you may have seen this in other threads that i posted but i am going to give this thread a shot... I got my truck back from getting serviced including transmission drain and refill the other day (not from the dealer) and i noticed a shutter or a vibration feeling either in my rear end or my tranny, i took it back to who i got the service done and he noticed my tranny fluid was a little low and that he would fill it up and my shutter should be gone... well when he went to get a bottle i noticed that it was ATF+3!!!!!!!!!!! i told him that it required ATF+4 and he didnt know that!!! so he refilled my tranny with ATF+3. I am going back on tuesday and hes going to drop the pan and refill with ATF+4. my concern is will this hurt my truck???????? could either the ATF+3 or the low fluid be causing my shutter feeling??? ive ran it for about 300 miles already... please someone help me out ...
thanks
eric

 

i know it hurts to pay the dealerships the high dollar but the paper trail is worth the investment. something goes wrong and you have the paper trail back to the dealer there is no grounds for them to argue.

 

ill throw all this back in my mechanics face if somthing happens, im just wondering if it WILL hurt my truck or not........

 

i don't know. i had my traany built by ats and now use (by their instruction) dextron 3, with 15000 mile change intervals

 

From what I read it probably be wise to have him do the flush routine. dropping the pan and refilling will only get 4-5 quarts I think. Now its all mixed together. I think Ive read somewhere that DC came up with atf4 due to their trans issues with mini vans etc. I dont know how it will effect yours but ..... just dont the dealer know it had 3 in it if it fails.

 

It is common for a vehicle to have your symptoms if +3 is put in instead of +4. I think there is very little chance of any damage with only a few hundred miles. Definately have them do a complete fluid exchange instead of a pan drop and refill. +4 is a "dealer only" item so a lot of small shops figure their +3 is good enough. I wouldn't anticipate any problems, but of course, keep a paper trail.

 

One more thing.

If they do not have the machinery for a complete fluid exchange, they should pay for you to take it to someone that does. DO NOT accept a drain and fill.

 

thanks everyone for the help this is what i love about this site...

 

how do they do the complete flush?

 

A machine is hooked inline with a tranny cooler line. Old fluid is collected and new fluid is pumped in. This completely changes the fluid including the fluid in the torque converter. A "drain and fill" will only replace about half of the fluid.

 

about how much does this service usually cost, and could it be found at a lot of places, just to let my service guy have a heads up of what he screwed up

 

Many shops now offer this as an option for tranny service. Either a drain and fill or a complete fluid change. The prices can vary from 50-100 bucks. When I service my tranny, I service it every 30,000 miles. I do a complete fluid change one time, then a drain and fill the next (so I can replace the filter).

 

Not everyone that has the equipment will have the ATF +4. As far as I know this is DC specific fluid. The complete fluid change at my dealership is about 165.00. A lot of money but a lot of fluid gets changed too.
Tom

 

how many quarts is it totally?

 

According to the service manual, o-haul(complete) would be about 14-16L(29-33 pts)