2013 - Journey Crew

I appreciate all the comments everyone. I do tend to favor manufacturer's recommendations the vast majority of the time, and coming from a technical/engineering background myself, I think that that's generally a good practice. However, in this case, 12-years/120,000-miles seems, to me, to be a reeeeeeealy long time to leave a transmission unmaintained, especially since there appears no way for the end-user to even monitor the fluid level of the transmission, nor to check the fluid itself for any suspended detritus or for degredation of the fluid itself. This, to me, goes against all common sense and intuition. I/we passed on our old vehicle to a family member when we got this one. That car was 14-1/2 years old, with under 80,000-miles on it. I don't remember the recommended interval in the manual, I think it was about every 30-40,000-miles, but I changed the tranny fluid & filter about every 10,000-miles(2-years),(I could regularly check the level/color/smell/and "feel" of the fluid, and I could usually tell when it needed to be done), and the oil(synthetic) and filter every 2,000-2,500-miles. Did I waste my money, maybe, but I never had a single engine/tranny problem with that car, ever. Same for the car I had before that, maintained in similar fashion, ~ 8 years ~145,000-miles, passed on to friends, and it was still running and being used 5-6 years later. While I may trust the manufacturer's guideline/schedule, I'm uncomfortable with it this time, and the idea of having no way to check the level and quality of the fluid. I also don't find most dealerships very concientious nor trustworthy(at least not in my area), so being forced to be only able to have it done there doesn't make me feel very confident either. Again, thanks for all your thoughts and comments, they are all helpful and will aid in my decision making. Thanks!! Joe

Hi, Just so I'm clear on this, Dodge/Chrsler recommended 60,000-miles for your 2011,and you're doing it at 30,000? Therefore, your first tranny F&F replcement will be at 30,000-miles, yes? I guess this seems OK to me. However, for 2013 models they're recommending 12-years/120,000-miles before first tranny service(F&F replacement), so even halving that to 60,000-miles seems very high to me, to wait for the first fluid/filter replcement on such a complex and heavily used piece of machinery. Maybe I'm just being paranoid. As for the coolant, yes mine is purple(ish). I was only thinking of doing a coolant change, and maybe a flush, for the same reasons: possible molding/machining detritus from within all the cooling channels of the block. I suppose anything in there would have already ended up lodged someplace in the radiator anyway, so changing and/or flushing wouldn't do much anyway.

Thanks Larry, That's what I was thinking too. I just figure that if doing an oil change early on, to remove any metal shavings etc. from break-in is a good idea, then doing a tranny F&F change would be a good idea for the same reasons. Especially on a fairly new technology 6-speed auto. There must be a ton of gears and moving parts in there as well. Anybody else with thoughts on this, as well as thoughts on these seemingly looong scheduled fluid change intervals? Thanks.

Hi Everyone, As you can see from my screen-name, I have a 2013 Journey Crew with the 3.6L pentastar, and it has just passed 1,000-miles. I usually like to do a first fluid change at about this time, to get rid of all the break-in remnants. But when reading the maintenance schedule in the manual, I was surprised to see the recommended intervals. According to the manual, the first AT fluid & filter change is to be done at 12-years/120,000-miles, whaaaaat!?!?!, the first coolant change is 10-years/100,00-miles. Is this true, this seems to go against every bit of common-sense and intuition about engines and transmissions that I've ever learned? I plan to due an oil change before I hit 1,500-miles, but haven't decided if I should DIY it(I've done my own oil changes for many years), or bring it someplace(dealer, pep-boys, etc.). I was going to have the tranny fluid & filter done as well and maybe the coolant if I were to bring it some place, but now I don't know if I should just do the engine-oil only. I understand the tranny fluid & filter may not be a DIY or even a pep-boys job, is this true also? Any recommendations or advice, WWYD(what would you do)? Joe

Thanks for the welcome!

Hello Everyone, We picked up our white 2013 Journey Crew in December, and I'm lovin' it so far. I do most of the driving, thus the "I'm". :P I just put the first nick in the edge of the driver's door, on a concrete wall at work last night, UGH!! It's good to get the first one out of the way early, me-thinks, but it still sux. Our previous car was a 1998 Intrepid ES. We passed it on to my brother-in-law. I really loved that car, and miss it alot already. Best regards!