Lightman

Ok guys, I have 33k and it's time to get the 48re service done. I'm curious what other guys have paid dealers for this service, and do they flush it or just do a drain/fill/filter? I called my local dealer - bedford dodge, and the service writer told me he believes it's just a drain/fill/filter - that they don't have a machine. He quoted me $190. When I asked if I could bring my own fluid in he said no problem we'll deduct the cost of fluid from the $190. I have a case of Amsoil atf sitting here I'm still debating over using.

Seems kinda pricey, and I can certainly drain and fill it and change the filter. Lets not even talk about adjusting bands because I know the dealer realistically won't/doesn't do it.

bhoeffner

Lightman,

Just had mine done two weeks ago. Price was $119.00, after adding the shop cost and tax total was around $128.00 or $130.00 out the door. I believe it was drain, fill, filter change and band adjustment. Spoke to tech. he said 99% of the time the bands are good to good. The only out of spec bands he has seen was not trashed transmissions.

Lightman

Thanks for the reply bh. That is more along the lines of prices I was expecting. $190 just seemed steep. What have other people paid?

How did your trans feel after the change? I read someone's post recently that said theirs was acting funny after the change and got me a little paranoid.

RamDan03

$190 does seem pretty steep. I just received a flyer in the mail today from my dealer quoting $129.95 for a drain, fill, filter replacement, and band adjustment.

I have the 6spd manual and do all the maintenance myself, so i'm not sure how accurate my dealer's promises are.

bhoeffner

Trans is prefect. Maybe it's in my head, but I think it shifts better after the service. Still does the funny shift pattern which is caused by the ECM, but shift quality is great. One thing I did notice was it seems to run a little cooler then before, however the outside air temps have been lower. Drove 1200 miles over the holiday and needle beary moved off 100 degree mark. Was running 110 to 120.

Lightman

I just called around to a few dealers. Finally got service writer that was not in a rush, willing to talk about the services etc. He quoted me $169 for a full flush with 17 quarts of fluid etc. That $190 at the other dealer was just a drain and fill with filter change

He mentioned he thought the mopar fluid wasn't synthetic, maybe it had an additive he said. He did say that particular fluid was expensive. I guess I had it in my head that it was a synthetic. What's the word guys?

rico334

What a coincidence that this was posted today. I Called my Dodge dealership this morning to inquire about pricing on the transmission service, as mine just turned 30k over the weekend.

I'm not a mechanical minded person, so will have to have this done by someone, and thought who better than the dealer. Prices given were as follows:

$149.95 for a flush (whatever that is). Dealer said if the truck does not do alot of towing, that this would be OK, otherwise......
$249.95 for complete service with filter change.

I just came home to make a posting on here as to what everyone recommended on the above. I do pull a small travel trailer 1-2 times a month, otherwise, just normal road driving is done with the truck.

Thanks.

Rick

TON4FUN

My service is coming up too. I will be doing my own to save some money, get me away from the girl for a few hours, and to learn how to do some maitenance on the truck myself. I've rebuilt two motors before so I'm sure I can handle changing out some fluid. I'm gonna do the front, rear, transfer, and tranny all at the same time. I used to do the same with my jeep and it worked out good.

I know the tranny involves getting the fluid out of the cooler as well, I was going to rig up a device that would allow me to blow the old fluid out using air via the feed and return lines going to the cooler.

The only thing I let my dealer do is rotate tires. They want $149.99 to do my tranny. They quoted me $460.00 to do all the fun stuff I listed above. Not me, no way, no how. I'll do it myself.

TRAVIST

The 48re trannys usr what mopar calls atf +4. This is not a synthetic fluid but does have additives to extend life of the fluid under normal conditions as well as prevent slipping.

Hope this helps.

TON4FUN

A flush is when they hook it up to a machine that basically goes in line with your tranny cooler and sucks out the old fluid while putting new in. That should be fine for the first few changes. I changed the filter on my jeep at 75K and it was still in good shape.

Lightman

I do my own oil changes, fuel filters, front and rear diffs. I could do a drain and fill and filter change myself, but can't get all the fluid out that way, and don't have time nor ability to 'rig' a flusher.

Ahh just got them on the phone again. Thanks to those above that posted the flush service didn't include a filter change. I assumed it did. They quoted me $194 to drain and filter change AND flush. I think I'll go for the whole shebang, lol.

silver_goat

My dealer wanted 149.95 for just a trans fluid and filter change. I decided to change mine all myself to save a few bucks.

It was a very easy for me (not being a very mechanical type) but messy job and cost about the same to do trans, xfer case, and both diffs as the dealer wanted just to do the trans. If you do it yourself just make sure you clean your pan well, get enough ATF, and do not over tighten the filter bolts. Other than that it's not to bad to do yourself.

I changed it at 33k and the fluid looked almost new. I did have alot of very fine metal powder in the bottom of the pan and on the magnent. I assumed that was normal.

Jmac

I'm assuming the tranny service is 30K, is that out of the owners manual? I thought you go by how the oil looks and smells?

Jamie

bhoeffner

Owner manual states 30K for trans. service.

Jmac

What am I thinking of the transfer case mabey.