ATF+ 3 or ATF + 4

Hello: need to ask, which fluid should i use for a 97' G Voyager w 3.3 and 4sp 604 trans.

THANK YOU EARL

Reply to
Guess Who I Am
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+3. +4 is OK unless the transmission goes through a retraining sequence, then the clutch may chatter, causing damage.

Richard.

Reply to
Richard

ATF+3 is what you need.

Good Luck

Reply to
Richard Benner Jr

Richard, what is that based on? I know the TSB (No. 21-006-01) says that "ATF+3 should continue to be used for 1999 and earlier minivans because of the potential for torque converter shudder during break in", but "break in" is not the same as "retraining". Is a misinterpretation of that sentence from the TSB what you base your statement on?

It has been suggested on this ng that the dealers (with or without Chrysler's blessing?) are using ATF+4 for everything because it is assumed that any '99 or earlier minivan's tranny will be well broken in by now. so the potential for shudder and damage is therefore a moot point for those vehicles.

Bill Putney (to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with "x")

Reply to
Bill Putney

Another ATF+4 question. On my son's 2001 Dakota we have been changing the fluid and filter every 35,000 miles. First time around the service department indicated to use the ATF+4 which we did. Last week at 70,000 miles a trip to a different Dodge truck dealer for fluid we were told that trans uses ATF+3 just fine and thats all they use. BUT the service manager also mentioned that once ATF+4 is installed then you cannot go back to using ATF+3. Anyone else heard this?

To be on the safe side we of course continued using ATF+4. Big difference in price but a tranny costs a lot more than the occaisional fluid change.

It has been suggested on this ng that the dealers (with or without Chrysler's blessing?) are using ATF+4 for everything because it is assumed that any '99 or earlier minivan's tranny will be well broken in by now. so the potential for shudder and damage is therefore a moot point for those vehicles.

Bill Putney (to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with "x")

Reply to
Rufus T. Firefly

ATF +3 and ATF +4 have properties that are close enough so they can be used interchangably in these trannies, the main difference though is that ATF +4 is synthetic, ATF +3 is not. Thus, the lifetime of ATF +4 is in theory tremendously greater than ATF +3, plus it will stand up a lot better to heavy work that generates a lot of heat such as towing.

With an ATF +3 regimen the current Usenet wisdom is to follow the Severe Duty change schedule in the owners manual. With ATF +4 there is really no current consensus, because it hasn't been mandated for long enough for people to get a feel for what is best. Obviously if you come from the "pro synthetics" camp your probably going to claim that ATF+4 lasts the life of the car.

ATF +3 is a lot cheaper than ATF +4, because Chrysler currently holds a trademark on the names "ATF +4" and "ATF +3" and will not permit anyone to use the trademark ATF +4 on transmission fluid. They even have gone so far as to block the 2 licensed ATF +4 fluid manufacturers from OEMing ATF +4 to anyone else. There are a few trans fluid manufacturers that skirt the rules (Amsoil) and claim their stuff is ATF +4 "compatible" which they can get away with doing because nobody pays much attention to them, but of course since they do not have licensing from Chrysler for this, there's no way of knowing if their stuff really is compatible or not. (plus it's about the same price anyway, so what's the point)

If you believe that synthetic transmission oil is far and away superior than non-synthetic trans oil, most likely you would buy off on the idea that it can last 3 times longer, in which case the total price between ATF +3 and ATF +4 is pretty much the same since you would have to change ATF +3

3 times for every 1 time you changed ATF +4. I personally do not support the notion of "extended drain intervals" for motor oil or tranny fluid.

Ted

Reply to
Ted Mittelstaedt

Are you the famous Earl of Chicago who rides 30,000 miles on a turbo trainer?

Dick L> Hello:

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rich longer

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jdoe

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