Transmission service....totally confused.
 

I will make this short.
30k miles on my 09 wrangler, looking to get trans service.

1st dealer: $149 for pan drop and filter replace and about 5 quarts of trans fluid or $199 for flush.

2nd dealer: does not recommend pan drop just a flush with chemical additive and all new fluid for $129

Lee Myles transmission shop: strongly against a flush, said not really good for trans. Recommends pan drop, filter replace and will turn crank case and get about 6.5 quarts out. $124.50 total cost + tax.

So, I think the right move is to go with Lee Myles but I am so confused as some are saying to just do a flush while others say not to.

the dealer with the flushing machine says flush. He has to pay for the machine.....

Pan drop is sufficient, it changes about 1/3 of the fluid. Lee Myles would get closer to half out.
Assuming you have no unusual transmission usage or problems, and that you are just doing regular maintenance on a daily-driver /part-time wheeler, not a lot of towing vehicle, than all you want is a pan drop. Consider welding in a drain plug to make future pan drops easier.....

Do you have an auxiliary cooler? Ever get the "hot Oil" warning?

Just a daily driver.

No aux cooler

Never had the "hot oil" light come on.

Doesn't the owners manual indicate trans service is every 60,000miles? Are having it done early for piece of mind?

BTW, 07 KJ's with the 42RLE don't come with a transmission dipstick. I've heard they were "fill for life". If you can image that.

I agree with OscarTheJeep. You're doing it early and if you don't have any problems and haven't had any contamination, you could save your money for another 30k miles.

The pan drop, with filter and fluid change is best for our vehicles. A new filter is installed and small metal flakes and debris (occurring during normal wear) are removed from the pan and the pan magnet.

A flush in which the pan isn't removed the pan, just allows the debris and broken down material to remain in the filter and attached to the pan and pan magnet. It also forces those fragments to travel to parts of the transmission where they can clog passages and cause more damage.

You risk operator error every time you take your vehicle in. I avoid any and all unnecessary service:

I once took a vehicle in to get a AT gasket leak fixed. After three return trips, they finally stopped the leak alright. But never refilled with AT fluid. It completely cooked itself without warning after 3 days. Of course, they weren't to blame, so I never got a penny back nor help with the replacement. That was a $2000 lesson.

One time I decided to be pro-active, and have all the fluids changed, all hoses, and all belts before giving our main vehicle to our oldest child to drive to high school. After a week, my son indicates his car is slow, and periodically shuts down. I found the lower radiator hose had slipped off, because the shop inverted the clamps. The radiator top was blown OFF. He had driven it three times, overheating the engine till it siezed, and let it cool enough to drive until it siezed again, and so on to get home. Obviously, the shop was not to blame, so I got neither any money back, nor a discount on the head replacement cost. Another $1800 lesson.

I don't get rotors or drums surfaced anymore either. A story for another time.

When I had my Liberty with the 45RFE automatic transmission I had the dealership flush the transmission and then replace both filters. It cost me about $350. I considered it money well spent since I bought the vehicle used with 74K miles on it and I didn't know the maintenance history.

With my JK, I'm still not 100% comfortable with the 60k miles transmission fluid change intervals, but since that's what the owner's manual recommends, I'll go with it. Don't think I won't be keeping a close eye on it though! If I notice any deterioration in the fluid I'll be changing it ASAP.

I'm not convinced ATF+4 is that good to stretch the change interval to 60k miles. I can't help but wonder if it's not a ploy by Chrysler to lower the "cost of ownership". Who knows?

Well, I had the pan removed and filter replaced by Lee Myles. It was $124.50 with tax. It appears they were better educated on the transmission than the dealers. They never offered a flush as they said they are able to turn the crank case and get a lot of the fluid out.

As far as I am concerned Arizona 115*F summers are hard enough on a transmission.

For my own piece of mind I plan on replacing the tranny fluid every 30k miles.

Lee Myles did the right thing.
Your plan for a 30,000 mile service interval is a good one.

Someone a few post ago said the '07s have no dip stick for the automatic. I doubt that is true (willing to be convinced otherwise, though). Can someone else verify one way or the other?