I changed my trans fluid (48re) and filter today and i decided to follow the instructions in my factory service manual since this was my first time on an automatic trans.

under fluid capacities fluid/filter change they called for 4qts so i bought 5qts and a filter. i changed the filter then followed the instructions to refill. they said to start by adding 1.5 qts, idle, go through gears, check, and repeat. needless to say the truck was idleing for at least 15 min. while i added .5 qt at a time and went through the gears. the dipstick didnt even show anything until i had put all 5 qts in.

then i had someone drive me back to shrysler to get more fluid and told the guy at the counter what happened. he checked his computer and it also said 4 qts. he knew it was wrong because he has seen the guys in the shop use at least 6 qts before. he said the service manual was wrong, i told him i just learned that the hard way. i ended up using about 7 qts total.

needless to say im a little upset because im sure it wasnt good for my truck to be sitting there running for that long w/ next to no fluid in the trans. light smoke even started coming out of the dipstick tube but went away after i got to about 3 or 4 qts. im sure something was damaged in this process, and even though i should have known better than to start the truck w/ only 1.5qts in it, i was following there instructions to avoid possibly overfilling just like they say to do so i feel like it is chryslers fault if my trans is damaged.

anyway, make sure when you change the fluid in your 48re to start w/ 6qts and go from there, thats what i will do next time for sure.

btw, when going through the gears each time the selector light on the dash cluster wouldnt light up for 1st gear until i had about 5 qts in for some reason, i dont know why maybee it wasnt even shifting into 1st?? now everything seems fine, thankfully.

 

Good you found out before something was damaged.


Thanks for the headsup.