2003 Gr Caravan transmission flush?

Find a new place for service; fast. Stick with the manual!

Richard.

Presuming that you have the 4 speed automatic transmissin (A604 or

And your dealer is only on the hook for a new trans until the warrnty expires. After that, you are on your own.

Any particles will settle in the bottom of the pan. You transmission would have to be total slag if you could see particles on the dip stick! Yikes!

If you Google this group, IIRC, the consensous on flushing a trans was it is a bad idea. It never solves anything, and if there ARE little bits loose, it just makes sure they get circulated through the trans.

My advice is that you find a good reputable shop that stocks and uses ATF+4 tranny fluid, and get your service done there. If they are CAA/AAA approved, so much the better. Keep your reciepts.

If you are in the Greater Vancouver area of BC, I can recomend an EXCELLENT shop.

If things are so bad that a flush is warranted, then why not just do the job right the first time? ;)

You just cannot be too careful with these trannys!

maintanance

Why are you asking for opinions - the manual tells you what you need to be doing, do it. The 50000km "panless" flush is a waste of money. If you really want to do it you can do that yourself by disconnecting the fluid return line at the cooler and putting it in a catch pan, then idling the car and pouring 10 quarts of fluid down the dipstick while the trans pumps out the old fluid. That's all the dealer does, although they may have a machine that hides the fluid supply and catch pan in a box.

There are a lot of these maintainence procedures people have come up with that sound like they are good to do but really are nothing more than moneymakers. For example, cleaning injectors. All gasoline (in the US) is mandated to have detergent in it so your injectors are always clean. decarbonizing the engine is another good one. The question about engine decarbonizing is what is putting the excessive carbon in it to begiin with - lots of times it's an oil leak or some such and once the carbon is decarbonized it will just come back.

Ted

Yeah, follow the general manual plan. Going for a FLUSH aggravates the "sludge" in the trans and will come back to haunt you. Doing a a full DRAIN and fill is better, even if you have to drop the pan and replace the filter.

cosza,

I have a Town Country 2002 with a 3.8 engine with 47,000 miles just purchased it in December 2005 do not know the history on oil changes the chrysler dealer service manager instructed me to change the transmission fluid at 60,000 miles and unless you have heavy usage they should not be changed until 6o,000 miles hope this helps you.

Daryl

Go by what your manual says. You probably fit the bill for "Plan B Severe" maintenance.....almost everyone does though many won't admit it.

Wait until it's time, then change the fluid and filter. In the meantime, find a reputable, honest dealer who's more worried about you than the number of stars he can earn by selling stuff you don't need.