I was going to swap out the ATF fluid in the Caravan with C+ Redline fluid I purchased but then I realized I had 3x 5 litre jugs of ATF+4 I bought for a friends vehicle but we never ended up doing the change for him so I decided since I wasn't swapping the filter yet I might as well keep the same fluid that was in it and use this stuff up.
I have 30,000km (Almost 19,000 miles on the van now but it's operated like severe duty with traffic, idling, multiple restarts, and highway driving all in the mix)
I took the cooler return line off the top of the transmission (between the battery and the engine) - Return is the one with the black cap. (White/Grey cap one is the fluid going to the cooler). I attached this to some clear vinyl hose and stuck it in a catch pan under the van. I started the vehicle and let it run out until I started to see it pulsing with air. Shut it down and over filled the pan. Started it back up again and let it continue running out until I had gone through 10 litres of the ATF and the transmission pan was empty. (10 Litres is over what is required for a full fill).
I put the line back on and poured in 4 litres of fluid and checked the level versus the temperature chart and kept topping off until it was full (filling the circuits with fluid in each gear as well). Took it for a drive and then re-checked the level again against the chart/temperature. All good.
I did notice that the outgoing fluid was dark purple in colour and the new fluid going in was more of a dark cherry red. The outgoing fluid also had some fine metallic bits floating in the oil similar to when you change a lawnmower or snowblower's oil, although not quite as much and much finer particles seen in the light.
The oil between the fingers looked a dark red colour and no grit could be felt (Just for an idea of the fluid's condition).
There was a slight change in shifting (improvement) although there was no issues before just something I noticed because I'm anal about that sort of stuff. I noticed that the reverse shudder these are common for is not there and I had it previously, and the 2-1 downshift pulling up to a light is much less noticeable (another common thing with these transmissions when the transmission is hot and there is stop-go traffic) so it appears there is some benefit changing out the fluid early to get the break-in wear out of there.
I changed the fluid in my Journeys 4-speed transmission (which this transmission is similar in design to), and noticed similar characteristics after the change so it confirms my suspicion that shift quality although not a huge difference can be affected somewhat by break-in wear floating around the transmission and getting it out of there is a benefit.
The Mopar fluid is a Group III synthetic (ATF+4) and is MS-9602 spec formula, it has a Lubrizol ad-pack (for those not familiar).
It's supposed to last 192,000km (120,000 miles) according to my manual but I think that is far too long to have all those bits floating around and without a filter change to boot.
Anyway, I intend to run this fluid for 50,000km (30K KM) and then I will do a pan drop and filter change and put on my new Dorman drain-plug pan. Going in will be Redline C+ which has the same additive package as the Mopar ATF+4 but has a different basestock and better cold weather properties.
Just thought I would share for other 62TE Transmission folks and/or similar Chrysler transmissions that are not the ZF 8 & 9 speeds.
I have 30,000km (Almost 19,000 miles on the van now but it's operated like severe duty with traffic, idling, multiple restarts, and highway driving all in the mix)
I took the cooler return line off the top of the transmission (between the battery and the engine) - Return is the one with the black cap. (White/Grey cap one is the fluid going to the cooler). I attached this to some clear vinyl hose and stuck it in a catch pan under the van. I started the vehicle and let it run out until I started to see it pulsing with air. Shut it down and over filled the pan. Started it back up again and let it continue running out until I had gone through 10 litres of the ATF and the transmission pan was empty. (10 Litres is over what is required for a full fill).
I put the line back on and poured in 4 litres of fluid and checked the level versus the temperature chart and kept topping off until it was full (filling the circuits with fluid in each gear as well). Took it for a drive and then re-checked the level again against the chart/temperature. All good.
I did notice that the outgoing fluid was dark purple in colour and the new fluid going in was more of a dark cherry red. The outgoing fluid also had some fine metallic bits floating in the oil similar to when you change a lawnmower or snowblower's oil, although not quite as much and much finer particles seen in the light.
The oil between the fingers looked a dark red colour and no grit could be felt (Just for an idea of the fluid's condition).
There was a slight change in shifting (improvement) although there was no issues before just something I noticed because I'm anal about that sort of stuff. I noticed that the reverse shudder these are common for is not there and I had it previously, and the 2-1 downshift pulling up to a light is much less noticeable (another common thing with these transmissions when the transmission is hot and there is stop-go traffic) so it appears there is some benefit changing out the fluid early to get the break-in wear out of there.
I changed the fluid in my Journeys 4-speed transmission (which this transmission is similar in design to), and noticed similar characteristics after the change so it confirms my suspicion that shift quality although not a huge difference can be affected somewhat by break-in wear floating around the transmission and getting it out of there is a benefit.
The Mopar fluid is a Group III synthetic (ATF+4) and is MS-9602 spec formula, it has a Lubrizol ad-pack (for those not familiar).
It's supposed to last 192,000km (120,000 miles) according to my manual but I think that is far too long to have all those bits floating around and without a filter change to boot.
Anyway, I intend to run this fluid for 50,000km (30K KM) and then I will do a pan drop and filter change and put on my new Dorman drain-plug pan. Going in will be Redline C+ which has the same additive package as the Mopar ATF+4 but has a different basestock and better cold weather properties.
Just thought I would share for other 62TE Transmission folks and/or similar Chrysler transmissions that are not the ZF 8 & 9 speeds.
Last edited: