Ok.... did the transmission drain and refil today on my 2004 3.0 Automatic w/53k miles... Followed the instructions posted on this forum.

An even 4 quarts came out and I refilled with 4 quarts of Castrol Import Multi-vehicle. What came out was brownish red but clear. The interesting thing is that the drain container and anything that touched the old fluid had an oily purple coating on it that was a different color from the ATF.

Can I assume someone added some sort of trans conditioner or additive to the trans or is this normal from the OEM ATF? I'm interested because if someone put this in then maybe there was a prior perceived problem that the previous owner was trying to remedy ..... thus the 4 quarts coming out when I expected 3.5.

The car and AWD is new to me so I'm not sure what to expect from the trans in terms of feel. There is no knocking or learch when it up shifts but there is a drag feeling when it downshifts when I coast.... is this normal? After the drain/refill nothing felt any different than before with the shifting after I drove it.

If there is an issue I want to pick up an aftermarket warranty on the drive train before I need to shell out bigger bucks if it fails...

Any thoughts/advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Hello all, any thoughts on this post would be appreciated.....

Did a second round of drain/refill last weekend.... 4 quarts out 4 back in of Castrol Import Muti-Vehicle ATF.

Now there is a more pronounced learch on the downshifts and in general seems a bit less smooth. Only change is the fluid so perhaps that is the reason? If anyone else has experienced this let me know... I plan to take it to a local shop that specializes in imports to have them check the level and do the next round of drain/fill.

Any help would be welcomed.

 

I don't understand why everyone thinks they have to guess on trans fluid level. Just bring the transmission up to idle operating temp and (with shifter in neutral) remove the fluid level bolt on the underside of the trans next to the shifter linkage. Fluid will run out until the trans reaches the correct level.

I have pics of the location for the fluid level bolt in a different thread linked in the FAQ. It may be a hex bolt or an allen head depending on year.