66RFE Kicked the Bucket

[Fast69Mopar]

So I decided to visit the dealer in person to find out positively if anything, other than the transmission itself, was going to be replaced. The advisor had a conversation with the service technician who is doing the work on my truck and then informed me that the cooler, lines and thermostat were all going to be replaced, not just flushed. As I stated earlier, I am very satisfied with the dealers handling of this repair so far.

This is the correct way to perform the repair under warranty. There are "labor ops" in the warranty book (showing my age here) to flush the cooler and lines and there is also a specific labor of to replace the cooler and the thermostat but it requires the tech to write an accurate story about why they are being replaced and sometimes it requires approval from the zone rep. My zone rep's name is Victoria and she will authorize my warranty repairs like this as long as my story on the repair order is accurate and that when the parts go back to the manufacturer for warranty reimbursement to FCA the failure is identifiable and won't be kicked back.

If the warranty parts get kicked back from the manufacturer and FCA doesn't receive a reimbursement then it gets returned to the dealer for payment unless the zone rep takes care of it. If the warranty reimbursement comes back to the dealer there is always a chance of being back-flagged for the extra warranty labor time and then it's up to the service manager to take the hours back or eat it and the shop pay for it. I don't see it happen too often these days but man, back in 2008-2009 when Chrysler was taking away franchises left and right we had techs getting back-flagged for the smallest warranty repairs over and over.

Sorry for the long rant about warranty work. I'm bored watching the rain.

 

[Sherman Bird]

Trust me, I have thought of this myself! LOL I don't know what failed since the dealer did not tear it down, so I don't know if the valve body was the culprit. Apparently, the metal shavings were all they needed to see. See my additional comments below.

The temptation of doing what @06 Dodge suggested is strong, I have to admit. But at this point I plan on sticking with the OEM unit. I am not sure yet what the total cost of parts and labor would be without the warranty but I think it's safe to say that it's not going to be cheap. I paid somewhere around $3,700 for the MaxCare warranty and I am sure that this just paid for itself, probably twice over or close to it. I don't think that jeopardizing the warranty is worth the risk.

But I do plan on switching out the OEM fluid to Redline after 15,000 miles or so, maybe even sooner. I'll worry about that later, just looking forward to getting my truck back.

Thanks all for your thoughts and comments- much appreciated!

!

 

[BLUKTY2]

As a former factory trained GM and Ford automatic transmission specialist, I can speak with confidence about them.
When these 2 of the "Big 3" had chronic failures with transmissions, they put to use their own in house engineers to work. MANY times, the new OEM replacement parts had been "redesigned" or re-engineered sevreal times by the time I got a hold of the unit to rebuild.
I'd bet dollars to donuts that Chrysler does the same thing.
There ARE a couple of aftermarket companies who do make improved design parts, but, at least at Ford and GM, we were expressly prohibited from using non OE parts.
Overall, the improved pieces ended the pattern failures.
If I had that truck, I'd add a VERY high capacity external or auxiliary transmission oil cooler. I'd change ALL the fluid every 20,000 miles due to how much load you subject it to.
ATF+4 transmission fluid is already synthetic, so, I wouldn't buy botique fluid at 2-3 times the cost of, say, Valvoline.

Thank you for your comments and recommendations. I hope that you are correct concerning updated OEM parts- I have wondered this myself.

I know that reducing the operating temperature would be beneficial to the longevity of the tranny, but I am not sure if adding a high capacity or auxiliary cooler would void my warranty. I don't want to remove the inline thermostat for the same reason. I feel like I'm stuck between a rock and a hard spot in this regard.

Frequent fluid changes are certainly not a problem and I plan on doing so moving forward.

 

[Sherman Bird]

Thank you for your comments and recommendations. I hope that you are correct concerning updated OEM parts- I have wondered this myself.

I know that reducing the operating temperature would be beneficial to the longevity of the tranny, but I am not sure if adding a high capacity or auxiliary cooler would void my warranty. I don't want to remove the inline thermostat for the same reason. I feel like I'm stuck between a rock and a hard spot in this regard.

Frequent fluid changes are certainly not a problem and I plan on doing so moving forward.

That's where you and I differ greatly. I don't give a $hit about a warranty, inasmuch as it isn't designed to protect me; it is designed to limit the manufacturer's liability.

I'm all about effectiveness. I know from MANY years of experience, and formal training, that 95% of the heat generated in an automatic transmission comes from the torque converter. Secondarily, the oil from the cooler goes FROM the cooler after it had done the cooling to the lubrication of the bearings and bushings and planetary sets inside the transmission. (That is why an external auxiliary transmission filter is installed in the cooler RETURN line!

If adding a cooler voids the warranty, I would adopt the mindset that the world has gone to CR_ap.

When I was a young puppy in this profession, I worked on a Chevy one ton 4-door crew truck with a 454 engine and a TH 400 trans. This man which owned the truck was a GM powertrain engineer retired.

He had 2 weird boxes underhood with hoses running into each box (one on each fender liner (those were steel back then, and I rode a Horse around town .

I asked him what those boxes were. One was an engine oil cooler he'd made, and the other was a trans fluid cooler. Each one had a thermostat and a small electric fan made on the boxes. He hauled a 40 foot camper trailer behind that truck.
It had about 100,000 miles on it, and he invited me to pull the trans dipstick (remember those?) and look at how pretty and red-cheery the fluid was.

I did. He told me that that was THE ORIGINAL fluid!

That was in the 1970's.

 

[mtofell]

I don't give a $hit about a warranty, inasmuch as it isn't designed to protect me; it is designed to limit the manufacturer's liability.

Love your input and experience but this makes zero sense. The manufacturer eats the cost for warranty repairs and while in effect I pay nothing for a warrantied item (unless there's a deductible, etc. but that is mostly irrelevant for this discussion). How does this protect the manufacturer and not me?

 

[BLUKTY2]

I am happy to report that I got my truck back yesterday and after putting a few miles on it, all seems to be fine with the new tranny. It took about 6 weeks from when I brought the truck to the dealer to getting it back again.

In addition to the remanufactured tranny, the cooler, lines and inline thermostat were replaced. Quite frankly, I am impressed by the whole repair experience. I feel that I cannot ask for a quicker, smoother process. All done under warrantee and I wasn't charged a deductible. When I agreed to buy the Maxcare warrantee, I thought that there was a $100 deductible every time I had a warrantee claim; this was 9 years ago now so there is a good chance that I am not remembering this correctly (old-timers disease!).

Moving forward, I don't want to do any modifications to the factory setup that might jeopardize my warrantee. So my plan, at least for now, is to have the current ATF replaced in around 8-10,000 miles and replace it with Redline C+ ATF. And from there on do fluid changes around every 20,000 miles. This may be overkill and considered a "waste of money" by some, but I hope that this will get me more than 67,000 miles on the new tranny and it won't affect my warrantee. For me, where I live, where I go and how I use my truck this strategy is a very cheap attempt to keep the tranny alive.

Thanks to everyone who chimed in to this post. VERY much appreciated!

 

[mtofell]

Thanks to everyone who chimed in to this post. VERY much appreciated!

Great to hear! This was pretty much my experience with my warranty repairs (2X tranny, 1 engine). It took some patience but in the end I was taken care of.

 

[angelodimorte]

wow i thought I had issues, tranny replaced 2x, second time, changed all lines, updated valve body, replace trans oil every 30k, in shop today to perform all fluid changes. I had my tranny inspected in Jan, having similar issues, only while towing, Dealership performed pressure tests, no metal , road tested with 10k trailer. could not duplicate. I tow a 8k lb airstream , so I am hoping I get more than 35k on new trans. I also have the max care lifetime with 100 deductible. So happy

 

[joesstripclub]

I doubt I have to mention this…. but a warranty..even a lifetime waranty…only warrants OEM parts.

Replace those wtih non-oem…and you are walking awasy from your warranty….. AND paying extra for the privilege!

If the OEM parts are failure prone and you can replace them and not have an issue in the future, I think you have to weigh that in comparison to time lost for your truck to be repaired. OP said it took 6 weeks to have his transmission replaced, some people can't afford to be without their truck for a length of time. He also had a dealer with a competent service department, I dont think everyone can be so lucky.

 

[Snapper 60]

A 3500 shouldn't that have a Aisin Transmission? Are you running after market tyres and rims if so not a good idea!
I change Transmission Oil every 60,000kms and a have larger transmission pan from ATS Diesel see link https://atsdiesel.com/collections/d...ts-2007-5-6-7l-cummins?variant=45906643157268
they also have a upgrade kit for the 68RFE have a look.

 

[mtofell]

A 3500 shouldn't that have a Aisin Transmission?

Aisin is an option on the 3500 diesel only. Likely in the minority.

 

[06 Dodge]

A 3500 shouldn't that have a Aisin Transmission? Are you running after market tyres and rims if so not a good idea!
I change Transmission Oil every 60,000kms and a have larger transmission pan from ATS Diesel see link https://atsdiesel.com/collections/d...ts-2007-5-6-7l-cummins?variant=45906643157268
they also have a upgrade kit for the 68RFE have a look.

FYI the Aisin transmission was only available in the 3500 if it had an HO engine..