ATF change experience
I have a few ATF experiences to add. I was having Rumble Strip Noise (RSN) periodically, not too serious yet but didn't want to go there. 2004 2500 112 wb low roof with 85k miles, new to me.
I went to a dealer for a transmission fluid change today. For those that don't know, the Sprinter is supposed to use a special Mopar fluid which is just for the Sprinter and costs $20/qt at all my local dealers. A full tranny plus transfer case change takes about 8 quarts. More on pricing below. I would be very interested in a discussion of tranny fluids, if we have any experts...
The Sprinter tech at the dealer was enormously helpful, I stood and talked with him as he did the work, and he taught me lots of tidbits about my Sprinter.
He said that he no longer checks the tranny fluid level against the transmission temperature for a fluid change. The process is, he raises the vehicle, drains from the tranny pan plug, rotates the engine so you can get to the transfer case plug through the flywheel housing, drains the transfer case, removes the tranny pan, washes it off, replaces the gasket and filter, and puts it all back together. Then he fills it with about 7 1/2 quarts, starts the motor and gently rocks it back and forth a couple times, and checks the level. He looks for the level to be 3-4 cm up the dipstick in a cool transmission, lower in a stone-cold transmission and at about 6-7 cm in a hot transmission. ATF is always checked in a running engine.
Now, his theory that he doesn't have to check the level against the temperature (he said he used to always do it and the level added always came out the same) became more questionable when fluid came out the overflow plug on the tranny. He wasn't worried, I don't know if I should have been (this is my first-ever automatic), and he drained a little (I think) and cleaned it up and on I went...
I haven't noticed yet, for sure, if there was any RSN left. He didn't seem to know what I was talking about: when I said RSN, he suggested I was referreing to tranny flutter, and expected that it would always relate to up or down-shifting (a correlation I've never noticed, mine always occured under very mild load, generally on a flat road at 30 mph or so, no acceleration). He further suggested that whether it was up or down-shifting at the time would indicate what the problem was. If it ever happens again, or more consistently, or is repeatable, I will try to either determine which way it's going, or put it in manual mode to avoid any shifting at all and see if it happens. Right now, it's been so few and far between it's hard to diagnose, and it only lasts seconds. He is not the first person to suggest to me it has to do with the tranny trying to shift, but not quite doing so. He expected that the change of fluid would quite likely help. He suggested changing both tranny and differential fluid every 50k miles or so, and oil every 5. He was clearly trying to make the vehicle last a long time, though I thought some of those numbers sounded extreme...
The dealer had quoted me $220 to change the fluid, and since the fluid would have cost me at least $160 (one person told me it would take 12 quarts), it seemed worth it. When finished, they tried to charge me $400 as other dealers had quoted, and said they had misquoted, but eventually held to their original quote. I used Darcars Dodge in New Carrolton MD near Washington DC, my service tech was Duane. I would HIGHLY recommend him, though I was less impressed by the dealership.
As an offhand comment, mention has been made periodically on the Yahoo group of a method to measure the temperature of the transmission with a voltmeter, and a table in the manual to correlate temp and fluid level. I've never found any such description or table. Perhaps all that can be reiterated, the table reconstructed, and put in the FAQ (which I don't think exists yet here at Sprinter-Forum)? I had previously suggested that a wiki FAQ be started, which would make such things easier/less stressful on group/forum managers, and more flexible.
I will definitely be getting or making (maybe just using a simple plumbing snake) a tranny dipstick. I imagine that one can probably make a good guess at tranny temperature based on engine temperature if conditions are fairly static: mild weather, running for a while without pulling some big load, etc. So then if we had the table correlating temperature with dipstick reading (which you can sort of get off the ATF file at Yahoo SprinterVan), at least the level could be checked periodically.
I'm sorry for the great length of the post, I wanted to download everything in one place at one time that I could think of! In case you can't figure it out, I have no idea about the accuracy of everything I said above, it's just my recollection and perception: do anything you do at your own risk!
Keith