Confused on Transmission Service

[jcarbs]

I have a '21 Willys with 45k miles on it and I'm being told I need to have my auto transmission flushed and have the fluids replaced. Of course it has to be done very soon, lol. Has anyone done a transmission flush on their gladiator or am I being duped into needing service I don't need?

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[Mr._Bill]

Who is telling you this?

Jeep says the transmission fluid is a 'lifetime' fill, and does not need changed under normal operating conditions. If you have it done by anyone other than a dealer, you risk denial of any warranty claims for transmission issues.

The designer of the transmission says to just do a drain and refill around 60k miles. There is a specific process to follow that includes getting it to the correct temperature.

Search the Transmission section. There are several threads on the issue.

 

[Escape.idiocracy]

https://aftermarket.zf.com/app/cont...nary/22f16dae-c571-11ec-a2e7-00505690da53.pdf

I cannot find the link that will open- but zf had a page that states 50-70k miles… I keep getting an access denied message- will try to update this later from the computer.

Me, personally, I’ll drain, fill and change the filter at 50k.

jscan reads the temps required to fill ??? seems like cheap insurance vs FCA recommendation of lifetime aka shouldent fail until after the 100k mark…

 

[jcarbs]

Who is telling you this?

Jeep says the transmission fluid is a 'lifetime' fill, and does not need changed under normal operating conditions. If you have it done by anyone other than a dealer, you risk denial of any warranty claims for transmission issues.

The designer of the transmission says to just do a drain and refill around 60k miles. There is a specific process to follow that includes getting it to the correct temperature.

Search the Transmission section. There are several threads on the issue.

They were talking about the drain and service. But they're saying I need to have it flushed to do the drain and service. Dealer says $1200 and a Jeep Mechanic that I trust says $700.

 

[obrianmcc]

I do mine every 30k ... if you don't feel that your use conditions justify 30k then send oil in for an analysis. "Lifetime" is a complete joke ....

 

[LouisvEarlleJT]

You don't "need" a flush. It'll drain under gravity. All the flush does is cause it to move a bit more forcefully. I'd shoot for the 50k mark, though I've also taken some (in other vehicles) to 100k with no issues.

 

[Stuntman Mike]

Flush is not recommended by ZF internally.

Oil change, together with filter, is recommended (internally) at 50K miles.
That's what I would do after 50K miles.

There is a thread on this topic but I 'm to lazy to search ...

 

[Maximus Gladius]

This road I’ve been down and my whole hearted suggestion is don’t do a flush. Just do a pan drop but have this done at the dealership. If you have warranty, don’t have a private shop touch this. I had my “entire warranty” restricted because I took maters into my own hands to have a “hot flush” done on the transmission @24k kms because I heard a whine at highway speeds and I went in and sat down with the service manager to discuss the oil analysis report that showed glycol contamination and extremely high IRON and COPPER in the oil. Was told the cost of doing two pan drops to get the glycol out was on me because Chrysler wouldn’t deem it broken and they also don’t do flushes.

I opted to go to a private shop to perform the full flush and then the real kicker here was to use AMSOIL’s spec compliant ATF to replace the MOPAR 8/9 Speed ATF. ( should have never done either of these)

Tranny imploded 8k kms later and not only was my transmission warranty denied BUT after 60k kms later (current day) I found out that that little incident of doing the flush and using AMSOIL put a warranty restriction on my VIN!

The “full restriction” was sweeping and complete which even denied my corrosion claim on my paint! The dealership fought hard for me and it took 2 months to have the corrosion claim approved. Was told yesterday the paint warranty was approved but the full warranty restriction still remains.

Best advice, do what your dealership advises and have them do this work.

 

[MrJeep]

There are lots of people who flush their ZF's on the BMW, Rover and Jag forums via the cooler lines because this allows you to also get the fluid out of the torque converter (all the fluid). If you just drain and fill you only get about 60% of the fluid or something like that.
That said, I did a simple drain and fill on my 100k LR4 ZF tranny and it made a huge difference so I would do something at 50-60k.

 

[NVjeff]

I have a '21 Willys with 45k miles on it and I'm being told I need to have my auto transmission flushed and have the fluids replaced. Of course it has to be done very soon, lol. Has anyone done a transmission flush on their gladiator or am I being duped into needing service I don't need?

What is this service recommendation based on?
Miles driven, or are you experiencing a problem they are trying to address with the service?

How do you use your JT? Lots of heavy towing or extreme off roading that would get the trans hot and keep it hot?

I wonder if the computer on these can record the trans temps, and how long it has been at those temps.
If they were plugged into your truck and saw a long duration of high trans fluid temps they might be recommending a fluid flush in order to replace it all.

 

[jcarbs]

What is this service recommendation based on?
Miles driven, or are you experiencing a problem they are trying to address with the service?

How do you use your JT? Lots of heavy towing or extreme off roading that would get the trans hot and keep it hot?

I wonder if the computer on these can record the trans temps, and how long it has been at those temps.
If they were plugged into your truck and saw a long duration of high trans fluid temps they might be recommending a fluid flush in order to replace it all.

It's my daily driver and I don't tow. No issues, just came up as a regular service that they wanted to prepare me for within the next 2 oil changes. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't getting scammed by the dealer.

 

[NVjeff]

I think you're getting scammed by the dealer.

They may say "Oh but your warranty", if the service schedule doesn't call for it, and you're having no problems, I wouldn't get it done.

I plan on draining and refilling mine around 60K, for my own peace of mind.

 

[LostWoods]

Jeep says the transmission fluid is a 'lifetime' fill, and does not need changed under normal operating conditions. If you have it done by anyone other than a dealer, you risk denial of any warranty claims for transmission issues.

They legally cannot deny warranty claims for a vehicle being serviced according to procedures. The burden is on them to prove it is the cause of the failure. That won't stop them in some cases but this is not common and it's a line dealers use to scare people. Any competent shop is more than capable of servicing them.

Also, "normal" is not normal. Most people fall under severe and normal is the minimum required for warranty support - not longevity. Do your oil every 5k and drain+fill the rest every 30k if you want long life. Generally avoid flushing the transmission unless there is a specific reason to do so.

 

[TheRealStreetcommander]

I spill and fill all my transmissions every 30k’ish miles. Never had a ZF trans issue, and I’m very hard on them.

As a layman, taking your time, you could do it yourself on your back in about three hours, including cleanup. The OEM fluid and filter will cost about $150. You can decide what your labor is worth.

All this chatter about lifetime fluids is silly, and it’s based on social engineering market research. It’s prudent to change your fluid if you care about the long term durability of the unit —either for your own use, or the guy 10 years and 100k miles from now. If you are the 95% of original Jeep owners and only plan to keep it for 75k miles, then yeah, as far as Jeep is concerned it has a lifetime fill.

 

[smlobx]

I routinely keep our vehicles over 100K and have never flushed the tranny fluid. You’re being sold a bill of goods.

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