The 2005-2010 WK Grand Cherokee gets used for everything: commuting, towing a pop-up camper, pulling a boat up a wet ramp, and the occasional trail. Behind the 3.7L V6, 4.7L V8 and 5.7L HEMI it runs the 545RFE five-speed, and the fluid service is not hard. What trips people up on a Grand Cherokee is that not every WK has a 545RFE, the 2WD and 4WD trucks take different amounts, and the cooler return filter has its own history that can make a perfectly good transmission feel like it slips the morning after a service.
This guide covers the WK (and the late WJ trucks that share the RFE family): which fluid, how much, both filters and their torques, the factory hot level check, and what the job costs in parts. If the Jeep already flares between gears or will not move, a fluid change is not the repair. Start with the 545RFE Grand Cherokee slipping guide or the 545RFE no-movement diagnosis instead.
First, Make Sure It Is a 545RFE
Chrysler's WK capacity table lists two automatics for this body: the 545RFE and the NAG1. The maintenance schedule ties the 545RFE fluid service to the 3.7L, 4.7L and 5.7L engines. The 3.0L CRD diesel and the SRT8 carry the NAG1, a Mercedes-designed five-speed with a capped fill tube, a different filter, a different fill procedure and a 5.0 L (10.6 pt) service fill. Nothing in this article applies to a NAG1 truck, and the 545RFE filter will not fit one.
On the earlier WJ (1999-2004), the 4.7L trucks carried the RFE family as well, but the four-speed 45RFE and five-speed 545RFE share the same case and filters and are told apart by sales code: DG4 is the 45RFE and DGQ is the 545RFE, the same codes Chrysler uses in the bulletin covered below. The code is on the build sheet. Order by sales code, not by "fits Grand Cherokee" in a parts catalog.
Fluid Type and Fill Capacity
- Fluid: Mopar ATF+4 or a licensed ATF+4. The 545RFE specification table in the WK service information lists "Mopar ATF+4" as the recommended fluid, and the fluid section states Dexron II is not recommended and that clutch chatter can result from improper fluid.
- Service fill, 2WD: 5.2 L (11 pints).
- Service fill, 4WD: 6.2 L (13 pints).
- Overhaul (dry) fill: 13.33 L (28.0 pints).
- Torques: oil pan bolts 105 in-lb (12 Nm), primary filter screw 40 in-lb (4.5 Nm), cooler return filter 84 in-lb (9.5 Nm), cooler line fitting at the case 155 in-lb (17.5 Nm).
On a 4WD WK the transmission sits on a deeper pan, which is where the extra two pints and the different sump filter come from. Chrysler's WK table marks the dry-fill figure as one that varies with "type and size of internal cooler, length and inside diameter of cooler lines, or use of an auxiliary cooler," and footnotes the table as nominal refill capacities that vary from vehicle to vehicle. Towing-package WKs and trucks with an added auxiliary cooler hold more. Use the numbers to buy fluid; use the dipstick to decide when you are done.
Shopping list: six quarts for a 2WD, seven for a 4WD. Thirteen pints is six and a half quarts, and running short with the pan already bolted up is a bad afternoon.
One thing not to confuse: the transfer case. The NV140 and NV245 cases in these trucks have their own drain and fill plugs and their own capacities (0.65 L and 1.8 L respectively in the WK table). Changing the transfer case fluid is a separate service, even though Chrysler schedules it at the same 60,000-mile visit.
Why It Has to Be ATF+4
The 545RFE is a clutch-to-clutch unit with no bands. The WK service information describes it as having "full electronic control of all automatic up and downshifts" with "real-time adaptive closed-loop shift and pressure control." It also watches input and output speed, and if it sees the start of clutch slip it raises the pressure control solenoid duty cycle to add pressure. Every one of those strategies depends on how the clutches grab in the fluid they were calibrated with. Change the friction behavior and the adaptives chase a moving target. That is the mechanism behind Chrysler's clutch-chatter warning.
ATF+4 has been licensed for retail sale since 2005. Per the announcement in Brake & Front End, Chrysler developed the fluid with Lubrizol, validated it through more than a million miles of testing, and requires licensed blenders to be accredited and market-sampled. Buy a container that carries the ATF+4 name, not a multi-vehicle fluid that says it is "suitable for use" where ATF+4 is specified.
Two more factory positions that settle arguments. Color and smell do not tell you anything: Chrysler says new ATF+4 is dyed red, darkens to brown in normal use, and "odor and color cannot be used to indicate the fluid condition or the need for a fluid change." And nothing goes in but fluid. DaimlerChrysler "strongly recommends against the addition of any fluids to the transmission" other than the listed ATF, the only exception being leak-detection dye. No shift improvers, no friction modifiers, no stop-leak.
How Often on a Grand Cherokee
The WK gasoline maintenance schedule puts the 545RFE service in Schedule B: drain and refill the automatic transmission fluid and replace the main sump filter at 60,000 miles, then at 120,000 miles do the same and also replace the spin-on cooler return filter. Schedule B applies if you tow, haul heavy loads, drive in stop-and-go traffic, idle a lot, make short trips under 10 miles, drive in temperatures below freezing or above 90 F at sustained high speed, or go off-road. Chrysler's own note: "Most vehicles are operated under the conditions listed for Schedule B."
On a WK that tows, I change both filters every time and shorten the interval. The return filter is cheap, and it sits on the circuit that feeds cooled fluid back to the lube system.
The Grand Cherokee Return Filter Bulletin
Chrysler issued a service bulletin, summarized by ALLDATA in Underhood Service, for 45RFE and 545RFE trucks (sales codes DG4 and DGQ) that show a delayed engagement after the cooler return filter is replaced. The application list includes the 1999-2004 WJ and 2005-2006 WK Grand Cherokee, along with Durango, Dakota, Liberty, Ram and Commander.
The complaint: after the vehicle sits for a long time, usually overnight, the first shift into Reverse or Drive feels like a delay or a slip. It typically starts right after a fluid service where the return filter was changed. The bulletin traces it to cooler return filters with part number 04799662AB. That "AB" level filter can let fluid drain back out of the torque converter while the engine is off, so the first engagement waits while the pump refills the converter. The bulletin says the condition is not detrimental to the transmission, but it will put a customer back in your lot convinced you broke it.
The fix is an 04799662 filter with no suffix or any suffix other than AB. Some replacements come with a separate threaded adapter stud: install the unthreaded end of the stud into the filter and tighten it to 165 in-lb (18.6 Nm), then install the assembled filter to the case at 125 in-lb (14.1 Nm). Those torques belong to the stud-type filter in the bulletin. The standard spin-on spec is the 84 in-lb in the WK torque table. Use the figure for the part in your hand.
In the bay: a WK that "slips first thing in the morning, then it's fine" and has a recent invoice showing a return filter is a part-number check before it is anything else.
The Service, Step by Step
- Warm and level. Drive it to temperature so debris comes out with the fluid, and do the work on a lift or level floor. The level reading depends on it.
- Drop the pan. The stock pan has no drain plug. Loosen one side first, let it tip and drain, then remove the rest of the bolts.
- Read the pan. The WK service information says to inspect the pan bottom and magnet for excessive metal, and that "a light coating of clutch material on the bottom of the pan does not indicate a problem unless accompanied by a slipping condition or shift lag." Steel paste or chunks means diagnose before you button it up.
- Pull the primary filter and its seal. Make sure the old seal comes out of the pump body. A doubled seal is a suction leak.
- Seal first, then filter. Chrysler's caution reads: the primary oil filter seal "MUST be fully installed flush against the oil pump body." Do not install the seal on the filter neck and push them in together; the factory text says damage to the transmission will result. Seat the seal, then the filter, and torque the screw to 40 in-lb.
- Clean and reinstall the pan. Clean the magnet, new gasket, bolts to 105 in-lb in a cross pattern. A drain-plug pan here makes every later service cleaner.
- Cooler return filter (every second service, or every service on a tow rig). Spin-on filter to 84 in-lb, or the bulletin's stud figures if your replacement uses the adapter stud. Confirm the part number is not 04799662AB.
- Initial fill. Add the service-fill amount for 2WD or 4WD through the dipstick tube, start the engine, and move through the gears on the brake.
Setting the Level the Factory Way
The 545RFE dipstick on the WK is on the right side of the engine. The WK procedure:
- Selector in Park. The converter fills in Park and Neutral; Park gives the accurate reading.
- Engine at idle for at least one minute, vehicle level.
- At about 180 F (82 C) fluid temperature, the level should be in the HOT cross-hatched area. At about 70 F it should sit near the upper COLD hole.
- After adding fluid, wait at least two minutes for it to drain down the tube before rechecking.
- The factory note: true transmission temperature "can only be read by a scan tool in REVERSE or any forward gear position." Put it in gear on the brake to read the transmission temperature PID, then back to Park to read the stick.
Do not guess on the level. Chrysler explains that low fluid lets the pump take in air, so pressure is low and builds slowly, and that an overfill lets the geartrain whip the fluid into foam with the same result, plus overheating, oxidation and varnish. Foam also pushes fluid out the vent, where it gets mistaken for a leak.
If a Code Sets After the Service
The service-related code to know is P0944, loss of hydraulic pump prime. The WK diagnostic lists the possible causes in this order: shift lever out of adjustment, improper fluid level, cracked or improperly installed primary oil filter or seal, loose cooler return filter, stuck or sticking main regulator valve, and only then the transmission oil pump. It runs when the transmission slips in a forward gear and the pressure switches that should be closed are open. If it sets right after a pan job, recheck the level hot and pull the pan to look at that filter seal before anyone quotes a pump.
Drain-and-Fill vs. Flush
A pan drop exchanges 11 to 13 pints out of a system that holds about 28 pints dry. The rest sits in the converter, cooler and lines. Chrysler's schedule calls for a drain and refill, and two services a few hundred miles apart get a neglected truck most of the way to fresh fluid. Keep cooler flow healthy while you are in there: Sonnax measured RFE cooler flow at about 1.3 GPM at idle on stock programming, dropping to about 0.5 GPM and then 0.3 GPM with high commanded line pressure at idle. Lower cooler flow means more heat, and heat is what ages ATF+4. A plugged return filter restricts the same circuit. Our 545RFE flush vs. drain-and-fill guide covers the tradeoffs.
What It Costs
Using current Gearbox Insider prices:
- RFE 4WD filter kit: $30.99
- Castrol Transmax ATF+4, case of six quarts: $59.99 (add one quart for a 4WD)
- Or the 265-817 pan and filter kit, which replaces the pan along with the filter: $84.99
A DIY service on a 4WD WK runs about $100 in parts with the filter kit and seven quarts. If the pan flange is bent from years of prying, the pan kit plus fluid lands around $155. When comparing shop quotes, ask whether the price includes the cooler return filter and enough fluid to set the level hot. A sump-filter-only quote is a different job.
545RFE filter kits, ATF+4, drain-plug pans and rebuild parts for the Grand Cherokee — shipped fast from the USA.
Shop 545RFE parts →Shop the part for this fix
Doing the 120,000-mile service? This RFE-family filter kit (OE 5179267AC, shared by the 45RFE, 545RFE and 68RFE) comes with a pan gasket. Confirm 2WD or 4WD for the sump filter before ordering.
Shop the RFE filter kit → All RFE-series partsFAQ
What transmission fluid does a 545RFE Grand Cherokee take?
Mopar ATF+4 or a licensed ATF+4. Chrysler lists ATF+4 as the recommended fluid for the 545RFE in the WK service information, states Dexron II is not recommended, and warns that improper fluid can cause clutch chatter. Do not add shift improvers, friction modifiers or sealers.
How many quarts does a 545RFE Grand Cherokee take for a fluid change?
A pan drop with a filter change takes 5.2 L (11 pints, about 5.5 quarts) on a 2WD and 6.2 L (13 pints, about 6.5 quarts) on a 4WD. A dry overhaul fill is 13.33 L (28 pints) and varies with the cooler and lines. Finish the fill on the dipstick at about 180 F with the selector in Park.
Does every WK Grand Cherokee have the 545RFE?
No. Chrysler ties the 545RFE to the 3.7L, 4.7L and 5.7L engines. The 3.0L CRD diesel and the SRT8 use the NAG1 five-speed, which has a different filter, a capped fill tube, its own fill procedure and a 5.0 L service fill.
Why does my Grand Cherokee hesitate going into gear after a transmission service?
If the cooler return filter was replaced, check its part number. A Chrysler bulletin covering 1999-2004 WJ and 2005-2006 WK Grand Cherokees found that 04799662AB return filters can let fluid drain out of the torque converter overnight, delaying the first shift into Reverse or Drive. A 04799662 filter with any other suffix corrects it, and the bulletin says the condition does not harm the transmission.
How often should the 545RFE fluid be changed in a Grand Cherokee?
Chrysler's Schedule B calls for a drain and refill with a new main sump filter at 60,000 miles, and the same service plus the spin-on cooler return filter at 120,000 miles. Towing, heavy loads, short trips, extreme temperatures and off-road use all put a Grand Cherokee on Schedule B, and Chrysler says most vehicles operate under those conditions.
Related 545RFE guides
Sources
- Chrysler WK Grand Cherokee service information (2007) — Fluid Capacities and 545RFE Specifications. Backs the 545RFE 2WD 5.2 L (11 pt) and 4WD 6.2 L (13 pt) service fill, the 13.33 L (28.0 pt) dry fill and its cooler-dependent footnote, the NAG1 5.0 L service fill, the NV140/NV245 transfer case capacities, Mopar ATF+4 as the recommended fluid, and the pan 105 in-lb, primary filter 40 in-lb, cooler return filter 84 in-lb and cooler line 155 in-lb torques. fluid capacities and 545RFE specifications
- Chrysler WK service information — Automatic Transmission Fluid, Fluid Level Check and Effects of Incorrect Fluid Level. Backs Dexron II not recommended, clutch chatter from improper fluid, color and odor not indicating condition, the no-additive position, the right-side dipstick, Park and one-minute idle, 180 F HOT / 70 F COLD, two-minute drain-down, the in-gear scan tool temperature note, and the low/high level effects. ATF, fluid level check and incorrect fluid level
- Chrysler WK service information — Maintenance Schedules, Fluid and Filter Replacement, 545RFE Operation and P0944. Backs the Schedule B conditions, the 60,000-mile and 120,000-mile transmission services tied to the 3.7L/4.7L/5.7L engines, the pan and magnet inspection note, the primary filter seal caution, the adaptive closed-loop control description, and the P0944 cause list and run condition. maintenance schedules, fluid and filter replacement, operation and P0944
- Chrysler service bulletin, 45RFE/545RFE delayed shift after cooler return filter replacement (ALLDATA, Eric Seifert, Underhood Service; archived copy). Backs the DG4/DGQ sales codes, the 1999-2004 WJ and 2005-2006 WK Grand Cherokee application, the 04799662AB converter drain-back cause, the not-detrimental statement, and the 165 in-lb stud and 125 in-lb filter torques. underhoodservice.com (archive.org)
- Brake & Front End — "Chrysler Group Licenses its Transmission Fluid, ATF+4, for Retail and Commercial Usage" (2005). Backs the 2005 licensing program, Lubrizol development, the million-mile validation, and licensed blender accreditation and sampling. brakeandfrontend.com
- Sonnax — "Resolving Stalling & Overheat Issues After Performance Tuning on RFE Transmissions." Backs the 1.3 GPM stock idle cooler flow and the 0.5 and 0.3 GPM figures with high commanded line pressure. sonnax.com