Servicing the 8 speed

shaftman_05 · Nov 6, 2014

smurfs_of_war said:
Brother in law. He's some sort of "master tech" at a dealership an hour down the road. I didn't ask him about the ugly details, but he's had a few of these out before, so he's pretty familiar with them- or so he says

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Most dealers dont rebuild in house anymore. They get swapped out and rebuilt at a seperate location.

NYCruiser · Nov 6, 2014

When I was buying my truck last year the service manager told me he had a tech they had sent to ZF school, but had no experience with RAM version of them yet. If I got one with a problem he would essentially need to have a ZF rep come or send it out. That was why I opted for the 6-speed at the time (he said they could work on them in their sleep) until they have been out a while and the service catches up. Probably getting better by now. That was back in 12/2013.

smurfs_of_war · Nov 6, 2014

shaftman_05 said:
Most dealers dont rebuild in house anymore. They get swapped out and rebuilt at a seperate location.

They don't rebuild them to change fluids. He just said he's had a few out before and knows what to do. Got a horror story about one guy that decided to take his Ram for a swim backing his boat in. Spoiler alert: they don't float. That one they had to get rebuilt I suspect.

shaftman_05 · Nov 6, 2014

smurfs_of_war said:
They don't rebuild them to change fluids. He just said he's had a few out before and knows what to do. Got a horror story about one guy that decided to take his Ram for a swim backing his boat in. Spoiler alert: they don't float. That one they had to get rebuilt I suspect.

I wasn't implying rebuilt to change fluids... simply that dealers don't tear into them much any more. I work for the company...

jlb · Nov 6, 2014

A flush machine should still work fine for a complete fluid swap. These trucks still have a cooler up by the radiator don't they? Just swap the pan, top off the fluid, and then run a flush machine. Would take a few extra quarts, but it would be thorough.

smurfs_of_war · Nov 6, 2014

shaftman_05 said:
I wasn't implying rebuilt to change fluids... simply that dealers don't tear into them much any more. I work for the company...

Ooooohhh... gotcha. Sorry, I read it wrong.

shaftman_05 · Nov 6, 2014

smurfs_of_war said:
Ooooohhh... gotcha. Sorry, I read it wrong.

No apology needed brother.

arod412 · Nov 6, 2014

I have a 6 speed and I have no problems with it. It just boggles my mind on oil that you don't change or service. Nothing is forever, and anything rotating in and out will break..lol

At this time my only concern is that I wish I had a crew cab instead of a quad cab back in 2012 that could support a 6 foot bed. I'm happy now so I can just wait and on the next gen that come out in 2016 or so.

Hemi395 · Nov 6, 2014

Unfortunately these "sealed for life" transmissions are becoming more common. It seems car manufacturers are trying to make a more maintenance free vehicle. Look at the front suspensions on most new cars and trucks. They have minimal if any lubrication points.

I had a 2002 Explorer about 8 years ago and it had a sealed trans. Around 60k it started to shift funny and it literally took 1-2 seconds to go into gear when you put it in drive. I took it to the Ford dealer to have them look at it. They said it was fine so I told them to change the fluid. They argued with me for a good 5 mins that it didn't need to be done because the fluid was "good for life". Finally I convinced them to do it and it was dark brown. Even they were shocked at how bad it was. It was better after the fluid change but not by much. I got rid of it soon after.

That left a bad taste with me. So whenever I hear "sealed for life" I shy away.

NYCruiser · Nov 6, 2014

Googling around it seems that ZF actually does recommend changing the fluid. Just not a lot of car manufacturers.

smurfs_of_war · Nov 6, 2014

NYCruiser said:
Googling around it seems that ZF actually does recommend changing the fluid. Just not a lot of car manufacturers.

I'd sooner follow their recommendations. I suspect car manufacturers base some of thwir "lifetime" recommendations on tje assumption that you would rather buy a new car than deal with a blown transmission 6 or 7 years down the road.

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regularcab2500 · Nov 6, 2014

Zf wants you to change it so theyre transmissions dont fail and they look bad...ram doesnt want you to change it so it fails sometime after your 100k warranty expires and you have to replace it or totally replace the truck haha

clh1220 · Nov 6, 2014

The 8 speed makes this ram for me. I didn't find anything saying the 8 speed was having reliable problems. I keep my trucks 5 years or 100k miles. Even though I could buy a new one every year if I wanted too take a huge beating on my trade.

Moparman1303 · Nov 6, 2014

Anyone know when one should change fluid and how much us owners are looking at?

NYCruiser · Nov 6, 2014

I read that zf was recommending 60k miles on some of the car trannies. Maybe some one should actually ask zf and post their reply

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SyN · Nov 7, 2014

Moparman: NYCruiser is correct...

I talked with Joe from ZF a week after I bought my 2014. He told me at that time that they had not come up with a service period for the 8HP70 at that time... But he told me 60K miles is what they recommend for their other Transmissions... This would work well for our 8 speed.

60K mile service is for normal driving conditions! Very Little Towing-->As well little abuse!

The Filter is affixed to the composite pan-->Pricing on this pan is around $300. The Lifeguard 8 Fluid is not Cheap either.

Hopefully by 60K miles rolls around the price will have dropped in half as well as the fluid.

Also maybe a few owners will post a You Tube video which will make service easier....

Hemi395 · Nov 7, 2014

SyN said:
Moparman: NYCruiser is correct...

I talked with Joe from ZF a week after I bought my 2014. He told me at that time that they had not come up with a service period for the 8HP70 at that time... But he told me 60K miles is what they recommend for their other Transmissions... This would work well for our 8 speed.

60K mile service is for normal driving conditions! Very Little Towing-->As well little abuse!

The Filter is affixed to the composite pan-->Pricing on this pan is around $300. The Lifeguard 8 Fluid is not Cheap either.

Hopefully by 60K miles rolls around the price will have dropped in half as well as the fluid.

Also maybe a few owners will post a You Tube video which will make service easier....

Great info. I would say this should be the interval for all of the 8 speed trucks to get the fluid/filter changed. Sooner if its used for towing.

clh1220 · Nov 7, 2014

It doesn't say that no where in the manual about 60k miles. It's not that unbelievable that this transmission can go for at least 100k miles on the fluid. My 08 silverado was good till 100k.

NYCruiser · Nov 7, 2014

The manual says the fluid is good for the life of the vehicle. I guess when the tranny dies, the life of the vehicle is over. Lol

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clh1220 · Nov 7, 2014

Guess so, I'll just trade it to the dealer and buy me a new one. That is if it doesnt make it to a 100k. Mine is gone at 100k or 5 years what ever comes first.

Servicing the 8 speed

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