Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
I recently had a Sun Coast torque converter, valve body, and shift kit put in my '01 4WD with Automatic Trans. I had this done at a Dodge dealership. After they completed the work I drove the truck home and over the course of a week I drove it almost 300 miles with about 200 of it at 65+ on the freeway and the rest just city driving, but also a little bit in 4WD in the snow/ice for one day.
Everything seemed to be O. K. , but being the kind of guy who likes to check fluid levels and such... . I decided to check the ATF level and was shocked to see that it barely touched the bottom of the dip stick!!! It took 2 full QUARTS to bring it up to the normal level.
My idea of what happened is this: the mechanic who installed the Sun Coast parts had to do a "pan drop" after the initial installation in order to make final adjustments. I think he forgot to top off the ATF after re-installing the pan. Would that make sense with it being 2 qts. low?
Needless to say, I called the dealership and told my service advisor the story and to "go on record" in case my transmission fails in the near future. The service advisor told me there should be no damage to the transmission because there is a "limp mode" programmed into the truck's computer to safeguard against things like the transmission losing its fluid and that when it goes into this "limp mode" the truck will still drive, but will only go about 30 mph. This did not happen, so he says I have no possibility of any transmission damage.
Have you ever heard of this or is the service writer trying to cover his mechanic's A$$?
At this point, everything seems to be working fine. I use AMS/OIL ATF, and I am thinking this may have lessened my potential damages.
Any thoughts?
Everything seemed to be O. K. , but being the kind of guy who likes to check fluid levels and such... . I decided to check the ATF level and was shocked to see that it barely touched the bottom of the dip stick!!! It took 2 full QUARTS to bring it up to the normal level.
My idea of what happened is this: the mechanic who installed the Sun Coast parts had to do a "pan drop" after the initial installation in order to make final adjustments. I think he forgot to top off the ATF after re-installing the pan. Would that make sense with it being 2 qts. low?
Needless to say, I called the dealership and told my service advisor the story and to "go on record" in case my transmission fails in the near future. The service advisor told me there should be no damage to the transmission because there is a "limp mode" programmed into the truck's computer to safeguard against things like the transmission losing its fluid and that when it goes into this "limp mode" the truck will still drive, but will only go about 30 mph. This did not happen, so he says I have no possibility of any transmission damage.
Have you ever heard of this or is the service writer trying to cover his mechanic's A$$?
At this point, everything seems to be working fine. I use AMS/OIL ATF, and I am thinking this may have lessened my potential damages.
Any thoughts?
ealership closed, get a tow on the way. 1 hr to the Dealership to explain why I am about to burn a bearing. We pull into the dealer and are greeted with "HOWZ THE NEW TRUCK" , that poor fellow is no longer of this earth. I stomp my way into the managers office and was told that it was not their fault and that I should be angry at the tire company! Thats it "GET THE OWNER". 10 minutes go by it seems about a half n hour. What seems to be the problem sir. You know da*$ well what the problem is, I know exactly what you have been doing for the past 10 minutes. Well what do you want us to do about it . First you could cop to your $#@! up, second you could apologise for the whole ordeal and third if you dont want a mark against your five star rating, youll get me home so I can get some sleep, pay the tow and fix the truck! You can drop it off when you are done!
