jeeper albert

So my XJ's tranny just got rebuilt and it's working great.
The bill.. wasn't so great.
They found a bunch of more stuff wrong with the XJ but I'll save that for another thread.

Now about the tranny,
I want to make sure that rebuilding won't happen again which is why I'm asking..

After how many miles should I give it a service ?
Which parts should I replace/service ?
Which oil is recommended ?
How many bottles of oil does the transmission take ?

Regards,
Albert.

dmill89

After how many miles should I give it a service? The Manufacture recommended fluid change (drain and fill) interval is 30,000 mi, I believe it is 10,000 or 15,000 mi for "severe service" (i.e. towing heavy loads or off-roading).


Which parts should I replace/service? Just the fluid, the "filter" is just a screen, and there is no manufacture recommended replacement interval for this and no need to replace it as a normal maintenance item. If the gasket is leaking drop the pan and change the gasket and "filter" otherwise just drain the fluid via. the drain plug and refill.


Which oil is recommended? DexronIII/Mercon (often sold as Dex/Merc.) is the fluid recommended by the transmission manufacture (Aisin).



How many bottles of oil does the transmission take? Approx. 3.5-4qt. on a drain and fill, 8 qt. total system capacity (including the fluid in the torque converter and cooler lines that won't come out on a drain and fill.


It is probably overkill but I change mine every other oil change since DexronIII/Mercon is cheap ($12/gal at Wal-Mart) and the AW4 has a drain-plug (most auto trans. don't) making fluid changes easy.


If you don't already have one a transmission cooler is highly recommend especially if you tow or spend a lot of time off-road. The B&M70264 is a very good option and highly recommended (there are junkyard options as well if you are looking for something cheap, just make sure to flush it out really good, you never know what crud will be inside of a junkyard cooler).

BlueRidgeMark

Automatic transmissions don't use oil.

They use transmission fluid. In this case, Dex III/Merc, and don't let some parts-house idiot tell you it needs anything else. Some will try.

jeeper albert

Thankyou for the help guys, I really appreciate it.
I'm definitley interested in buying the B&M cooler.

Thanks again.

djb383

Follow the B&M install instructions for max cooling performance.....mount the B&M auxiliary cooler inline with and after the OE factory cooler. The upper hose drivers side on the rad is the tranny fluid return line....run that line to the B&M, then back to the tranny.

Stabsthedrama

Meh....you can do that, but honestly if you research a bit, there's no reason not to just cut the lines from your stock trans cooler (radiator) and just run lines straight to the B&M. Did that on my last 2 4.0's, since half the reason I did it was to not have to mess with the stock radiator fittings, etc - which always rust out/leak/break/are hard to get to.

A lot of people argue back and forth which way is better, but honestly the only reason that matters to me is how much easier it makes everything by just running it to the B&M only. Also at that point, it won't matter which is the send/return, since it's just getting pumped through the cooler (this may vary with certain coolers, but most can be mounted and routed however you want) Ideally you would run it sideways, like the stock rad (send at bottom return at top, so that it's forced to go through it slower) but it doesn't matter.

djb383

I would never recommend to someone eliminating the OE Factory cooler UNLESS one installs a tranny fluid temp gauge to keep tabs on what is going on. Jacking with the Factory tranny cooler set-up, without a tranny fluid temp gauge, is a gamble. The optional Factory auxiliary tranny cooler is set up exactly the way I described....inline with and after the primary rad cooler.

askingxforxit

What he said....

djb383

Nice set-up. Mind sharing avg. winter temp range and avg. summer temp range. Do u find that tranny fluid warms up much slower than engine coolant?....especially in winter driving?

askingxforxit

I put the B&M cooler inline with the factory cooler, it's only been in since the beginning of summer. Average highway temps (65+mph 90+℉) are about 155℉ give or take 10 degrees depending on ambient temp while city driving(0-55mph) it'll get up to at most 185℉ if I'm sitting in traffic with the AC on. I drive home from work at about 11:30pm and highest temp never gets above 110℉. The temp sensor is in the trans-out line. I may a second sensor to the cooler return line but as of now I'm pretty happy with what I've got.

steelybill

One thing for sure.....heat is the ENEMY of auto transmissions...
An extra cooler is cheap insurance.....

SteveMongr

The heat exchanger inside the radiator is to keep the transmission in it's optimum heat range. During normal driving, it adds heat to the tranny.

The AW4 is much cheaper to replace than have a shop rebuild.

djb383

Thanks for the info. Don't have a tranny temp gauge in our XJ but do have auxiliary tranny coolers and use a ScanGauge in our Toyota and GMC and the numbers we see in those 2 vehicles are very similar to the numbers u see in your XJ. Thanks again.

jeeper albert

I've learned that the hard way.
Temperatures at Curacao vary from 82 F to 104 F.

cruiser54

It's a trans heater also: