Spent some time with a Chrysler mechanic

[vtmdsm27]

I spent a couple of hours with a no-nonsense Chrysler dealer mechanic this past weekend. He specializes in trannys, but works on a lot of repairs. He is from my church, and given the fact that I know him and the casual atmosphere in which we were talking (I was riding with him back from a church men's retreat), I trust his judgement.

I was able to verify some things said on this forum, and debunk some.

Mainly what I got from our discussion is that we have a transmission that is tried and true, and used on 100s of thousands of Chrysler products. It's a good tranny, despite what naysayers proclaim on this site. BUT, it is not a tank. We have to take care of our trannys. Regular fluid changes as recommended on here. The motor is rock solid also - again, used in 100s of thousands of vehicles.

I would say that I plan to keep my PT for over 200k. I've always been good at preventative maintenance, and that's what the PT needs to keep rolling.

[Dino]

Originally Posted by vtmdsm27

I spent a couple of hours with a no-nonsense Chrysler dealer mechanic this past weekend. He specializes in trannys, but works on a lot of repairs. He is from my church, and given the fact that I know him and the casual atmosphere in which we were talking (I was riding with him back from a church men's retreat), I trust his judgement.

I was able to verify some things said on this forum, and debunk some.

Mainly what I got from our discussion is that we have a transmission that is tried and true, and used on 100s of thousands of Chrysler products. It's a good tranny, despite what naysayers proclaim on this site. BUT, it is not a tank. We have to take care of our trannys. Regular fluid changes as recommended on here. The motor is rock solid also - again, used in 100s of thousands of vehicles.

I would say that I plan to keep my PT for over 200k. I've always been good at preventative maintenance, and that's what the PT needs to keep rolling.

I think most of us agree with that.

[heifetz17]

While I agree wholeheartedly, keep in mind that not all Chrysler 2.4s are the same engine. There are several different ones. For instance, the 2.4 in my wife's Avenger is not the same 2.4 as in my PT.

Good point though, about the maintenance. We see very few problems at our dealership with PTs that have been well maintained.

[wwpptc]

I agree holeheartedly!!! That's why you haven't heard anything bad from me about our engines or tranny's. I LOVE my PT and it's a lot more than hundreds of thousands of our trannys that are out there and working fine. The PT alone sold almost a million and a half units and that doesn't include the other Chrysler products that share our drivetrain.

Jerry

[eastmountain]

Good to hear. I will confess I've not been very good about preventive maintenance with my other cars in the past, but I plan to be with my PT Cruiser convertible. I love how it looks and runs and handles, and I hope to have it a long, long time, so I'm going to do frequent oil changes and make sure I get synthetic oil for the sake of the turbo. My cars in the past were pretty much beaters...old pickups that I didn't even wash because I didn't care how they looked. The PT is different. I want to baby this one.

Did the mechanic say anything about how often to change the tranny fluid? Does anyone else have maintenance recommendations?

[quicksilverdon]

Originally Posted by eastmountain

Did the mechanic say anything about how often to change the tranny fluid? Does anyone else have maintenance recommendations?

Flush (with a machine, not chemicals) every 50,000 miles.

[Kevhead]

Any recomendation when to change the Getrag fluid (besides what the scheduled maintenance states)?

[SantaGuy]

Originally Posted by quicksilverdon

Flush (with a machine, not chemicals) every 50,000 miles.

Don,

I'm coming up om 30K and was planning a tranny flush then. Is that too soon? I do not drive my PT hard.

[heifetz17]

Originally Posted by SantaGuy

Don,

I'm coming up om 30K and was planning a tranny flush then. Is that too soon? I do not drive my PT hard.

There's no such thing as "too soon" unless you're talking 10k miles or so.

If the fluid isn't bright red, by all means flush it. You don't need to wait until 50 or 60k, in fact my personal recommendation is to inspect the fluid every 15k and replace every 30k.

[vtmdsm27]

30K to 50K, depending on your area. And whatever you do, don't overfill it. This causes air bubbles, the kiss of death to our trannys.