Oil Change interval Grand Caravan 3.8

[Sonic]

I recently got rid of a 2006 Chrysler T&C with the 3.8. So, pretty much the same van. It did use a full quart of oil every 1500 miles so be aware of that. Sold it with 110,000 miles on it because the transmission was acting up. The whole van would shake when it shifted into the top gear. The rpm's would spike too. It had also developed a very loud ticking sound once it was warm. The body was in decent shape except for some rust starting near the rear right wheel well. The power doors had already both been fixed once to work properly again and the rear power lift gate had a mind of its own. Highway MPG's on it were about 22.5. Around town was about 16-17. The electronic MPG thing was always way off. It would say 25-26 from highway use but it wasn't. I would have kept it longer but I wasn't about to sink money into a trans on a 10 year old mini van. I know another guy who had an '05 and his trans went out at 90K. He had it fixed but then it went out again at 118K. I got 10 years out of it. Did have to replace the alternator and the water pump. Had new plugs and wires too at about 85K.

If the one you bought uses oil you can extend your OCI due to adding new oil all the time.

 

[DeafBrad]

I changed the transmission fluid and filter. Fairly easy thing to do. It didn't even take too long.

I am guess this is the first fluid change it has had. If that is true, it was 2 fluid changes behind. I plan to crack the pan down to flush out the transmission one more time.

This should catch up on fluid changes for the transmission. Before you laugh, don't forget less than half of the fluid drains out when you drop the pan.

In my math, 1 fluid change means there is still 50% of the original fluid that was put in it when it was brand new. Changing it the second time means there is just 25% of the original fluid still left in it.

Now to figure out what is wrong with the ABS and Traction control.

 

[RD_3]

I had an '07 with the 3.8L that would use 1 qt every 1000 miles no matter what I threw into her. I finally settled on Valvoline MaxLife 5w30 and took the OCI out to 7500. With so much fresh oil always being added to the sump throughout the OCI I could have easily gone out to 10K+ miles.


Good luck

 

[DeafBrad]

Originally Posted By: AKA
I had an '07 with the 3.8L that would use 1 qt every 1000 miles no matter what I threw into her. I finally settled on Valvoline MaxLife 5w30 and took the OCI out to 7500. With so much fresh oil always being added to the sump throughout the OCI I could have easily gone out to 10K+ miles.


Good luck

Thanks for the info. For my info, what is Valvoline MaxLife. I figure it is Valvoline oil of some sort. Does the owner's manual refer to using 5w30? Sounds like this is an engine that wants/needs 30 weight oil?

 

[RD_3]

Originally Posted By: DeafBrad
Originally Posted By: AKA
I had an '07 with the 3.8L that would use 1 qt every 1000 miles no matter what I threw into her. I finally settled on Valvoline MaxLife 5w30 and took the OCI out to 7500. With so much fresh oil always being added to the sump throughout the OCI I could have easily gone out to 10K+ miles.


Good luck

Thanks for the info. For my info, what is Valvoline MaxLife. I figure it is Valvoline oil of some sort. Does the owner's manual refer to using 5w30? Sounds like this is an engine that wants/needs 30 weight oil?


Valvoline MaxLife (red bottle). Yes, I would run a Xw30 oil in your '06.

 

[vitez]

Your math isn't my math.

Your math works if the pan drop is exactly 50% of the total capacity which it often isn't. The more pan drops you do the LESS percentage of the total you're actually changing. So you really need 4-5 or more pan drops to get a large percentage of the total ATF changed unless you can drain the torque converter.

But any new fluid is better than none, as long as you change the filter which you've done.

EDIT: DeafBrad: sorry, I was trying to quote your post about ATF changes.

What volume of ATF did you replace with the first pan drop, and what is the total capacity of the transmission?

 

[DeafBrad]

Originally Posted By: vitez
What volume of ATF did you replace with the first pan drop, and what is the total capacity of the transmission?


Refill after a rebuild is 9.something quarts. I drained a little less than 4 quarts. When saying 50% I was speaking in terms of approximate. If I wanted to be accurate the fluid drained out would be 40-45%.

If you drain 50% of the factory fluid and refill it, the remaining factory fill would be 50%. The second time the fluid is drained and refilled, the remaining factory fill would be 25%. (of course, this is assuming a person has driven the car around to thoroughly mix the old and new fluid.) The third time would be 12.5%, etc.