I bought a 2001 Cherokee limited with 91k miles last week. It appears to be in mint condition. The previous owner bought it new and gave me all the maintenance records. He changed oil every 5K miles using Castrol 10W-30 full synethic and I found where he changed the transmission filter and fluid at 81k. I noticed that the shop used Royal Purple Max ATF (synthetic) so I would appreciate anyone's opinion of Royal Purple Max ATF. I have never used any Royal Purple products and have no experience with them. I was also considering Valvoline Maxlife ATF.

I noticed in the owners manual that Dex II/III is recommended ATF, and ATF+4 is specified for the NP231 transfer case. Why would transmission and TC fluid recomendations be different, is it about the manufacturer pushing their own spec fluid vice a real technical reason?

T. Mims

 

Royal Purple all the way, well worth the price.

 

i would not touch royal purple from what i've read on here!

 

Well... the manufacturer of the T-case specified Dex II/III when it was first used. Chrysler said ATF+4 mainly because they issue the licenses so they make money every quart that is sold.

But the environment inside of the transfer case is much different than that of the inside of the transmission. The transfer case is chain driven with no clutches to slip unlike the transmission. This difference is why the recommendation of the different transmission fluid doesn't cause a problem.

Chrysler also changed their recommendation for the AW-4 fluid once most of them were out of their warranty period.

Valvoline makes very good conventional fluids. They always have and hopefully always will. I won't say negative things about Royal Purple... but I won't say positive ones about the way they conduct their business either.

 

Just don't use ATF+4. Stick with the Dex/Merc.

 

I've used RP in my drag car and many of my vehicles and never had an issue. Their business practices may be one thing, but their product is among the best.

 

Thanks for all the feedback, the tranny has been working smoothly with 6 quarts of RP ( partial fill) for the last 10K miles, guess it doesn't matter that much in my case which I use. I'll only drive it 8-10k per year and I always change my transmission fluid once/year anyway.