2010 Dodge Caravan 50,000 purchased used

Status
Not open for further replies.
J

JFG

Joined
Jan 17, 2016
Messages
15
Location
ON
I just purchased a 2010 Dodge Caravan with only 50,000 kms. The car runs great, no gear issues etc.

As the car is 6 years old, I am thinking of doing a coolant flush and then replacing the coolant with brand new coolant. The reason being is that the coolant in there is rated for 5 years and I have no clue if a flush has ever been done on the car.

The oil was changed recently by the dealer and still relatively clean, but I wanted to put synthetic Royal Purple in there with a synthetic long range oil filter. Should I wait to do this? Am I risking leaks from seals seeing the car is 6 years old? Oil change appear to have been done at regular intervals (roughly 7 to 10k on average), but likely have gone over the 6 month recommended range.

Lastly, wondering if I should drain the transmission and power steering.

Anything else you think I should look at doing to ensure this car stays in great shape and with us for the long haul?
 
Originally Posted By: JFG
I just purchased a 2010 Dodge Caravan with only 50,000 kms. The car runs great, no gear issues etc.

As the car is 6 years old, I am thinking of doing a coolant flush and then replacing the coolant with brand new coolant. The reason being is that the coolant in there is rated for 5 years and I have no clue if a flush has ever been done on the car.

The oil was changed recently by the dealer and still relatively clean, but I wanted to put synthetic Royal Purple in there with a synthetic long range oil filter. Should I wait to do this? Am I risking leaks from seals seeing the car is 6 years old? Oil change appear to have been done at regular intervals (roughly 7 to 10k on average), but likely have gone over the 6 month recommended range.

Lastly, wondering if I should drain the transmission and power steering.

Anything else you think I should look at doing to ensure this car stays in great shape and with us for the long haul?



Drain and fill all of those fluids. No need to flush", especially transmission. On that perhaps do two or three drain and fills and then every 30k.

If you want to squeeze a bit of usefulness out of the oil in there now, drop a bottle of Techron in the tank and then change the oil out when that is gone.
 
Switching to Royal Purple, or other synthetic, is not a problem.

The coolant flush sounds like a good idea.

Doing a periodic drain & fill on the power steering and transmission is a great idea to give those systems longevity. On some cars draining the transmission is as easy as draining the engine oil. My Saab is like that, and I've found that doing a drain & fill at every-other oil change (roughly 10,000 mile intervals) is easy to do and keeps the ATF in great shape.

I use a vacuum brake bleeder to suck the power steering fluid out of the PS reservoir for each of my cars, about once every two years. That keeps the fluid nice and fresh, and hopefully prolongs the life of the rack and PS pump.
 
Thanks for the info.

By 2 or 3 drains, I know that when you drain and fill you only get roughly 30% out, so I think that is why you say do 2 or 3. But do you mean do that in the same sitting, or drain once, fill, drive around for a week or so, drain again etc.

That being said, this van does not have a drain plug on the transmission I don't think, you have to remove the whole pan, change the filter and seal.

Not familiar with Techron but sounds like a good idea from what I see online.
 
My preference on oil would be something like 5W-30 PYB, stock oil filter and 8,000 km oil change interval.
Engine won't know any difference, but your wallet certainly will.
 
On second thought, not sure I can get hands on techron? Any other alternatives? What about next fill, filling up on premium, would that achieve similar results?
 
Lastly, is there any thing I am not thinking of doing here that you feel I should be looking at changing or replacing?
 
I'm not totally sure you need to do a coolant swap.

Years ago I invested in some "coolant test strips" from some highly regarded tool supplier. The strips not only test the cooling/boiling point, but also the ph level of the coolant.

I tried them on my new (to me 2.5 years ago) Focus with it's original fill from the factory, and it was perfectly within spec.

Also, for the trans, yes. swap out a few liters at a time. During this time you'll notice the shifts become smoother.

Congrats on the purchase. Oh and IMHO, RP oil is kinda overkill on a DD minivan. I'm sure you can save a few bucks with a cheaper brand
 
Originally Posted By: JFG
Thanks for the info.

By 2 or 3 drains, I know that when you drain and fill you only get roughly 30% out, so I think that is why you say do 2 or 3. But do you mean do that in the same sitting, or drain once, fill, drive around for a week or so, drain again etc.

That being said, this van does not have a drain plug on the transmission I don't think, you have to remove the whole pan, change the filter and seal.

Not familiar with Techron but sounds like a good idea from what I see online.




Techron with PEA is very good.

Without a Tranny drain you could to a pump out a few quarts via the cooler line and then fill and then pump out. (You tube)
With a drain plug one can drain and fill, drive a week, drain and fill, drive a week as you had guessed.
 
Yes, and Canadian Tire has it on a good special once in a while. Some Canadian Walmarts have it, and at a tolerable regular price. The Canadian Tire house brand high end fuel system cleaner also has PEA in it. I don't know how much, but it is another option that routinely goes on sale.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Nicasio
What y’all recommend for a 2010 Dodge Caravan?
2
Replies
26
Views
1K
FordFETruck
G
Synthetic oil question about length of time not miles
2
Replies
33
Views
2K
dubber09
C
Motorcraft synthetic blend vs full synthetic
Replies
7
Views
2K
Rinspeed
O
Waste of oil or not?
Replies
7
Views
1K
JohnnyJohnson
J
OCI/FCI of Many Years But With Low Miles
2
Replies
28
Views
2K
Jim Rogers
Back
Top