> Well, I got a note from my original dealer reminding me it's time for a
> tranny fluid change. 1 year, about 14K miles. I'm not on the "heavy
> service" schedule, so I wasn't planning on doing it for a couple more
> months, but what the hell, why not?
>
> I was thinking of getting the differential and transfer case fluids
> changed at the same time. Needed, or should I wait longer? And is
> Valvoline Instant Oil Change (where I get my oil done) a decent place to
> have it done, or should I go to the dealer (ugh...inconvenient)?
>
> Also thinking about switching to the Valvoline full synthetic; I'm
> running the 50/50 blend right now. How long should my oil change
> interval be with the synthetic?
Andy,
It is a very good idea, in my opinion, to do/get the tranny fluid/filter
changed every year. I do it in my Dak and have had zero problems with my
tranny now at 120,000 miles. Of course, having a one ton tranny cooler also
helps out. I change the fluid in my diffs every 2 years...note though that I
am running fully synthetic Amsoil 75W-90, which is extremely better than the
nasty thick blue goop which comes from the factory. I used to use a pump to
suck out the old fluid, but I wont even do it again; just because I want to
get 100% of the diff fluid out every change, something which is impossible
with the pumps. Also, by taking off the diff covers, you can inspect
everything and clean everything thoroughly, somehting which is impossible to
be done with the fluid pumps. For the transfer case, atleast in my Dak, ATF
is the fluid to use, once again I run Amsoil fully synthetic ATF and change
the fluid every 2 years. It is really easy to do, just make sure you have a
large ass wrench, 30MM if I remember correctly(in my NP321 tcase anyways).
There is a fill plug and a drain plug, the tcase doesnt take much ATF at all
either, so I buy extra just to pour it through the fill plug hole and let it
flush out anything that might be in the tcase before I put the drain plug
back in to fill it back up. I would go with synthetic fluid without a doubt
in your diff and in your tcase, just due to the longer drain intervals and
the extreme protection they offer.
Kyle
93 Dakota 4x4 V6
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