Transmission oil change. Maintenance

[Sot]

My app doesn't say to change transmission fluid at 60000 miles . Does the paper manual say change it? I have A 21 Rubicon gladiator

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[Stan H]

My app doesn't say to change transmission fluid at 60000 miles . Does the paper manual say change it? I have A 21 Rubicon gladiator

Plenty of threads here on this ad naseam, but @Maximus Gladius and @g2020 have lots of information on this.

 

[Mr._Bill]

My app doesn't say to change transmission fluid at 60000 miles . Does the paper manual say change it? I have A 21 Rubicon gladiator

According to Jeep, the transmission contains a 'lifetime' fill and does not changed under normal operating conditions.

There are several threads from those that have changed their fluid.

 

[tysongladiator]

I know you're asking about a 60K mile change, but here is a clip of when I changed my transmission fluid at 181K. You can see the difference in 181K fluid and new fluid.

I usually make videos for my youtube channel of all the work and do and my wheeling trips, but I didn't make a video of my transmission fluid change. I might go back and do a full video because I have the clips.

Anyway, here's the clip:

 

[Maximus Gladius]

I know you're asking about a 60K mile change, but here is a clip of when I changed my transmission fluid at 181K. You can see the difference in 181K fluid and new fluid.

I usually make videos for my youtube channel of all the work and do and my wheeling trips, but I didn't make a video of my transmission fluid change. I might go back and do a full video because I have the clips.

Anyway, here's the clip:

Good for you! Better late than never, right?! What was the most difficult part of this for you?

 

[BlueYonder]

I have a '21 Overland with manual transmission, so my maintenance schedule might be different than yours if you have the automatic. But my paper manual (which covers both transmissions), says the following.

Automatic Transmission: "Under normal operating conditions, the fluid installed at the factory will provide satisfactory lubrication for the life of the vehicle. Routine fluid and filter changes are not required. However, change the fluid and filter if the fluid becomes contaminated (with water, etc.), or if the transmission is disassembled for any reason.
Maintenance plan: Not mentiond

Manual transmission: "Under normal operating conditions, the fluid installed at the factory will give satisfactory lubrication for the life of the vehicle. If the fluid becomes contaminated with water, it should be changed immediately. Otherwise, change the fluid as recommended in the Maintenance Plan.
"Maintenance plan: "Change the manual transmission fluid (30k intervals) if using your vehicle is used for any of the following: trailer towing, snow plowing, heavy loading, taxi, police, delivery service (commercial service), off-road, desert operation or more than 50% of your driving is at sustained high speeds during hot weather, above 90°F (32°C)."

Transfer case: "For the proper Drain and Refill maintenance intervals, see Maintenance Plan."
Maintenance plan: "Change transfer case fluid (60k intervals) if using your vehicle for any of the following: police, taxi, fleet, or frequent trailer towing."

Front and rear axles: "For normal service, periodic fluid level checks are not required. When the vehicle is serviced for other reasons the exterior surfaces of the axle assembly should be inspected. If gear oil leakage is suspected, inspect the fluid level."
Maintenance plan: "Change front and rear axle fluid (40k intervals) if using your vehicle for police, taxi, fleet, off-road or frequent trailer towing."

I bought my Gladiator with 72k on it and no record of any of these ever being done. I do light occasional trailering but none of the other "extreme" uses. I went ahead and changed both transmission and transfer case fluids (doing axle fluids soon). Both are easy to do. In retrospect, it probably didn't need it. The fluid coming out was very clean (especially transfer case) and there was minimal metal shavings on the magnetic trans drain plug. So either it had been done previously, or the previous owner was a very easy driver.

 

[tysongladiator]

Good for you! Better late than never, right?! What was the most difficult part of this for you?

Exactly! It really wasn't all that hard. I guess it would be trying to keep fluid from getting all over the floor. If you follow the steps to drain, refill, and how to go through the gear selector, it's a little easier than it seems.

 

[Maximus Gladius]

Exactly! It really wasn't all that hard. I guess it would be trying to keep fluid from getting all over the floor. If you follow the steps to drain, refill, and how to go through the gear selector, it's a little easier than it seems.

And to think back in 2021 when i was talking pan drops and oil analysis reports etc, everyone, including the FCA insider was so scared to attempt it, saying it was sealed and scaring everyone into the “don’t touch it” submission.

 

[tysongladiator]

And to think back in 2021 when i was talking pan drops and oil analysis reports etc, everyone, including the FCA insider was so scared to attempt it, saying it was sealed and scaring everyone into the “don’t touch it” submission.

Well.... you know how it goes. When you fix something yourself, they can't profit.

 

[Stan H]

I know you're asking about a 60K mile change, but here is a clip of when I changed my transmission fluid at 181K. You can see the difference in 181K fluid and new fluid.

I usually make videos for my youtube channel of all the work and do and my wheeling trips, but I didn't make a video of my transmission fluid change. I might go back and do a full video because I have the clips.

Anyway, here's the clip:

Definitely look like it needed changed, curious do you live in a warmer climate a humid climate or a cold climate ? Flat land or hilly or mountains ?

 

[tysongladiator]

Definitely look like it needed changed, curious do you live in a warmer climate a humid climate or a cold climate ? Flat land or hilly or mountains ?

At the time I had moved back home to FL, was living in TX, and before that SC. So mostly warmer climates. Mostly flat except when I travel to wheel. But I do a lot of rock crawling, tow trailers regularly, and daily drive. Most people probably don't work their gladiator as much as I do, so that's a factor as well.

 

[g2020]

According to Jeep, the transmission contains a 'lifetime' fill and does not changed under normal operating conditions.

There are several threads from those that have changed their fluid.

I agree that this is what the owner's manual ("the book") says. Here are some details from the book and other credible sources.

ZF, the licensor of both the 850RE automatic transmission and MOPAR 8 & 9 Speed ATF Automatic Transmission Fluid (68218925AB), states that the service interval under normal operating conditions is every 93,000 miles (paraphrasing doc #2). My estimate for SEVERE duty, including off-road use, trailer towing, hot weather (above 90°F), frequent trips at high speeds, local driving with frequent starts & stops, and/or aggressive driving, is 42,000 miles +/- 5,000 miles (see ATF for automatic transmission, under Important Reminders). We are aware of a couple of members on this forum who do a pan drop every 30,000 miles or less. The most frequent service interval for the automatic transmission, that I've seen on other Jeep forums, is at/every 60,000 miles (when the powertrain warranty expires).

In December 2025, my local Jeep dealer mailed me a flyer in which they advised me that my 2020 Gladiator was due for a "Transmission service". Between September 2019 and December 2025, every service advisor with whom I spoke about the service interval for the automatic transmission toed the company line and said that the ATF in the automatic transmission is a lifetime fluid (see doc #6). As @BlueYonder pointed out, the book says the same thing about the manual transmission (see doc #5).

Not ranked by credibility, we have info from the book, ZF, service advisors, and flyers in the mail. I trust the people on this forum who know Jeeps and want to keep their vehicles for a long time.

The book is correct most of the time, just not this time.

For a short list of other contradictions/grievances related to this topic, click here.

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