'96 Cherokee. ATF+4 or Dex?

[Kruse]

Most of my life I've not had a Jeep. Pardon the question.
I've got a '96 Cherokee 4.0/auto with the (I believe) 19 bolt pan. (BTW, exactly what transmission is this?) I'm ready to do a pan drop and a filter change and I thought that this would take ATF+4. The recommendation on the filter box says to refill with Dex and when I looked in the operator's manual, it also says that Dexron is the fluid to put in. So for this transmission, is Dex the recommended fluid for the refill or is the best fluid for a refill ATF+4?

 

[Donald]

I would go by the manual. Forget the filter box. Its probably not that picky however.

Amsoil would be my choice however. With Magnefine inline filter.

 

[Zaedock]

The transmission is an Aisin AW4. I use Dexron in ours and it works fine. ATF+4 has been known to work well too. I buy the Supertech Dexron in the gallon jug at Walmart.

 

[The_Jeff]

Dex!

 

[jeepman3071]

Most Chrysler products do spec ATF+4. That Aisin AW4 trans specs Dex/Merc III since it is a Toyota transmission.

As soon as all of the Cherokees were out of warranty Chrysler changed the spec on the AW4 trans to ATF+4 just like all of its other transmissions. Some have run ATF+4 and been fine, others have experienced slippage. Its interesting to me that Chrysler changed the fluid spec right after all of them went out of warranty.

IMO, I would just run Dex/Merc compatible fluid. I run the Coastal Dex/Merc from Autozone in 3 Cherokees and its been great. This is also the same fluid I run in the transfer cases.

 

[dmark]

Aisin AW-4 transmission specs Dexron III so I would use Maxlife Dex/Merc which I happily use in a 01 Honda Odyssey and a 96 Taurus.
Maxlife Dex/Merc also generates a lot of passion in the forum.

 

[Kruse]

Originally Posted By: Zaedock
The transmission is an Aisin AW4. I use Dexron in ours and it works fine.


Thanks for all the replies everybody. The reason I ask is that I remember reading somewhere that Chrysler used to recommend Dex in some of their transmissions and then later recommended ATF+ to remedy some problems. I was just checking to see what the current recommendation would be. Dex it is!

 

[caravanmike]

i have a 99 aw4 and i use supertech dex III in it.
the aw4 was never built with hfmf (highly friction modified fluid) in mind. atf+4 and maxlife merc/dex are both hfmf fluids. and some report excess slippage in the aw4 with hfmf. mike

 

[Kira]

Hello, AW4 trans w/NP242 transfer case in my sister's 1999 called for Dex/Merc and that's what it got-straight from the gallon jugs. Smooth shifting through 171K. The vehicle's new owners called to say how happy they are with the car. Kira

 

[meep]

AW4 I had did quite well with Dex VI. shifts became lightning quick without drama. It probably had 50% Dex VI, the rest was DexIII, i think.

i wouldn't put ATF +4 in it. Great fluid, just not what I'd go with for that year of cherokee.

 

[Kruse]

As a follow up, I replaced with Dex. The oil I drained was very dark (unknown past on this vehicle) and it seemed to firm up the shifts somewhat. Previous maintenance was done by a know-it-all owner who knew nothing, so there are a few areas that will be getting maintenance.