I'm not sure if that's acceptable....The transmission doesn't go by what Chrysler said, but by Aisin-Warner, the manufacture. Chrysler put out a service bulletin, after the AW4's were no longer covered by the warranty, that ATF+4 was an acceptable fluid. Go by manufacture, not user. Dex/Merc

 

Not trying to any "experimenting" pretty sure I don't have an AW4 sorry I'm new to this and I'm just doing the TC for now, and will use dexIII FOR THE TRANNY..

 

Well your sureness is wrong lol I would say to do lots of searching and reading and seeing pics to learn what you have before tackling any kind of maintence, are you new to vehicles or the jeep? Because either way our jeeps are special while others times its not lol

 

The AW4 automatic transmission was developed in the 80s by Aisin-Warner, a joint venture between Japanese Aisin (Toyota) and American BorgWarner. The AW4 was sold to Toyota, Volvo, and Chrysler for use in many vehicles.

The AW4 is NOT a Chrysler transmission.

The transmission was designed for GM's Dexron II-E fluid, and was later expanded to include Dexron III, Mercon, and JWS-3309. These fluids are all compatible in the AW4. Dexron III/Mercon fluid is no longer "official" but sold as Dex/Merc or simply D/M.

Chrysler is the ONLY customer of the AW4 that has ever specified a different fluid. As soon as the AW4 transmissions were no longer covered by warranty they stopped carrying the correct lubricant. That's it, that's all.

D/M and Chrysler's ATF+3/4 standards are fundamentally different in the level of friction modifiers required. D/M is very high in friction modifiers and will cause fatal clutch chatter in Chrysler transmissions. ATF+3/4 is very low in these additives and will cause slipping in high mileage GM-style transmissions (such as the AW4).

Multi-Vehicle fluids are not always a good idea as they cannot possibly meet all specifications simultaneously. Obviously meeting one will damage the other. If you read the fine print of most of these they will say "recommended for use in..." or "conpatible with..." and list a wide variety of vehicle manufacturers (useless) or conflictig standards. But very few are actually certifiable as compliant. Those that are specify a few compatible standards only and not everything under the sun. Lucas in particular tends to adopt a "Someone uses us in a race car! Put our snake oil in everything! Woooo race car! Who needs STANDARDS when you have racing!!!"

Buy the Dex/Merc and be done with it like millions of other AW4 owners. This isn't rocket surgery.

 

Second jeep, the other one was an 89 xj i6 . And didn't have to do much to it .
So I have an Aw4 ? My shifter doesn't say Aw4 . How do I identify my tranny? The TC is a 242 and it has a Dana 35 rear. Thanks for the advice too! I'll take that and all the criticism I can get here for all my rookie questions lol

 

You have an AW4. Don't ask your shifter - it doesn't know anything.


Use the Dex. Lose the Lucas.

 

4.0L with an automatic is an AW4. It's written on the transmission itself.

 

it's an aw4

 

Whoa man thanks for that! What a good stickie this would make.once

 

Whoa man thanks for that! What a good stickie this would make.once again thanks Salad you rock !

 

Lmao

 

Went to check the ATF fluid, today and quess it's a 1. " socket not 1 1/4. Like I had. Got the bolt off and fluid came rushing out. How was it so full?
I thought it was only supposed to be right at the top of the fill hole? It says 242 on the TC / D35 rear.

 

Bottom of the fill hole on the transfer case.

What did you pull the plug out of?

 

TC top bolt fill hole, just to check the fluid w/ my finger I was on level ground though.

 

Ah. Well, someone could've overfilled it deliberately or just when it was really cold, or they weren't on level ground. There are cases of the transmission leaking into the transfer case but the stars have to be aligned a certain way.