2002 jeep grand cherokee 77000 miles need transmission oil change??

Scam. You should check your owners manual for service schedules.

You don't say auto or manual?

You can check the fluid yourself. If it looks like a milkshake, it has been contaminated with water. If it is brown, it is used. If it smells like burnt toast, a fluid change is too late...

Mike

hey mike

thanks for the quick reply it's an auto and sorry for not mentioning it before. I am always nervous about messing with engines so I think I'll just let them do it and trust them :-) hope you had a great thanksgiving and are surviving this bollocks.

Have you checked your owners manual for a discussion of how to check your transmission fluid [color and odor] yourself? Is it still nicely red with no burnt sugar odor? Or is it more brown or has any odor of burnt sugar.

What does that manual say about the normal change interval for your transmission fluid? This isn't the most important information, as there could be something wrong with your vehicle that is overheating your transmission fluid.

It is impossible to tell you whether your mechanic is correct or not from just the information you provided. If you dont trust them, perhaps there are other garages in your area?

I would still pull the dipstick and have a look and smell of the fluid so in the future I would have an idea of what is considered going bad.

Jeep trannies don't have high water hose vents like the t-case and diffs do so they are very prone to getting water in them if you cross a creek or get into a deep puddle. This makes a purple milkshake kinda look to the fluid...

Mike

Harry, my 99 JGC service manual recommends a transfer case oil change at 30k and Transmission fluid change at 50k.

If you've never had the transmission fluid changed, now might be a good time to do it.

How long has it been since the last change?

If this is the first change then yes, the mechanic is correct. Make sure they use the correct fluid for your vehicle (usually printed on a sticker on top of the radiator cross brace)

This is the thing with trans fluid. Normal heating and cooling will draw moisture into the system. If you don't drive it long enough to vaporize and drive off the moisture it will accumulate and the fluid (older fluid especially) will start to change color. Color change can also be caused by excessive heat and normal wear.

Note: even after new fluid is put in it will change (darken) quickly. This is because about 1/3 of the fluid is trapped inside the torque converter. This is normal. If the fluid ever gets totally contaminated you have to do a "transmission flush" and that still doesn't get it all.

At any rate, your close enough to need it done and fluid is cheaper than a new transmission.

Once you know what goes in there it's quite easy to do a quick fluid change yourself. All you need is a fluid pump, hose, and catch container. There are several vendors out there with vac pumps etc. It's easy but does not get everthing. All you do is drop the hose down the ATF fill tube, suck out the fluid you can get and replace with an equal amount of new fluid. I use a tiny drill-driven fluid pump and an old plastic garden sprayer bottle as the container.

first of all thank you to everyone that took the time to reply and offer sage advice. It is all appreciated and all good. I have spoken to the garage and the person that I had reservations about has left the company, it seems the commute was too much for him. I am VERY happy with the garage and have used them ever since I came to Chicago. My only reservation was that I know nothing about transmission fluids ( actually I know everything about nothing), so I needed a confidence booster which you folks provided. We bought the jeep from CarMax and I didn't see if they changed the transmission fluid, I am assuming they didn't as it's $300 and the cost of a new transmission would be higher. Thanks again to all you fine folks and I wish you all a great holiday.

Major Kong