Agreed.

Its nice to be able to remove the metal screen filter, but its minimal gain for the added materials and time. Most people just need to drain the pan and refill at a reasonable interval. I do mine every 20,000-30,000. Dropped the pan about a month ago to fix a messed up drain plug. The tranny had just over 300,000 miles on it. The pan looked new inside and there wasn't much on the magnets.

Thank you.

The factory interval for a drain and fill was 30,000 miles for normal service and 15,000 miles for severe service.

NEVER a recommended interval for the "screen".

And, they last forever. My buddy's finally bit the dust after 447,000 miles.

Kinda boils down to 'good, better, best' practices, if you ask me. The owner's manual is pretty clear that changing the fluid is the key point point, and I'm inclined to agree. Wanna change the filter? Go for it...I did too. But I'm certain it contributes far less to the transmission wellbeing than regular fluid changes. The old filter I pulled out looked as good as the one I put in. There's no paper/disposable element in the filter...it's just a cheap screen that doesn't catch nearly as much metal sediment as the magnets.

Correct. Wanna torture a newb? Tell him/her to pull the pan and change the "filter".

Wanna be nice? Do the right thing and suggest a drain and fill.

They say a pic is worth 1K words. I hope the pics in this thread will help any/all newbies if they should decide to do a pan drop. Wish I could remember the member that suggested the tubing cutter, rubber hose and clamps so I could thank them again. I certainly would not want to torture anyone, especially a newbie, by suggesting that something as easy as changing the tranny filter is necessary......again, I do hope the pics will help/encourage a newbie should they want to take tranny maintenance a step further.

I wonder, when someone takes their XJ to a shop with shifting problems does the service writer ask "do you remember when the filter was last changed"? or does he say "you didn't change the filter, did you"?

I wanna see a horribly filthy screen.

Where's the pics????

Everyone who HAS changed the screen, post up pics and tell us if you think it was worth it, especially you guys in the rust belt.

Paper or cellulose filters degrade and can cause shifting problems. The metal screens in these are pretty much a lifetime part. As far as I know the only folks that recommend changing the filter are the folks that sell parts or like changing filters. The AW4 transmission is one of the longest living and reliable transmissions ever built.

Maintenance is a good thing and I encourage everyone to keep their fluids clean- engine, transmission, transfer case, axles, coolant, brakes, power steering, etc. But for the transmission, I just don't see a need to remove the 19 bolts and dipstick tube to get at a metal screen filter than won't wear out. Maybe if you bought it used with unknown service history...

Since u can't see well inside the tranny filter, it would need to be cut apart to be examined well. I don't cut apart motor oil filters either, but I do change them. The pics I'm referring to show how to make the "pan drop" easy. I'll be perfectly happy if I'm the only one that changes the tranny filter......can't really say I'm wrong though.....just weird.