following: police, taxi, fleet, or frequent trailer towing.
Flush and replace the engine coolant at 60 months if not done at 102,000 miles (170 000 km).
Inspect the front suspension, tie rod ends and boot seals for cracks or leaks and all parts for damage, wear, improper looseness or end play;

 

For years it was recommended at 30k. New era and fliuds are much better. I'll do mine at 60k. Fluid changes color. Dosen't mean its bad. You could send a sample to Blackstone labs.http://www.blackstone-labs.com/

 

Agreed..

The goal in developing ATF+4 was to create a fluid that would match the performance characteristics of the current fluid (Type 7176D), but would retain those characteristics for at least 100,000 miles. The paper specifically notes that the anti-shudder properties of ATF+3 are usually degraded enough by 30,000 miles to cause noticeable shudder.
Contrary to popular myth, one of the stated goals of Type 9602/ATF+4 fluids was that it would have the same frictional characteristics as ATF+3. The paper explicitly states that this was because new clutch materials would not be introduced for this fluid and it had to be backwards compatible with ATF+3. Graphs in the paper show that the friction coefficient of fresh ATF+3 and ATF+4 is essentially identical, but as the fluid ages ATF+4 retains the “as new” coefficient while ATF+3 degrades.

http://www.allpar.com/mopar/transmissions/fluids.html

 

Unless you were abusing the truck off road and heavy hauling or towing your fluid should not be bad.

The service manager said....... Take a look at it yourself, it should be pink in color maybe a little darker and should have a petroleum smell to it and not a burnt smell which I would associate with bad fluid. The trans dip stick is on the passenger side of the truck.

And when you tow your boat again, watch your trans temp on your "evic" and make sure it doesn't go to the hot side especially in the mountains on a hot day.

If everything looks good and smells ok go back to the service dept and ask them to show you the problem while standing next to your truck.