How much you change out and how long you take really depends on how bad it looks. The whole capacity for an AW4 with stock cooler I think is around 8 quarts. So if you did a quart every 4 days you'd take about a month to change it. If the fluid is burnt and there are no symptoms of impending doom then 1 quart per week might be a good idea, or 1/4 quart every few days. Of course if there are symptoms of impending doom you could accelerate that but you risk blowing a glob of varnish into a clutch pack and hey time for a rebuild anyway.

ATF+ 4 *CAN* work in an AW4 but is not a good idea. It has different friction modifiers and I think is slightly thinner than the original spec D/M (D/M 4 is also thinner and incompatible). Many AW4s have been known to slip on this fluid so it is nit recommended.

 

what about filter?

drive less than 10k annually

work is 7 miles away .. random mtn getaways .. not crawling .. yet

the trans cooler lines are pumped within trans? just got new rad installed by shop

 

Filter isn't that huge, IIRC it's basically a screen. My gut response is "no FRAM" but I'm sure anything will work. It's a different environment from an engine - no contaminants - so the screen just needs to stop metal bits.

Yes the AW4 has a pump in it to move its oil around and up to the cooler (stock in trans or aux cooler)

 

Yeah I agree with the others. Pull that plug in your transmission and let it drain as far as it wants to - usually about 2 quarts or so.

Top it back off and get back to your routine.

Couple weeks later, do it again.

Even just after adding 2 fresh quarts I noticed a big improvement in transmission performance.