Transmission fluid change or flush?
Well I have a few more questions about this 1997 dodge Dakota that I recently purchased. 50,000 original miles. I'm pretty sure it has original transmission fluid. Could be wrong but was thinking I should at least change the fluid or even do a flush. I don't have a manual. And would it be safe to take to jiffy lube? Or would you recommend maybe take it to a dodge service center? Most parts on this truck are all original except for the water pump. The spark plugs were probably changed out about 10 years ago. So I changed all those. New battery cables, brakes, ball joints, tension pulley. I feel like I'm playing catch up and having to replace all these old parts. Heck it will be like a new truck when I'm done with it. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. And if there is anything else you can think of that I'll need to check or change please let me know. Thanks!
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Some say the flushes using the truck's engine are okay - the ones to really avoid are the power flushes where you hook the car up to a machine. Some of those gizmos also pump a lot of chemicals through the system and that's supposedly even worse.
If it were me, I'd take it to a Dodge dealer for the initial drain (unless you already have a relationship with a trusted mechanic), and ask them to give the truck a once-over and generate a list of recommended items to fix or service. Then you can pick and chose what items to do.