Planning on changing transmission fluid and filter this or next week. Never done it on this car. Bought filter, RTV sealant and 9 quarts of Valvoline ATF+4. (Probably will only need 4-5 quarts.) Do these eHow pages pretty much cover the procedure for my model year? Any other tips?

How to Change Sebring Transmission Fluid | eHow.com
How to Change Automatic Transmission Fluid in a Chrysler Sebring | eHow.com

Thanks!

 

Use ramps to raise the car. They are easier and safer than jacks and jackstands. Spread LOTS of newspapers on the garage floor, and have lots in reserve because this can be messy. Like the instruction says, do this on a warm engine. The trans pan is sloped on the Sebring, so with the front raised up, most of the free fluid will be at the rear of the pan. There are 14 screws holding the pan. Remove the five along each side of the pan. Loosen the rest only about 2 turns. Using a plastic or wooden tool, pry the rear of the pan down enough to start the old fluid flowing out. Be prepared for a gusher, especially if you loosened the rear screws too far. You need a pretty good sized pan to catch the gusher. It will be about four quarts of fluid but it can come out pretty fast.
To remove the filter, pull it straight out, wiggle or twist it a little if it's stubborn. Be prepared for a second gusher because the filter holds about a half quart of fluid.
If I were you, I'd skip the sealer and buy a filter kit with a gasket. The problem is that trans fluid is designed to cling to metal, and will continue to drip out of the trans for a LONG time, making sealing up the pan possibly problematic. The Chrysler techs here swear by Chrysler black RTV, and claim it will seal regardless of the presence of fluid on the sealing surfaces. Maybe so.
Anyway, make sure the old O-ring comes out with the old filter. Then start cleaning up the mess and the pan. Get all the old sealer off the pan. A single edged razor blade will work, but be careful not to scratch either the pan or the trans case (or yourself). The final traces of sealer will come off using your fingernail.
Clean the inside and outside of the pan really well. There will be a magnet in the bottom of the pan. It's round and will probably be covered with a fine powdery material, which is shavings from the guts of the transmission. Clean it up well and put it back where you found it. Clean the screws, removing dirt and old sealer. Clean all the old sealer off the bottom edge of the trans case where it seals against the pan.
Put some clean fluid on the new O-ring and install it onto the new filter, then push the filter into place.
Push a couple of screws up through the pan and gasket. The gasket will hold them in place. Re-install the pan, tightening the screws to 165 in-lbs, about 14 ft-lbs. That's moderately firm with one hand. Don't manhandle it, you can break those screws off or strip the threads out of the aluminum trans case if you overdo it. Make sure you have not skipped any screws. Start each screw with your fingers to make sure it's turning freely and not cross threaded before you put a wrench on it.

Pour in 4 quarts of new ATF +4 trans fluid through the filler pipe using a long narrow funnel. Then start the car and let it idle a few minutes. Then, with your foot firmly on the brake, put it through all the gears slowly. Then lower the car onto level ground. Check the fluid level with the car on flat ground. It'll probably be a little low. It's best to drive it to warm it up well and check it again, you will probably wind up adding another quart or so. Be guided by the amount of fluid you drained out. Check the fluid level with the trans warmed up, sitting on level ground, engine idling in neutral.

 

dcotter: thanks for a very helpful reply.

I just looked again... I actually purchased Wix 58934 Automatic Transmission Filter Kit, which includes a rubber gasket (and new O-ring) so no need for the sealant. I'll just need to remove the old stuff.

I have a friend who's got jack stands, ramps, etc so I should be good with that too. Looking forward to doing this.

 

One more thing. Because of the proclivity of ATF to cling to metal, you might notice a drip or two off the car after repairing a leak that has been leaking for a while. That doesn't necessarily mean you haven't fixed the leak. If the trans has been leaking, fluid will blow around under there as you drive, and get on many surfaces. That will take a long time to eventually work its way down, so you might get a random drip several days or more after the source of the leak has been stopped.

 

Hopefully, there won't be any leaks... We'll see...

 

All done! Thirty miles later we're still good.

This was likely not the first tranny fluid change as there was no RTV sealant but the gasket and filter looked a heck of lot like what I replaced them with.

The plastic splash shield covering part of the pan was kind of a pain but I got it off anyway. Neither the filter nor the pan were hard to remove. About 4 quarts of fluid came out. (The car was driven for about 5 miles immediately prior to, so it was warm.) I didn't expect much more. The fluid didn't look too bad at all. The magnet was covered in what was probably a mix of fine metal particles and fluid. Cleaned it (and the pan) and put it right back.

Thanks again for the help!

 

Hi, is it wise to run the engine after the trans pan is off for a few seconds to drain MORE fluid out of the tranny? Also does it have to be in gear for fluid to flow or just engine on? I would like to get more than 4 lites out of tranny if possible.
Also My Sebring 2.7 lires is a March 2006 model, but the battery is still strong. How long will this battery last on average? I see some NEW batteries at the store are warrentied for over 100 months? This is my first experience with Chrylser. TXS
Thanks

 

The best way to get more fluid out I'm aware of is by doing several changes. So if the capacity is 12 quarts/liters (I don't have the specs, so this is hypothetical) and you get 4 out at a time then three changes should do it as long as fluid is well mixed. I heard of folks driving for 5-10 miles after each change... Then most of the old fluid is diluted enough. My fluid was pretty clean in both cars I did ATF change on recently. I did not do additional changes. Hope this helps.

 

As for the battery, I got about 8 years out of my Sebring battery and then decided to change it on general principles, not because it had failed. The car was garage-kept in a Michigan climate.