This car has the Quadra Drive. It has 145,000 miles on it.
I had the oil changed in this car today. The mechanic checked all of the fluids, and found them all ok, except for the transfer case, which he said was very low. He filled it up with Dextron III. My manual says this is acceptable.
The car immediately started making extreme noises as I drove it off. It was clear that it had a major drive train problem. I drove it back to the mechanic, who inspected it closely. He is certain the problem is coming from the transfer case. He believes that the clutches are slipping, or the chain is skipping. He says that the best remedy is to find a replacement transfer case and switch it out.
This is a new mechanic to me, as I am on vacation at our vacation house. But, I fully believe that the mechanic is honest and capable. But, I have to drive this car 500 miles on Monday , and tomorrow is Friday, so this is urgent to me.
My son says that in spite of what the car manual says, that the transfer case should be filled with ATF+3 or ATF+4 specified for Chrysler (not Dextron III).
Can you guys give me some input on this ? If I drain the Dextron III and put in ATF+3, how likely would this cure the problem ?
I will appreciate any thoughts on this.
James