[supremectsteve]

I was reading elsewhere on this forum that the transmission is sealed and there is no recommended maintenance schedule on this transmission. So is there any way to change the transmission fluid? If so, what would the recommended method be?

 

[Gohawks1224]

My 2011 Mazda CX-9 had a sealed tranny case. There was a way to pop it open but the manual said not to do so and no change is needed. I wouldnt worry about it.

 

[SurfNC02]

Maybe its just me...I dont like not begin able to change fluids...I wonder if using an oil extractor is an option...just a thought

 

[hawkfan]

I think the bottom pan on these is some plastic polymer so it may be best to just buy a new one if you drop it to clean the magnets and stuff. I suppose you could pull a return line and have it pump into a bucket to get all of the old out, but you need to buy some special metered rod to measure the level when filling it while being mindful of the fluid temperature. Not only that I think the fluid is extremely expensive at about $40/qt. I'm not a fan of lifetime fluids like this as I'm pretty sure there's worn clutch pack material that will dirty up the passages and degrade the fluid additives, but oh well. Chrysler says not to change it so I won't, and I suppose if my tranny ever burns out on me because of it then it should be covered by my lifetime warranty.

 

[Gohawks1224]

Maybe its just me...I dont like not begin able to change fluids...I wonder if using an oil extractor is an option...just a thought

If it is sealed, you will not have a dipstick to check tranny fluids.

 

[Rockcifica5]

I have not been under the van yet but there should be a fill plug that should come out. If you have an extractor you then should be able to drain and replace. You wont get it all of course but if you do this every 30k or so it will be ok. That is how Toyota and Honda do theirs and they last a long long time. The wife's Honda we had previously had 150k and i drained and filled (3 quarts at a time) every 30k and fluid looked great and never skipped a beat. Plan on doing the same with this one as well.

 

[GoBlue]

The fluid can be changed on most transmissions whether they are sealed or not. But most require a scan tool to set the fluid level to spec. You probably can get a transmission "service" but I would get it serviced by trained dealership techs. But some of these fluids can get expensive and probably isn't needed.

 

[genegenre]

Get the fluid changed every 100k miles. Aamco charges $200 and that includes filter kit and oil. Dealerships are about $50 more. They say the interval is 65k miles but the same engine in the Cherokee is listed at 100k intervals so I would go with that considering it's synthetic fluid.

 

[genegenre]

I wouldn't worry about it if you're not going to keep the vehicle long term. They still need changed but not as often. Aamco says 100k intervals based on the Cherokee with the same engine. This should do for a synthetic fluid.

 

[hawkfan]

Get the fluid changed every 100k miles. Aamco charges $200 and that includes filter kit and oil. Dealerships are about $50 more. They say the interval is 65k miles but the same engine in the Cherokee is listed at 100k intervals so I would go with that considering it's synthetic fluid.

If they're only charging $200 for a fluid change then they're not using the approved fluid. ZF 8/9 speed transmission fluid runs about $40/qt and the system holds over 6qts so you're looking at almost $300 just in fluid costs. I'd also be curious how they'd replace the filter as it's mounted directly to the oil pump inside the transmission housing.

I'm with you in the thought that no fluid is a "lifetime" fluid, but these ZF trannys already have a history of being quite finicky so I'd just stick with the manufacturer recommended maintenance schedule on this and save quite a bit of headache and expense.

 

[genegenre]

You're right, hawkfan. Aamco, not surprisingly, doesn't know what they are talking about. I took it back to the dealer that originally said a trans fluid change would be $250 over the phone. Of course when I got there they looked up the fluid and were going to charge me $46.50 a quart and said it took 6.375 quarts.

Then they said the fluid is lifetime and they wouldn't change it unless I was having transmission problems. I then told them that my one year old Pacifica has 130,000 miles because I drive it 10 hours a day on a courier delivery route (transmission parts delivery oddly), and that in a year I would have a quarter million miles and two years after that, a half million miles and 'lifetime' would not likely apply. For reference, another contractor driver at the warehouse got about 425,000 miles on his transmission before the first rebuild because he changed the oil regularly.

So I called a few independent shops and found a place that would do it. They looked up the procedure and found that there is no pan/seal replacement. What you do is remove the drivers side wheel and control arm. You also need a special shorter measuring tool that's about $25. You then siphon the oil out the access port and put new oil in. No seals, no filter change.

Then said it would be about 30 to 60 minutes of labor and quoted me $38.50 for the oil which is probably at cost for them. I am sending the old oil to Blackstone Labs for analysis now that it has just about 140,000 miles on it. For about $25 they test heavy metal presence, flashpoint, viscosity, and a dozen other things and write a personalized explanation of what it all means and if you had any remaining life in the oil and recommend whether you should change sooner. I used them with a natural gas powered Honda Civic several times with engine oil changes. Very worth the money!! As an aside, all the full synth oils from Valvoline to Pensoil to Amsoil are all the same. They last the same and have no noticeable difference in metal content or breakdown over time. And I changed the cng Civic only every 25k miles.

Under normal use, a 2017 Pacifica needs a transmission fluid change every 100,000 miles. Also note, YOU HAVE TO USE THE EXPENSIVE CORRECT OIL. It is thinner than the cheaper +4 stuff for the old Town and Country. Totally necessary for proper operation says the mom and pop shop that's doing the change.

Hope this helps!

 

[Tsuter]

You're right, hawkfan. Aamco, not surprisingly, doesn't know what they are talking about. I took it back to the dealer that originally said a trans fluid change would be $250 over the phone. Of course when I got there they looked up the fluid and were going to charge me $46.50 a quart and said it took 6.375 quarts.

Then they said the fluid is lifetime and they wouldn't change it unless I was having transmission problems. I then told them that my one year old Pacifica has 130,000 miles because I drive it 10 hours a day on a courier delivery route (transmission parts delivery oddly), and that in a year I would have a quarter million miles and two years after that, a half million miles and 'lifetime' would not likely apply. For reference, another contractor driver at the warehouse got about 425,000 miles on his transmission before the first rebuild because he changed the oil regularly.

So I called a few independent shops and found a place that would do it. They looked up the procedure and found that there is no pan/seal replacement. What you do is remove the drivers side wheel and control arm. You also need a special shorter measuring tool that's about $25. You then siphon the oil out the access port and put new oil in. No seals, no filter change.

Then said it would be about 30 to 60 minutes of labor and quoted me $38.50 for the oil which is probably at cost for them. I am sending the old oil to Blackstone Labs for analysis now that it has just about 140,000 miles on it. For about $25 they test heavy metal presence, flashpoint, viscosity, and a dozen other things and write a personalized explanation of what it all means and if you had any remaining life in the oil and recommend whether you should change sooner. I used them with a natural gas powered Honda Civic several times with engine oil changes. Very worth the money!! As an aside, all the full synth oils from Valvoline to Pensoil to Amsoil are all the same. They last the same and have no noticeable difference in metal content or breakdown over time. And I changed the cng Civic only every 25k miles.

Under normal use, a 2017 Pacifica needs a transmission fluid change every 100,000 miles. Also note, YOU HAVE TO USE THE EXPENSIVE CORRECT OIL. It is thinner than the cheaper +4 stuff for the old Town and Country. Totally necessary for proper operation says the mom and pop shop that's doing the change.

Hope this helps!

I’d be interested to see what the Blackstone report says. I am glad I tested my engine oil on my Audi as they found trace amounts of coolant in the oil. That would be bad to let that go. I’m at 55k on that car and have a 6 speed ZF unit in it. I just did a fluid drain and refill. Got about 4-5 liters out out of something like 12liters total. So I’ll do it again at the next oil change. That one has two plugs on the pan, one to drain and one to fill. You have to have the car level and running to add the fluid and correct temp and all that Jazz. It’s a bit of a process, but after getting the learning curve out of the way on the first run, no worries next time... except for the cost of the fluid. The ZF LG6 is just over $20 a liter. I assume the Chrysler’s ZF unit uses the newer LG8 fluid, that’s only a bit more expensive, but still a lot more than the old ATF+4. I’m a Blackstone convert now. I’ll be testing all my vehicles engine and trans fluids from here on out. Worth every penny.

 

[genegenre]

Okay... with my full time courier delivery route, my 2017 Pacifica is now at 223k miles as of end of 2018 and original transmission.

Couple updates;
1. I didn't have the fluid changed until about 140k. Now I have it changed every 50k because
A. I found a transmission shop that will do it for $40 in labor since you just have to remove the
drivers side wheel and use a specialty 2017+ Pacifica dip stick and
B. I found fluid for under $25 a quart at Rock Auto which I order a couple weeks ahead of time.
(between $40 and $50 a quart at shop or dealer and that's times 6.375 quarts!).
2. It started hard shifting from second into third at 182k miles. I took it to the shop and they said failure is eminent so I went ahead and bought a used one (they haven't released the rebuild kits yet). It came from a 2019 with only 3k miles and cost $3200. But then, as I continued driving the car 500 miles a day for a couple days while the unit shipped in, I learned that if you simply accelerate briskly from 0-15 or, really slowly, it doesn't hard shift. So, having AAA and 200 miles of free tow, I said, keep the trans and I will drive it into the ground. Well, here we are 40k miles later and it hasn't gotten any worse! So if it happens to you, you may just keep driving it. I just bought fluid for another change and hope to see a quarter million miles. Next trans will start getting fluids every 50k starting at 50, not nearly 150!!! See if that helps.

 

[jasonn]

Okay... with my full time courier delivery route, my 2017 Pacifica is now at 223k miles as of end of 2018 and original transmission.

Couple updates;
1. I didn't have the fluid changed until about 140k. Now I have it changed every 50k because
A. I found a transmission shop that will do it for $40 in labor since you just have to remove the
drivers side wheel and use a specialty 2017+ Pacifica dip stick and
B. I found fluid for under $25 a quart at Rock Auto which I order a couple weeks ahead of time.
(between $40 and $50 a quart at shop or dealer and that's times 6.375 quarts!).
2. It started hard shifting from second into third at 182k miles. I took it to the shop and they said failure is eminent so I went ahead and bought a used one (they haven't released the rebuild kits yet). It came from a 2019 with only 3k miles and cost $3200. But then, as I continued driving the car 500 miles a day for a couple days while the unit shipped in, I learned that if you simply accelerate briskly from 0-15 or, really slowly, it doesn't hard shift. So, having AAA and 200 miles of free tow, I said, keep the trans and I will drive it into the ground. Well, here we are 40k miles later and it hasn't gotten any worse! So if it happens to you, you may just keep driving it. I just bought fluid for another change and hope to see a quarter million miles. Next trans will start getting fluids every 50k starting at 50, not nearly 150!!! See if that helps.

Did you ever do the blackstone analysis for your transmission fluid?

 

[17' Touring L]

I was reading elsewhere on this forum that the transmission is sealed and there is no recommended maintenance schedule on this transmission. So is there any way to change the transmission fluid? If so, what would the recommended method be?

DId you find out how to change that fluid?? I have the '18 Touring L with 49K miles and that enough for me to change. These may have a sealed pan and no filter to change but they always have a drain plug somewhere and a filler neck somewhere near the top. If you dont have any leaks just measure what comes out and put the same back in..

 

[17' Touring L]

You're right, hawkfan. Aamco, not surprisingly, doesn't know what they are talking about. I took it back to the dealer that originally said a trans fluid change would be $250 over the phone. Of course when I got there they looked up the fluid and were going to charge me $46.50 a quart and said it took 6.375 quarts.

Then they said the fluid is lifetime and they wouldn't change it unless I was having transmission problems. I then told them that my one year old Pacifica has 130,000 miles because I drive it 10 hours a day on a courier delivery route (transmission parts delivery oddly), and that in a year I would have a quarter million miles and two years after that, a half million miles and 'lifetime' would not likely apply. For reference, another contractor driver at the warehouse got about 425,000 miles on his transmission before the first rebuild because he changed the oil regularly.

So I called a few independent shops and found a place that would do it. They looked up the procedure and found that there is no pan/seal replacement. What you do is remove the drivers side wheel and control arm. You also need a special shorter measuring tool that's about $25. You then siphon the oil out the access port and put new oil in. No seals, no filter change.

Then said it would be about 30 to 60 minutes of labor and quoted me $38.50 for the oil which is probably at cost for them. I am sending the old oil to Blackstone Labs for analysis now that it has just about 140,000 miles on it. For about $25 they test heavy metal presence, flashpoint, viscosity, and a dozen other things and write a personalized explanation of what it all means and if you had any remaining life in the oil and recommend whether you should change sooner. I used them with a natural gas powered Honda Civic several times with engine oil changes. Very worth the money!! As an aside, all the full synth oils from Valvoline to Pensoil to Amsoil are all the same. They last the same and have no noticeable difference in metal content or breakdown over time. And I changed the cng Civic only every 25k miles.

Under normal use, a 2017 Pacifica needs a transmission fluid change every 100,000 miles. Also note, YOU HAVE TO USE THE EXPENSIVE CORRECT OIL. It is thinner than the cheaper +4 stuff for the old Town and Country. Totally necessary for proper operation says the mom and pop shop that's doing the change.

Hope this helps!

130,000 miles a year??? holy crap!!. and here we are people complaining about putting 20k miles on their car.. Definitely change your coolant, brake fluid and power steering fluid also...... NEVER go 100K miles in any vehicle without changing your Transmission fluid before that I don't care what the manufacturer says. You have planetary gears, clutches and servos that need clean non burnt fluid. If you tore apart any transmission that had 100k on it and never changed before you would see, sludge, black fluid and sediment..Car manufactures want your crap do go out so they can sell you another new car. ALL transmissions and I mean all should simply do a drain and fill every 30k miles if you want it to last 200k+ miles . Never do a flush, the sediment will get caught in your clutches and your screwed. I know this is expensive but it takes 9 drain and fills to have it 99% changed. Pull the drain plug and if 4 quarts drops out (measure it) then add 4 more. Drive 20-30 miles (so it completely circulates) then do that again 8 more times.. If you do it 4 times youl get 50%,, Better than not doing it at all.. Never flush, just drain and fill....

 

[jasonn]

130,000 miles a year??? holy crap!!. and here we are people complaining about putting 20k miles on their car.. Definitely change your coolant, brake fluid and power steering fluid also...... NEVER go 100K miles in any vehicle without changing your Transmission fluid before that I don't care what the manufacturer says. You have planetary gears, clutches and servos that need clean non burnt fluid. If you tore apart any transmission that had 100k on it and never changed before you would see, sludge, black fluid and sediment..Car manufactures want your crap do go out so they can sell you another new car. ALL transmissions and I mean all should simply do a drain and fill every 30k miles if you want it to last 200k+ miles . Never do a flush, the sediment will get caught in your clutches and your screwed. I know this is expensive but it takes 9 drain and fills to have it 99% changed. Pull the drain plug and if 4 quarts drops out (measure it) then add 4 more. Drive 20-30 miles (so it completely circulates) then do that again 8 more times.. If you do it 4 times youl get 50%,, Better than not doing it at all.. Never flush, just drain and fill....

using 3.5 liters of fluid for each drain and fill... 9 times... is 32 liters.. $700 in transmission fluid.... every 30k miles???? Are you recommending this guy spend $2,800/yr on transmission fluid?

 

[17' Touring L]

using 3.5 liters of fluid for each drain and fill... 9 times... is 32 liters.. $700 in transmission fluid.... every 30k miles???? Are you recommending this guy spend $2,800/yr on transmission fluid?

HA!!! Hmmm great point I didn't really do the math considering HIS situation. In his case I'd skip it altogether and just roll the dice and if hes driving 130k mi a year working he can probably afford to hit Amco's drive through and just drop in a new trans every year or 2 like hes getting a Big Mac... I wanted to save the $35 a qt situation for another discussion because thats a total rape job in itself and whatever xxxx thought that up should be laid out to pasture and dealt with, but I copied a quote from a well known mechanic:

"We now sell 9 speed drain and refill services using the Valvoline multi purpose transmission fluid. And Valvoline willing to warranty there product on any fail parts if there fluid caused it. I heard they got the approval from ZF to use there fluids"..

Its definitely something to consider and research a little more and if you do or anyone does please let me know if it can truly be an equivalent. Probably $8-10 per qt...

 

[jasonn]

"We now sell 9 speed drain and refill services using the Valvoline multi purpose transmission fluid. And Valvoline willing to warranty there product on any fail parts if there fluid caused it. I heard they got the approval from ZF to use there fluids"..

If that quote is where you got the "drain and fill 9 times", you have misunderstood. That quote is referencing the 9 speed transmission.
I plan on changing my transmission fluid, and drain/fill twice. Looks like that will get 83% of the fluid changed. Wish it was more but don't want to spend more money on fluid, and don't want to gamble on other cheaper fluid.

 

[17' Touring L]

If that quote is where you got the "drain and fill 9 times", you have misunderstood. That quote is referencing the 9 speed transmission.
I plan on changing my transmission fluid, and drain/fill twice. Looks like that will get 83% of the fluid changed. Wish it was more but don't want to spend more money on fluid, and don't want to gamble on other cheaper fluid.

I remember that was a general quote online that I read that had to be drained and filled 9 times for a 99% change because you are always mixing new fluid with dirty fluid. Obviously some transmissions are alot larger but most hold at least 11 quarts some 16... I didn't get mixed up 9 speed from 9 drains..