posted 10-11-2003 07:57 PM                  

Question to Valvoline:

quote:

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Does Valvoline make the factory fluid for Chrysler? If so, is it the same material that Valvoline packages as "MaxLife"?

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Answer from Valvoline:

quote:

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I do not know for sure if Valvoline does the ATF+4 for Chrysler. If this was the case, it would not be the exact same formulation as the Max-Life since the Max-Life can also be used for other applications.

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-GRROWL

posted 10-12-2003 01:23 AM                  

QUESTION???

1. Are you going to do a pan drop, new filter, and refill to mix with the old fluid?

OR

2. Are you going to do a complete drain of all of the old fluid and replace with new? This procedure does not usually involve pulling the tranny pan and installing a new filter.

posted 10-12-2003 07:40 AM                  

quote:

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Originally posted by ALLEY CAT:
QUESTION???
1. Are you going to do a pan drop, new filter, and refill to mix with the old fluid?
OR
2. Are you going to do a complete drain of all of the old fluid and replace with new? This procedure does not usually involve pulling the tranny pan and installing a new filter.

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Short answer: It's best to do both a filter change and a complete fluid change (BTW, that's more than a drain).

My situation: For the first one, I'm probably going to do a complete fluid change.

Long answer: It is REALLY a LONG answer, I'll just start the discussion here.

First, did your car come with ATF+3 or ATF+4? I'm going to continue here out of the 2000 Owner's Manual that came with GRROWL. It specifies that only ATF+4 be used under the following schedules:

Normal Service: 100,000 miles, no filter change, 50% fluid replacement (drain and replace 4 quarts out of an 8 quart capacity)

"Schedule B": 48,000 miles, same 50% fluid change as above AND replace filter. (It should also be noted that under this Schedule, the differential fluid should be changed at 45,000 miles, but that's a completely different subject).

In my particular situation, I will be changing twice the amount of fluid (all versus half) at half the required mileage (48,000 vs. 100,000), so I guess I'm exceeding the recommended maintenance by 400%. I feel safe and secure. Filter change can wait until the scheduled 100,000 miles, when I'll do the second fluid exchange.

Actually, I'm hoping that within the next year, Chrysler will come out with ATF+5. That will have the effect of making ATF+4 "old news" and maybe it'll be more widely available.

Once we figure out what fluid to use (right now, it seems to me that Mopar ATF+4 is the only game in town, regardless of price) I'd like to figure out a way to "power flush" or "power exchange" the fluid at home.

-GRROWL