On Sunday, I was able to get a mobile mechanic from On The Spot Mobile Mechanics scheduled to take a look at our transmission cooling line today. He came as scheduled at 11 am and quickly assessed that the actual hose was fine. It was a simple hose clamp that failed. So all this trouble over what, maybe a $5 part? Ugh. Whatever. At least it's really easy now.
He takes off to get the hose clamp and returns quickly. The hose clamp was no problem but apparently it's very important to use the correct transmission fluid. Because of this, he doesn't trust the average clerk behind the auto parts counter to tell him the correct fluid. He says it's one of the few things he goes direct to the dealer to get. But this is Labor Day and all the dealer's parts counters are closed. So he fixes the hose and reconnects the driveline but the truck is still unusable until I can locate the correct fluid. The mechanic suggests I contact a Dodge dealer the next morning to get the correct fluid. OK, but I still have a transportation issue getting to said dealer to get said fluid. Whatever. I'm sure I can DoorDash it or something...
Since I have the rest of the afternoon with little to do, I start searching the Internet to see if I can figure out what fluid I need. After a lot of reading and learning more about transmission fluid than I ever wanted to, I decide that it's likely "ATF +4" that I need. The good news is it also appears that ATF +4 is backward compatible with all lower rated types of ATF. I'm confident enough to give it a shot and found Advanced Auto Parts has a delivery option.
I get my fluid, fill the truck, and take it for a test drive. Everything seems OK so I think we can try leaving again tomorrow.
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