Quote:
Originally Posted by GLAmes
That's an interesting read considering other sources say oils and fluids have no expiration.
|
Oil and hydraulic fluid becomes contaminated by metal wear of moving parts and in the case of oil, un-burned fuel and carbon adds to the contamination.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GLAmes
my wife's last minivan, a Toyota, her current mini van, a Chrysler both of which have no fill port (dipstick) and no manufacture's service interval? My 2019 Ram also doesn't have a service requirement for the transmission fluid. It does not have a dipstick either, thus no fill port.
|
It is no surprise that some transmissions might not have a dipstick or fill port. They require you to take the car to a shop so they can charge you $1000 to vacuum out the fluid and refill it.
The modern hydraulic fluids for use with automatic transmissions have been changing a lot and have different characteristics to fulfill the mfr's specifications of the trans mfr. They may not want you to buy the wrong fluid at the auto parts store which might not perform to the requirements of your transmission.
I am sure that your owners manual does include a variety of scheduled services for different components of your vehicle which they recommend be performed at the dealer for a premium $$$.
My 2007 Ford F150 pickup with AOD does have both a dipstick and fill port and does tell the exact type of transmission fluid to use (Mercon V).
Interestingly enough, when the truck had been run 50K miles, I started having trouble with the transmission. I took it to the shop, thinking it was something major. All it needed was a fluid change and it was good as new.
I was astonished. I have been driving my '55 Ford Fairlane with Fordomatic daily and haven't changed the fluid (Dextron/Mercon) for 20 years and never had a problem. That's well over 200K miles.