Confused by Owners Manual Maintenance Schedule

[onecrazyfoo4u]

So my 2012 3.6L DJ is almost 3 years old, and just rolled 80k miles. These are 90% highway miles, we don't drive it offroad or in extreme conditions; and tow very rarely. But we do live in the desert, where it reaches 105-110deg F a couple months out of the year. I'm thinking it's about time to start thinking about replacing the coolant, transmission fluid, and spark plugs. But the manual is very confusing for coolant and transmission flush.

For the transmission it is checked in the maintenance log at the 64k mile mark and says:

"Change the automatic transmission fluid and filter(s) if using your vehicle for any of the following: police, taxi, fleet, or frequent trailer towing."

And then at the 120k mile mark it says this:

"Change the automatic transmission fluid and filter(s)."

So do I ignore the 64k mile maintenance and not change the transmission fluid until 120k miles?

For coolant it is checked in the maintenance log at the 80k and 104k mile mark, yet it says this:

"Flush and replace the engine coolant at 60 months or 104,000 miles (169 000 km) whichever comes first."

So what do I do? Replace it at 80k miles or 104k miles? Very confusing...

Then for spark plugs it's clearly written to replace at 96k miles...so I'll do that then.

What do you all think for transmission and coolant? Should I flush out the transmission, or just change it and the filter? Thanks!

[bramfrank]

I'm not about to get out the manual, but from what you've quoted it seems clear enough to me;

At 64K you check the fluid for level and color. At 120K you drain, flush, replace filters and refill.

Same story for coolant; check at 80K, flush and fill at 5 years or 104K miles.

Of course nothing prevents you from doing these maintenance procedures more often - a clean engine is a happy engine.

Edited February 13, 2015 by bramfrank

[2late4u]

i was just looking at the manual also and oil changes are not quite clear my dealer rec/ 3000 miles between changes but the book says wait for the light. but i am going to wait for the light or about 5-6k. as far as the trans fluid and filter i would let the dealer do it about 60-70k since you are in a hot climate and tow once in a while and might as well let them do the antifreeze as well that way you are covered. it never hurts to do it a little early i don't like to do the trans flush pros and cons on both sides of the coin on that one. but id let the dealer do it as that way any problems should come up they cant say jiffy lube did it wrong and as expensive as the transmissions are now.... also most dealers are always offering service deals on such so not that much more than the fly by night places

[onecrazyfoo4u]

For the coolant it doesn't say anything about checking the coolant at 80k miles. It says change at 80k and 104k miles. Just doesn't make any sense.

And it just can't be right to wait until 120k miles for a transmission flush. That's a long time for the original fluid!

I'll probably start checking with the dealer to see if they have any deals on the transmission flush or change. The coolant I will do myself, but I'll probably wait until 104k miles since the fluid is only 3 years old. I hate taking my vehicle to get serviced, but I don't exactly have the equipment to do a transmission flush myself!

[Journey_SeXT]

I'm not about to get out the manual, but from what you've quoted it seems clear enough to me;

At 64K you check the fluid for level and color. At 120K you drain, flush, replace filters and refill.

Same story for coolant; check at 80K, flush and fill at 5 years or 104K miles.

Of course nothing prevents you from doing these maintenance procedures more often - a clean engine is a happy engine.

+1 ^^

[Journey_SeXT]

For the coolant it doesn't say anything about checking the coolant at 80k miles. It says change at 80k and 104k miles. Just doesn't make any sense.

And it just can't be right to wait until 120k miles for a transmission flush. That's a long time for the original fluid!

I'll probably start checking with the dealer to see if they have any deals on the transmission flush or change. The coolant I will do myself, but I'll probably wait until 104k miles since the fluid is only 3 years old. I hate taking my vehicle to get serviced, but I don't exactly have the equipment to do a transmission flush myself!

Like you I will be doing the coolant this year myself. I think doing it a bit earlier than the manual's mileage is a good thing and couldn't hurt the vehicle....I'm just hoping by the time I hit the year 5 mark someone out their will put a youtube how to on replacing the tranny fluid in our sealed units so I can avoid going to the dealer.

[OhareFred]

You can always change the fluids early, no harm to anything but your pocket book. On my 09 with 60,000 miles, this fall I changed trans fluid, and coolant. I change the oil every 5,000 with Mobil 1. I never tow, but live in the city, in Chicago where temps can be -20 to 105! I'd rather change early than be on the side of the road! Owners manual are kinda like guidelines, stating the max. time and miles, imo. Good luck!

[Journey_SeXT]

Agreed, 3000 miles is way too soon with Pentastar engines which is very easy on the oil,

Edited August 4, 2016 by jkeaton

[jkeaton]

 Dealers want nothing more than your money.

Edited August 4, 2016 by jkeaton

[Lobitz68]

10k on my 2014...

Edited August 4, 2016 by jkeaton

[rolly]

I took my DJ to the dealer for an oil change (my oil changes are included in the warranty) this morning and noticed the sticker they put on the windshield to remind me for the next one was for 10,000 kilometres ( a little over 6200 miles). They always put 5, 000 kilometres (3100 miles) before. That's the second time in a row they've done this, but I thought the first time they had made a mistake. I'm thinking customers must have told them to look in the owners manual. Welcome to 2015.

Edited February 19, 2015 by rolly

[Journey_SeXT]

I took my DJ to the dealer for an oil change (my oil changes are included in the warranty) this morning and noticed the sticker they put on the windshield to remind me for the next one was for 10,000 kilometres ( a little over 6200 miles). They always put 5, 000 kilometres (3100 miles) before. That's the second time in a row they've done this, but I thought the first time they had made a mistake. I'm thinking customers must have told them to look in the owners manual. Welcome to 2015.

Is that on conventional oil? If so, I am surprised the dealer would do that.

[rolly]

Is that on conventional oil? If so, I am surprised the dealer would do that.

Yes.

[Lobitz68]

Is that on conventional oil? If so, I am surprised the dealer would do that.

why are you surprised? It is still markedly sooner than the manual states...

[Journey_SeXT]

The manual tries to show the lowest maintenance cost to the consumer and why they show some pretty high mileage between OCI's....the dealer on the other hand doesn't look out for the consumers wallet so that is why I am surprised. I thought for sure they might stretch it to a max of 3,750 miles (6,000 km's) but 10,000 km's is great....maybe there is hope for some dealerships or maybe FIAT requested that they increase OCI's? I know the last time I had mine done at the dealer a few years ago slapped at 3,000 mile sticker.

Edited February 20, 2015 by Journey_SeXT

[onecrazyfoo4u]

The manual tries to show the lowest maintenance cost to the consumer and why they show some pretty high mileage between OCI's....the dealer on the other hand doesn't look out for the consumers wallet so that is why I am surprised. I thought for sure they might stretch it to a max of 3,750 miles (6,000 km's) but 10,000 km's is great....maybe there is hope for some dealerships or maybe FIAT requested that they increase OCI's? I know the last time I had mine done at the dealer a few years ago slapped at 3,000 mile sticker.

Ignore what the dealer says. Follow the manual and you are just fine. Dodge published the manual oil change timelines along side with the warranty they provide. They would not give you a 100k mile powertrain warranty if they thought 8k or 10k mile oil change intervals was unsafe.

[Journey_SeXT]

Ignore what the dealer says. Follow the manual and you are just fine. Dodge published the manual oil change timelines along side with the warranty they provide. They would not give you a 100k mile powertrain warranty if they thought 8k or 10k mile oil change intervals was unsafe.

Oh I've ignored them alright, I haven't used the dealer since 2012 and do my own maintenance. I replace my oil every 5,000 miles which is probably too soon on these engines but I find changing oil very therapeutic so I don't mind doing it little more frequently. Also looks good on the maintenance log if I had to sell it.

Edited February 21, 2015 by Journey_SeXT