Dealer $401.00 fluid change

[JacksonH]

Dealer wants $401. 14 + tax to change Frt/rear Diff's, Transfer case, and transmission flush!!! Huuu! thank you, i think I'll do it myself :-laf . Seems a little high to me, right?? I don’t have a real manual, just the little one that came with the 04, 2500 4x4. So my question is what capacities and types Should they take/hold. I tried a search and found a 2,3,4 something formula?? Also are there any toys/tool to pump the fluids with. Much thanks in advance.

 

[JensenC]

Thats about right. The fluid will cost at least $150 min for a few gallons of synthetic gear lube, and undoing all the bolts that hold the covers on can be time consuming. It whether or not you want to spend 1/2 a day doing the work yourself.

 

[cojhl2]

Yea its a bummer, but it cost me about the same 2 yrs ago. I dunno why its so expensive. But if I were you I would bite the bullet and have them do it. it's a real pain specially if you dont have the facilities or the tools.



The good news is you dont have to do it often. My 1990 has had the gear cases changed once with over half million miles on it.



Some say you should change the cases on a more rigorous schedule, but in my lifetime I have had many gearcases that were never changed.

 

[mconstable]

I got a quote last year or the year before while in CA for close to a grand!!

Needless to say, I've been doing it myself ever since.

 

[duckcarvr]

chiltons

i got a chiltons manual from amazon. com for $14 0r 15. it not as good as a dealers manual but a lot cheaper. it gives a lot of info such as capacities, types of fluids and how to change them. fast too only 3 or 4 days.

 

[DPKetchum]

Plus it includes a TRANS FLUSH. What 17 qts of fliud and having the machine. Thats NOT a outaline figure! Do all they quoted and flush the auto the hard way. HAVE FUN!

 

[JCleary]

I do all my own service, not because I'm cheap, but because the dealer techs around here are terrible.



If I bought all the DC fluids for my truck it adds up to about $200 inc. tax. I think it would be worth it to have someone do the job for me for $200... That is, before I put on PML diff covers.

 

[JVolpe]

I paid $263 for oil/lube, front/rear diffs and transfer case. Probably too much, but I just don't have the time or facilities to do it right. Transmission is done by my transmission guru at HotRodDiesels.com. Don't care what that cost because I have not been able to break it yet.



CORRECTION: Wrong invoice it was $323 for the above.

 

[coobie]

Dealer wants $401. 14 + tax to change Frt/rear Diff's, Transfer case, and transmission flush!!! Huuu! thank you, i think I'll do it myself :-laf . Seems a little high to me, right?? I don’t have a real manual, just the little one that came with the 04, 2500 4x4. So my question is what capacities and types Should they take/hold. I tried a search and found a 2,3,4 something formula?? Also are there any toys/tool to pump the fluids with. Much thanks in advance.

I just paid $142 bucks for schaeffers 75-90w gear lube for a 5 gal. pail,and $4. 62 valvoline ATF #4 for the transfer case 4-5 quarts. I also bought schaeffers 5w-40 supreme 9000 syn. for $13. 00 bucks a gal. Dealer here is changing all this out with my fluids and filters for less than $80 bucks plus rotate the tires. coobie

 

[KD7GYJ]

I just got my truck from the shop where they replaced all the fluids except the transmission. The bill came to about $400. 00. Seemed a bit high, but half the expense was in the fluids, gasket material, etc.



I have to weigh the facts, is it cheaper to do it myself and experiment, or would it be cheaper to let them do the work. It is done within the day, I am able to work my regular job, so for me it is a steep bite in the butt, but it is cheaper than doing it myself.



I would like to do the oil changes myself, but I don't have the time to do it, plus disposal of the used fluids is a royal pain and adds to the time involved, so I just have someone else do it.



My time is valuable and I often have to weigh the time vs. money issue.

 

[DPKetchum]

One thing a friend of mine and I discuss about "These"forums is the fact that LOTS of posts about my $40,000 PLUSTRUCK(Bought THOUSANDS less then sticker) and LOTS of posts from SOME trying to start bombs or changing fliuds etc. with NO CLUE to how to change WIPER REFILLS and bitxx about the COST of what a shop chargs AND expect GOLD PLATED SERVICE on top of it. Bet BMW,Porsche,Volvo,Mercedes owners DON"T. I can tell you Cad,Nissan 350z etc. customers DO NOT bitxx about price and VERY FEW attempt ANYTHING themselves. Actuall BEFORE I would EVEN think about LOANERS cars and SERVICE discounts I looked at their SERVICE HISTORY. Nothing but a free oil change etc. and 40k on odometer was a FACTOR in yes or no. spent some MONEY with us,did some MAINTANCE with us made a BIG differance.

 

[donnier]

I used to do all my changes myself but time and mother nature have taken their toll and so I have the dealer do the necessary changes for me.

Usually drop off the truck the night before and by mid day its ready.

I dont have the time or equipment to do them anymore.

Besides this way I dont have to dispose of the fluids.

 

[BHanna]

Sounds like you're doing your 30K service? If you're going to jump into that, you really need a manual. You need to adjust the bands in your transmission and you really can't get that done right without the book (and an inch-lb torque wrench). The other stuff is pretty straight forward and you may be able to get by without the manual.



I think my rear diff took about 3. 5 qts of lube. Front was about 2. 5. I did these quite a while ago so those numbers may be off.



Trans took 5. 5 qts of ATF+4 and transfer case took 2. 5.

 

[johnsogw]

had mine done at j-lube for $25 for each . didn't have transmission oil [6-speed] so total was $75... front, rear diff and transfer case... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

 

[CDonaldson]

I plan on doing my own servicing of the fluid changes for the front/rear differentials, transfer case and transmission just like I am doing my own oil changes. I have the time, tools, etc to be able to do these things. If I had an auto transmission, that might be the one thing I would have the dealer do because of the band adjustment. As far as the service to flush the transmission, I would not have just a flush done, so I would do the oil change myself. When you drop the pan you also change the filter. A flush does not change the filter, so to me a flush is pretty useless. Any transmission shop can do your transmission for you at a reasonable rate changing both the fluids and the filter.



I figure I am going to add the aftermarket covers at the time I do these changes. It will cost me the same in the overall as having the dealer do the work, and a little more at that time, but it will give me covers that add a little more oil capacity, add a drain plug for doing the changes in the future, add a dipstick for checking the fluid level, and also give me the ability to add temp sensors to monitor my differential road temps. I live in the HOT desert SW and road temps can cause a lot of early differential problems, so I will be able to change fluids more easily with the new covers. Instead of paying for the dealer's labor I am investing the same amount of money into the covers.



I am at 5K on my truck right now, doing the 2nd oil change today, and using their recommended fluids and filter. That is 2 more oil changes than they recommend according to their warranty requirements. I will always change my oil at the 2500 mile mark even if the oil is a little more costly in the overall. The big repair bills as compared to the little oil change bills are my impetus. When not paying all the dealer labor it comes out about the same.



I would probably have had it all done at the dealer, but I want to be active regarding these things and sitting in a waiting room is not active, it's passively assuming things are getting done right. In the long run the entire expense of buying the vehicle and doing these maintenance items comes out of my pocket, so I might as well also do the labor.



CD

 

[bmoeller]

undoing all the bolts that hold the covers on can be time consuming.

You need air tools. A small 3/8" butterfly impact makes short work of it.

 

[Jeremiah]

Warranty issues if no change diff fluid

An insider friend at my dealer told me the extended warranty could be voided if an owner can't show diff fluid change at 60,000 miles using correct weight. The person also commented on owners who try to save a buck by going to Wal-Mart. Don't do it, he said, because WM doesn't have the required fluid. Just passing along what I was told by my insider friend.



I also replaced my manual trannie fluid at a local race shop. These fellers are pros and know what they're doing. Except they don't know Dodge manual trannies because mine became almost impossible to shift without grinding gears after the oil was replaced. Shifted fine after it warmed up, but not first thing in the a. m. Took the truck to my dealer and he replaced the fluid with what DC recommends. Truck shifted normally after that. Fellers at the race shop gave me a refund.

 

[J.BURCHFIELD]

You will know when you fill them up how much they take, I believe it is approx a gallon for the differentials the tran I don't know and I don't know about the transfer case. Not much help I know but I wanted to jump in to suggest you use 100%synthetic gear oil. Running temp. will be lower, less friction.

 

[JacksonH]

Thanks guys I did buy the cheapy manuel and checked it out. But it seems the price is in the ball park, SOOOOOO I'll let the dodge boys do it :-laf Hea thanks for all the good responses. jackson out

 

[ACoffel]

While I understand that some of you guys don't have the time or tools do do your own

maintenance, for those who do I can't imagine letting some punk with no vested interest and more than likely limited knowledge handle the task of changing your $40k

trucks "life blood" . I am way too picky to trust a hireling with my truck ! Sure it's

a pain removing all the bolts and disposing of used fluids, but in the end I KNOW that

the job was done right and no detail spared.