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96 Cherokee 4.0L 2WD trans fluid type

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Old Apr 30, 2020 | 05:50 PM
  #1  
JohnnyXJ1988's Avatar
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From: St Petersburg
Year: 1997
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Default 96 Cherokee 4.0L 2WD trans fluid type

hey guys! Doing fluid changes on my new cherokee. What type of trans fluid does trans use? Is it Dex/Merc ATF fine? I read Bulletin about ATF +4 But I'm hearing the AW4 does not care for that fluid and will overheat trans.
https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/VCA773636 is this what you guys use? Thanks in advance!
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Old Apr 30, 2020 | 07:50 PM
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Dex/Merc. Stay away from the ATF+4.

Any DexMerc will do. Don't sweat the brand. WalMart's house brand is fine.
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Old Apr 30, 2020 | 10:10 PM
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When I changed mine I used ATF+4 because some stupid site listing all the fluid capacities said that's what it took lol.

Thankfully only a couple hundred miles later I found out it should really have Dex/Merc fluid and I drained/refilled again with Valvoline Dex-III/Merc same as you have linked.

After researching what fluid it really calls for and why there is confusion I found out a bunch of political bull is behind the confusion.
End result of plenty of research and common sense says that Dex/Merc is the proper fluid even if ATF-4 does work in many cases.
Plus Dex/Merc is cheaper! 😉
​​​​

Last edited by Zingo; Apr 30, 2020 at 10:21 PM.
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Old May 1, 2020 | 12:42 AM
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Year: 2000 XJ Sport & WJ Laredo
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Chrysler dealerships decided to only stock 1 transmission fluid so as to not make mistakes and the XJ was about to be discontinued at that time anyway. That's the story I got from a parts manager I trust. They've also changed their power steering fluid to a different formulation at about the same time.
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Old May 1, 2020 | 06:25 AM
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Originally Posted by Zingo
After researching what fluid it really calls for and why there is confusion I found out a bunch of political bull is behind the confusion.
End result of plenty of research and common sense says that Dex/Merc is the proper fluid even if ATF-4 does work in many cases.
​​​​

You got that exactly right!

Plus, the transmission's manufacturer, Asin Warner, has never recommended anything but Dex/Merc.
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Old May 1, 2020 | 09:41 PM
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I find it amusing that the AW4 and other Asian Warner transmissions are used in Toyota trucks, especially the smaller ones the ragheads like to use!
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Old May 3, 2020 | 08:25 PM
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Thanks everyone! Been a nice weekend. Trans fluid changed now nice and pink/red. New LED headlamps installed. Hitch installed, new muffler installed and did a full interior detail and 303 aerospace the interior.
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