Going to change the tranny fluid in my 2009 Ram Hemi. Just wondering if anybody is familiar with, or is using, a full synthetic alternative to ATF +4?

 

ATF+4 is a fully synthetic fluid.I would not use anything other than that. It will void your warranty if you still have it.

 

+1
Todays automatic transmissions are very picky about the fluid used in them and the 545rfe is no exception. I laugh when i hear people goin out and buying 120 bucks worth of amsoil because it says on the bottle it works with almost any transmission... Not true. Amsoil along with many others is actually too slippery and over time causes premature clutch failure. Just ask the guys that are putting 1000+ ft. lbs through their stock 1-ton diesel tranny's. The only stuff you should ever put in there is the Mopar ATF+4.

My 2 cents.

 

In the 46RE transmissions, which are not quite as sturdy as your guys' newer 545RFE units, ATF+4 or Amsoil seem to work fine. Amsoil is the ONLY fluid I'd consider besides ATF+4. Only reason I speak up about Amsoil is that we had a transmission technician speak up about it once, said the Amsoil kept the tranny in one of his customer's trucks (customer's choice of fluid) as clean as any ATF+4.

However, I would still do ATF+4, if nothing else because its cheaper than Amsoil and that way you are taking no chances, warranty or otherwise.

 

Check out this Chrylser web site about ATF-4 fluids.

http://www.centerforqa.com/home.html

Jay

 

There are a LOT of licensed ATF 4 manufacturers out there - it should never be a problem getting the right stuff.

 

I've used Amsoil trans fliud in several vehicles including a 1998 Dodge 1500 truck for 200,000 miles. If any doubts call Amsoil tech line. I think that TOO SLIPPERY is bunk. Lots of Amsoil,Mobil, Royal Purple,Redline Atf being used. Get on the oil sites where theres lots of talk on the subject. I had a engineer with one of the big transmission high performance parts suppliers(TCI) tell me to always run a full high end synthetic to maintain long trans life. He pushed Mobil 1 and Amsoil. www.amsoil.com Call their tech line,its free and question them on the matter.

 

I know there is no problem getting "the right stuff", but I'm always interested in finding "the best stuff". For example, I have a BMW 7-series and the transmission uses a "lifetime" fluid...a semi-synthetic product made by Esso. The car doesn't even have a tranny dipstick. Dire warnings if you use anything but the BMW branded fluid that is about $25 litre in Canada. I did my research, and found that among other options, Petro Canada makes a full synthetic transmission fluid that meets the BMW spec (not "approved" by BMW of course). I should also mention the tranny is a very expensive ZF unit. Anyway, I've done two tranny fluid and filter changes using the Petro Canada fluid (which is about 1/3rd the cost of the BMW stuff...although cost wasn't my concern....I prefer full synthetic to semi.). My car is a '99 and still has the original transmission working smooth as silk after 320,000 km.

With respect to my Ram, I just wondered if there was anything that might be superior to the ATF-4 but from what I've been reading it is a fully synthetic and appears to be a very good fluid.

 

I'm not so sure its FULLY synthetic. Weird way my first thought to full synthetic over lesser oils/trans fliuds is PRICE. You can get/find ATF+4 that is made by many company's. Some of it is way down in price. Only place its expensive is the Dodge dealer. Thats not the case with FULL synthetic, high mileage oils. The ones designed for lots of miles are never inexpensive anywhere. Need to find the truth,facts if ATf+4 is really a full synthetic. I sure like the way over the years that vehicles I owned shifted compared to the factory fliud using Amsoil Universal ATF.

 

I believe being synthetic is a part of the ATF+4 specification.

Rob