Johnny Cache Posted March 31, 2019 Report Share Posted March 31, 2019 As I have discovered these new cars don't have a dipstick for the tranny. How do you check the fluid on a 2014 Journey 3.6 AWD? And, what kind of fluid would you put in it? Is there a filter that needs replacing? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhareFred Posted March 31, 2019 Report Share Posted March 31, 2019 Kinda complicated. You need special tools. Since it’s a sealed transmission , no real need to check it unless you have issues. I leave it it to the dealer myself. I have a lifetime power train and extended warranty so I’d rather pay to have them do the PM and be covered if something goes wrong. 2late4u and jkeaton 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2late4u Posted April 1, 2019 Report Share Posted April 1, 2019 i did use my reg oil dipstick for measurement for the trans, gt the measurement off a you tube for marking it i simple file scrape on the stick marks the stick real easy,just make sure you clean the oil off first and replace the cap securely... jkeaton and OhareFred 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve from Indy Posted April 8, 2019 Report Share Posted April 8, 2019 On 3/31/2019 at 7:19 PM, OhareFred said: Kinda complicated. You need special tools. Since it’s a sealed transmission , no real need to check it unless you have issues. I leave it it to the dealer myself. I have a lifetime power train and extended warranty so I’d rather pay to have them do the PM and be covered if something goes wrong. "No real need to check it unless you have issues." I think that is one of the dumbest statements I've heard all week. Our transmission (70K Miles) was replaced last week at the tune of $4,464. Maybe had I been able to keep an eye on the fluid level, color and smell, our Journey might have it's original transmission. I know the rebuttal from some will be, "well, you could have taken the car to the dealer for regular transmission check-ups!" Really? ....Really? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2late4u Posted April 8, 2019 Report Share Posted April 8, 2019 1 hour ago, Steve from Indy said: "No real need to check it unless you have issues." I think that is one of the dumbest statements I've heard all week. Our transmission (70K Miles) was replaced last week at the tune of $4,464. Maybe had I been able to keep an eye on the fluid level, color and smell, our Journey might have it's original transmission. I know the rebuttal from some will be, "well, you could have taken the car to the dealer for regular transmission check-ups!" Really? ....Really? well you could have checked the fluid for color and and smell all you have to do is reach down and unscrew the cap off and use your oil dip stick after wiping it clean and push it down into the trans dip stick hole and remove to see the color and then smell it if you had wanted to,plus as i stated above plenty of you tube videos that tell you how to mark the oil dip stick to use to check your trans level..if you had been so worried about it or you could have bought the trans test stick from dodge if not sure you want to use the oil dip stick,,,but it is easier to complain about it after not worrying about checking it for 70 k...right... jkeaton 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhareFred Posted April 8, 2019 Report Share Posted April 8, 2019 (edited) 3 hours ago, Steve from Indy said: "No real need to check it unless you have issues." I think that is one of the dumbest statements I've heard all week. Our transmission (70K Miles) was replaced last week at the tune of $4,464. Maybe had I been able to keep an eye on the fluid level, color and smell, our Journey might have it's original transmission. I know the rebuttal from some will be, "well, you could have taken the car to the dealer for regular transmission check-ups!" Really? ....Really? One of the dumbest statements I’ve heard all week came from someone with a 6 year old car crying because something broke, but i’ve had a slow week. Edited April 8, 2019 by OhareFred Armando G, mechanical-idiot, 2late4u and 1 other 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtomatoman Posted April 8, 2019 Report Share Posted April 8, 2019 3 hours ago, Steve from Indy said: Maybe had I been able to keep an eye on the fluid level, color and smell, our Journey might have it's original transmission. Ok. Steve. Maybe it wouldn't have made any difference what your dipstick told you. Cars have problems sometimes. My transmission also failed at 77K. There were no symptoms. I had it serviced by the dealer at 60K miles. It was replaced under my lifetime warranty. Yes. I'm pissed at chrysler. Will these transmissions begin dropping like flies? Dunno. Time will tell. Don't be a hater. It's so unbecoming. At least don't do it here. You'll likely get more likes on a honda forum. Here you'll find as much DJ help as we can provide through a forum. Peace. 2late4u and OhareFred 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve from Indy Posted April 9, 2019 Report Share Posted April 9, 2019 So the key to owning a Dodge Journey now is to ignore the vehicle’s owner manual and assume the car needs servicing a lot more often than indicated ...and disregard the “dealer servicing only” fluid cap. Got it, thanks. mkmac 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2late4u Posted April 9, 2019 Report Share Posted April 9, 2019 2 hours ago, Steve from Indy said: So the key to owning a Dodge Journey now is to ignore the vehicle’s owner manual and assume the car needs servicing a lot more often than indicated ...and disregard the “dealer servicing only” fluid cap. Got it, thanks. what an idiot you are Steve, do you need any cheese to go with your whine????? jd00d 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtomatoman Posted April 9, 2019 Report Share Posted April 9, 2019 2 hours ago, Steve from Indy said: So the key to owning a Dodge Journey now is to ignore the vehicle’s owner manual and assume the car needs servicing a lot more often than indicated ...and disregard the “dealer servicing only” fluid cap. Got it, thanks. I did mine at 5 years. Per the manual... OhareFred 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2late4u Posted April 9, 2019 Report Share Posted April 9, 2019 3 hours ago, redtomatoman said: I did mine at 5 years. Per the manual... had my 2014 done at about 70k just thought it would be a good idea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve from Indy Posted April 9, 2019 Report Share Posted April 9, 2019 I agree, I think checking and changing the transmission fluid regularly (and not at the owners manual recommendation) is a good idea for this particular transmission. I wish I’d known of the 62TE’s issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Cache Posted April 9, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2019 Thanks for all the replies. Whew, I didn't mean to start a brush fire amongst us. So what I'm getting out of this is, there is a way to check the tranny oil, they just don't provide a way, like the good old days. From my limited experience with Dodge cars and automatic transmissions in general (most of my previous cars were manual tranny) it's good to hear all the pro and con. Thanks for all that. IMHO the first line of preventative maintenance is to check fluid levels and their condition. Surely you would want to make sure your brake fluid was at a safe level and the same for the engine oil and cooling system, so why not the tranny? My best guess is so people don't mess with it or maybe to save a few $$$ building the car. Neither reason is a good one to me. I'll check out the videos and find out what I can about it. It's a shame they don't put out a service or repair manual like Haynes or Chilton, I used to buy one for every car I owned and did most my own work. Times have changed, now they want you to buy a DVD for a few 100 dollars or subscribe to a online manual, I think that's BS. So I've learned allot from all this, and hope this car last along time with few issues. Summer Solstice 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfurth Posted April 9, 2019 Report Share Posted April 9, 2019 1 hour ago, Steve from Indy said: I agree, I think checking and changing the transmission fluid regularly (and not at the owners manual recommendation) is a good idea for this particular transmission. I wish I’d known of the 62TE’s issues. I've got a 2010 Town and Country with a 62TE transmission and 140,000+ miles. I've had the fluid and filter changed twice (once at 60k, again at 120k, per the manufacturer recommended cycle under severe duty, since it was a rental fleet vehicle before I purchased it). It had developed a leak at the output shaft seal somewhere around 50k miles, and it was fixed under the powertrain warranty with no issues since. For every person blasting the component on the internet, there are a few hundred happily chugging along. Things break. Thing which move break faster. Things which move and pull several thousand pounds of metal and people break faster still. A vehicle is not an investment - it is a capital expense. Never forget that. Summer Solstice, John/Horace, OhareFred and 1 other 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Cache Posted April 9, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2019 After seeing a few videos on the subject another question comes up which tranny do I have? My 2014 Journey is AWD and I'm not sure it's the same as the FWD models, is the 62TE used in my car? Something or else? Then again there is the transfer case and driveline to consider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2late4u Posted April 10, 2019 Report Share Posted April 10, 2019 vin # and call your local dealership easy to find out real quick....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natefrog2 Posted July 1, 2019 Report Share Posted July 1, 2019 On 4/9/2019 at 12:23 PM, Johnny Cache said: After seeing a few videos on the subject another question comes up which tranny do I have? My 2014 Journey is AWD and I'm not sure it's the same as the FWD models, is the 62TE used in my car? Something or else? Then again there is the transfer case and driveline to consider. When I looked up Dodge Journey on wikipedia my takeaway was the 3.5-3.6L engine's have a 62TE transmission and the 2.4-2.7L have the 41TE transmission. Also notes that the 62TE transmission often runs into issues when you don't use Chrysler's own transmission fluid. Take all of this for what it is worth as I know wikipedia isn't the end all/be all. I have a 2012 Crew with 84,000 miles and yeah I'm nervous to ride it out until 120,000 per my service manual. I bought it used at 45,000 miles and assume the dealer didn't replace the fluid at that point. But I can certainly see Steve's frustration with following the service guide and then running into issues at 77K miles. I also have a Ford Fusion and the manual has to replace the fluid every 30K which seems excessive the opposite way. And I assume when I replace my fluid (not flush), I would want to request the filter to be changed too...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechanical-idiot Posted July 1, 2019 Report Share Posted July 1, 2019 Always change the filter as well. For best results use the proper Mopar filter straight from the dealer. Don't use anything else. I let the dealer do the dirty work for me. mechanical-idiot larryl 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2late4u Posted July 1, 2019 Report Share Posted July 1, 2019 if any one really is worried about the condition of the trans oil but doesn't want to pay to have it serviced,just go too harbor freight or any parts store and buy you a oil pump (less than $10)then buy the required transmission oil and insert the hose down thur the dipstick tube for the trans and pump out one quart of oil and then replace with the new fluid, do this every oil change and it wont break the bank and is simple and takes less than 5 minutes,sure you are mixing new with old but at least you will be removing and adding new trans fluid i did this on my daughters caravan yrs ago as it had to many miles to do a complete trans service, as they say it might start slipping,, never had any problems with her trans and she used it on a mail route. probak118 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
probak118 Posted April 12, 2020 Report Share Posted April 12, 2020 (edited) Sorry for resurrecting this post ( funny I said that on Easter Sunday ). Being that we are on house arrest at this time for the safety of us all I decided to try 2late4u's idea since changing my trans filter only allowed for 5 litres of fluid drain. I purchased a princess auto oil / fuel pump for $13 and changed 3.5 L thru the "dealer only servicing" tube / filter pan before sucking air. I'll wait a couple weeks and change another 3.5 L with new fluid, should have almost a complete change over then after a total of 12 L drain and fills. Thanks for the idea. Edited April 12, 2020 by probak118 spelling error 2late4u 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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