Auto Tranny Filter Predicament

Maintenance/Repairs
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1

First post. Thanks for having me.

Allow me to start off by making a full confession. This is partly my fault… through procrastination, greed, and stubbornness.

OK… I have a 2007 Jeep Liberty Sport 2wd. It had a 3.7L Powertech V6 and a 4 spd auto transmission. I bought it new, and have accumulated 146,000 miles on it since that time. It has been a fantastic car. Literally, I have done nothing but routine maintenance on this thing. Oil & filter ever 5 or 6k. air filter when it needs it. Tires rotated every 20,000 miles. (I squeezed 80,000 miles out of these tires that Goodyear would not put a mileage warranty on.) Spark Plugs every 50k miles… I’ve been great to the car, and It’s been great to me.

That said, I haven’t been so great. After owning it for a year, I noticed that it had no transmission dip stick. There was simply a cap on the tube that said “DEALER USE ONLY”. I googled it numerous times, only to read that Chrysler feels as though normal folks, such as myself, are too dumb to replace a filter and a few quarts on ATF, so they’d rather do it for us… at the tune of $250 a pop. I’m a cheap-skate and I’m hard-headed. No way would I pay that for a filter and four quarts of ATF. I could not abide that. To make matters worse, Jiffy Lube type places flat refused to touch it. My blood has boiled over a few times about this.

By the time the issue was no longer new to the national lube places like Jiffy and Coleman Transmission, I had 100,000 miles on it. Now they had the special MOPAR dip stick and had performed this magical task several times, and they were willing to give it a whirl… except for the fact that it had 100,000 miles on it. I was told twice that since I had racked up so many miles on it, I’d better leave it alone. “Disrupting the transmission at this point would be fatal.”

Now with 146,000 miles, they would definitely repeat their line.

Hindsight being 20/20, I should have just sent a nasty email to Jeep and gave them the $250.

My question is, am I sitting on a ticking time bomb? If I get a dipstick from an older model and change the filter and fluid myself, will I really be killing it?

Thanks,
DangerousDIY

2

There have been a couple of different mopar dipsticks, for your transmission. NAG1, I believe. Make sure you get the correct one for your specific vehicle. I’d buy it from the dealer, just to be 100% certain.

Then you can change the fluid, filter and gasket yourself. Buy the correct fluid, filter, gaskets from the dealer. If the torque converter has a drain plug, drain it as well. Also get the sealing washers for the 2 drain plugs. If so, you’re looking at 8 or 9 quarts, I’d say

Those shops you mentioned, they’re worried that your transmission has its best days behind it, and it may be due for overhaul by now. To be specific, they’re worried if they service it, and it fails 1 month later, you’ll be blaming them. They won’t service it, but they’ll be more than happy to overhaul it

Whatever you do, don’t use generic multi-purpose fluid

By the way, your transmission is actually a rebadged Mercedes-Benz unit. You can blame them for the lack of a dipstick. All the various Benzes that used the transmission, also never had a dipstick, just the empty tube. Benz initially also said the fluid was “lifetime fill” . . . but they got wise after a few years and specified a replacement interval. It was an oddball number, 39000 miles, perhaps

3

I would just have the dealer change the fluid and filter. Usually around $90. That way you get the correct fluid and filter.

4

Thank you very much. That all sounds like solid advice.

Now let me throw out another question:

When I purchased this Jeep, I bought the fabled “unlimited mileage warranty” that they were pitching back in those hard times. It is still in force, because I made certain that my wife took it to the dealer on our 5 year purchase anniversary. To sum it up, the warranty is supposed to cover the engine, transmission, and the rear axle. To keep it simple, they said that “if has oil or fluid in it, it’s covered for life”.

I’ve always said that it’d take a Johnny Cochrane class lawyer to get them to honor their warranty due to the fact that I changed the oil myself every single time.

About a year ago, I noticed minor weeping around the tail of the tranny where the slip-yoke protrudes. It’s just enough trans fluid to show you that the seal has failed.

Should I drop by the stealership and have it inspected and point out the weeping fluid and demand that they fix it under warranty? Do you think they’d raise cane about my lack of fluid & filter change?

5

If it’s covered have it done. If not still have it done. No dipstick and a leak means trouble.

6

I’ve had 2 different dealers quote the job. both called it $250 spot on. Maybe they’ve softened up a bit?

I do know that the years prior to 2007 model had dipsticks, but I was told that the dipstick tubes were different lengths.

7

Cheap insurance for your peace of mind.

8

I like the “Mopar Parts & Fluid Only” mentality. I also have an F150. She only gets Motorcraft parts & fluids.

But I must confess, the jeep likes Motorcraft oil, filters, and spark plugs. It makes me feel like a cheater.

9

Mtc is cheap. Repairs are expensive. Keep up what your doing and you’ll get many more miles out of her. Just remember car payments are $500 bucks a month. That makes $250 seem cheap.

10

Roger that!

Too bad the wife has been eyeing the new Wrangler 4-Doors. GGGRRRRR there goes $30k. I’m holding out as long as I can.

Thanks for the good advice, guys. I’ll keep you posted.

11

No offense intended to anybody . . . I think those 4 door Wranglers are ugly

12

The part that I take exception to is the bit about changing the fluid on a high miles transmission is the kiss of death for it. The fresh fluid is not the cause if a problem surfaces later; it’s that the transmission was on borrowed time anyway from not changing the fluid/filter to begin with.

13

I concur.
about the ugly wrangler, that is.

14

I do believe you, ok4450, but I tell you, It runs great. It just rides my conscience.

15

“Disrupting the transmission at this point would be fatal.”

Any repair shop that tells you that is run by morons.

16

If the trans is shifting well now I’d have it serviced hang the cost and theoretically speaking the trans should last the remaining life of the vehicle; knock on wood.

For what it’s worth, I absolutely hate transmissions with no dipsticks; along with a number of other modern “improvements”.
My preference is for a quick check of the fluid now and then and knowing for a fact that level is full and if the fluid is turning dark which can be a sign of looming problems.