Factory ZF 8 speed transmission fill procedure after doing a tranny service

[HEMIMANN]

Running any hydraulic oil for long periods above 140 degrees F = bad. That's all there's to it. Any Lubrication Engineer will tell us that (like myself).

For each 20 degrees above 140, oil oxidation life is cut by HALF (whatever it happens to be in the first place). So, if we run bulk transmission oil at 180F, you need to cut the oil change interval. It seems obvious to me the oil is not "lifetime" or any other time other than UOA would indicate. I can tell you my oil looked and smelled like **** @ 35k miles / 4 years. I have just a 66RFE, but it doesn't matter to oil oxidation life.

The worst enemy of transmission oil is heat. Period. Nobody in their right mind would run hydraulic oil in other equipment @ 180F.

 

[Travis8352]

I guess you're right. Today I took did a roundtrip to the next town over (about 60 miles both ways), and with in-town driving, by the time I got home, it was 17.2 MPG. Also, considering that I run my truck up to 2000 rpm most of the day, 3000 when I really have to take off or am towing, a thicker can't really impact that much. Mobil 1 FS 0W-40 is about the same thickness as Redline 5W-30, but way less expensive. For $100 I can buy oil for three oil changes. I wonder how good it is though when compared to Redline, as there is no real-world testing. I might. be in the minority running this stuff in a 5.7 HEMI.

Ill be running that stuff my next change in 3k

 

[Rod Knock]

Running any hydraulic oil for long periods above 140 degrees F = bad. That's all there's to it. Any Lubrication Engineer will tell us that (like myself).

For every 20 degrees above 140, oil oxidation life is cut by HALF (whatever it happens to be in the first place). So, if we run bulk transmission oil at 180F, you need to cut the oil change interval. It seems obvious to me the oil is not "lifetime" or any other time other than UOA would indicate. I can tell you my oil looked and smelled like **** @ 35k miles / 4 years. I have just a 66RFE, but it doesn't matter to oil oxidation life.

The worst enemy of transmission oil is heat. Period. Nobody in their right mind would run hydraulic oil in other equipment @ 180F.

I got a transmission thermostat replacement from @caulk04. I just need to nut up and find the time and courage to remove my front driveshaft and move the parking brake cable out of the way to install it. The craftmanship that @caulk04 built the thing with is amazing. With that installed, my transmission temperature should be around 140F all the time (considering that I also did a grille shutter delete).

If I recall correctly, the hemi cars and HD trucks call for 0w-40. Probably not a lot of people on the Ram forums running it since the truck calls for 5w-20. I ran half 5w-30 half 0w-40 in a change last year with no issues but I psyched myself out with that big of a viscosity change and have been just running 5w-30. I believe the viscosity over about 100 degrees is so similar that it really doesn't matter which of the three you are running.

Mobil 1 FS 0W-40 is the same viscosity as Redline 5W-30. Over 100C, ILSAC oils thin out much faster than ACEA A3 oils. @Wild one got it right about heat + thin oil = cam + lifter failure. Still, there are people out there towing with oil temperatures in the 260F+ range and believe that it's perfectly okay, while the oil they're running is 5W-20. Then when their cam is chewed up, they start the guessing game of what caused it. Heat and thin oil will mess up any engine.

 

[Wild one]

I got a transmission thermostat replacement from @caulk04. I just need to nut up and find the time and courage to remove my front driveshaft and move the parking brake cable out of the way to install it. The craftmanship that @caulk04 built the thing with is amazing. With that installed, my transmission temperature should be around 140F all the time (considering that I also did a grille shutter delete).

You shouldn't have to drop the front shaft to put Jesse's replacement plug in. I'd give the drivers side of the tranny a good wash at the local coin-op carwash if it's a bit dirty.Especially the front inner side of the thermal management unit,where the thermostat sits,as it'll make getting the snap ring and plastic cap out easier.A little penerating oil or WD40 sprayed around the edge of the cap doesn't hurt either.I never had any issues getting the plastic cap out of my truck,but i'm **** at keeping it clean,and my truck has seen 6 whole miles of gravel road in it's entire life,lol

 

[Travis8352]

I got a transmission thermostat replacement from @caulk04. I just need to nut up and find the time and courage to remove my front driveshaft and move the parking brake cable out of the way to install it. The craftmanship that @caulk04 built the thing with is amazing. With that installed, my transmission temperature should be around 140F all the time (considering that I also did a grille shutter delete).



Mobil 1 FS 0W-40 is the same viscosity as Redline 5W-30. Over 100C, ILSAC oils thin out much faster than ACEA A3 oils. @Wild one got it right about heat + thin oil = cam + lifter failure. Still, there are people out there towing with oil temperatures in the 260F+ range and believe that it's perfectly okay, while the oil they're running is 5W-20. Then when their cam is chewed up, they start the guessing game of what caused it. Heat and thin oil will mess up any engine.

Let us know how the trans thermostat works foe you. Id be interested myself

 

[Rod Knock]

Let us know how the trans thermostat works foe you. Id be interested myself

Give @caulk04 a holler and get it. It works for sure. His craftsmanship is awesome, and he ships very fast. He'll provide you with instructions as well. Many other problems came in between me and doing this mod, to be honest, but I can't wait to have some time to get to it. I am confident that it works great. You can get it with confidence. Members on this forum have yet to let me down. I've met some awesome people here and learned a lot from them, and everyone has been super kind and helpful so far, so I have no problem trusting the information and advice that I get here from established forum members.

 

[Travis8352]

Give @caulk04 a holler and get it. It works for sure. His craftsmanship is awesome, and he ships very fast. He'll provide you with instructions as well. Many other problems came in between me and doing this mod, to be honest, but I can't wait to have some time to get to it. I am confident that it works great. You can get it with confidence. Members on this forum have yet to let me down. I've met some awesome people here and learned a lot from them, and everyone has been super kind and helpful so far, so I have no problem trusting the information and advice that I get here from established forum members.

Definately agree this forum has the best members ive ever seen between the few forums ive used. Cummins forum and the cucv forum are my other 2. Ill have to see about doing it probably when i do my trans fluid change.

 

[EdGs]

Definately agree this forum has the best members ive ever seen between the few forums ive used. Cummins forum and the cucv forum are my other 2. Ill have to see about doing it probably when i do my trans fluid change.

^^^^^Ditto.

 

[joesstripclub]

I got a transmission thermostat replacement from @caulk04. I just need to nut up and find the time and courage to remove my front driveshaft and move the parking brake cable out of the way to install it. The craftmanship that @caulk04 built the thing with is amazing. With that installed, my transmission temperature should be around 140F all the time (considering that I also did a grille shutter delete).

Ditto that you do not need to remove the front driveshaft or parking brake cable to get to the trans thermostat. There are two screws holding the plastic bracket for the shift linkage to the trans and then the end just pops off. I'm curious to see what summer temps looks like, but with the full revmax kit I havent seen over 145 degrees on the trans temp. Granted its still spring in Colorado so temps are not that warm yet, but we went on a trip two weekends ago up to Leadville and even climbing elevation running 70 mph I never went over 135.

 

[MRFREEZE57]

Wow, nice to see new posts!

I need some advice, and I know that some of you guys, especially @Burla, @Wild one, and @Hemi395, have messed with the thermostat and grille shutters.

So, here is what I am wondering:

I had some time to see how my truck is running after the Mishimoto 180F thermostat install, along with the grille shutter delete. Without towing, I don't get coolant temperatures beyond 185F. Oil goes up to 200F on a hot day, but most of the time, it's 180F to 190F. Towing 2500lbs, the coolant temp went to 190F, then to 197F, but it didn't break 200F. The oil temperature didn't go beyond 212F.

I am pleased with those temperatures. That being said, I am not so happy with the fuel mileage. At first, it seemed to improve. However, that was a shortsighted placebo. Towing 2500lbs, I was getting 12.8 MPG. I did the same today, and I got 12.1 MPG. Our gasoline in NC is garbage, but it can't be that bad.

Now I wonder if I should keep using 0W-40 or go back to a good 5W-20, like Mobil 1 EP 5W-20. I am wondering that 0W-40 might be too thick at the operating temperatures that I am experiencing. The entire point of going to 0W-40 in the first place was to mitigate the ridiculous 220F coolant and oil temperatures that I was experiencing, not to mention 240F~250F while towing. I no longer experience those temperatures.

Honestly, I don't care about the fuel mileage that much. However, I don't want to mess up the engine or possibly sludge it up. What do you guys think I should do?

while have not looked at them yet, how did you delete the grill shutters? do you just wire them open or remove all together, and what activates them? am going to pull some shrouding one day and get a look at them.

 

[Wild one]

while have not looked at them yet, how did you delete the grill shutters? do you just wire them open or remove all together, and what activates them? am going to pull some shrouding one day and get a look at them.

They just pop in and out,you can actually pop the slats out with-out removing grill,but they are easier to do,if you do remove the grill.Leave 1 top and 1 bottom slat in on both sides,just remove the middle slats,and you won't have any codes pop up for them. Jason Duria/Elite Hemi Performance makes a delete kit to get rid of them completely,you can find him on High Performance Rams on facebook.But if you just want to remove a few slats to try the idea out,you don't need his kit.

 

[Rod Knock]

while have not looked at them yet, how did you delete the grill shutters? do you just wire them open or remove all together, and what activates them? am going to pull some shrouding one day and get a look at them.

Sorry for the late reply, the last couple of days have been loaded for me from early morning until late night. I just removed the radiator grille (what a PITA, broke two $10 clips), and then took off the entire grille shutter assembly. I put the assembly on the tailgate on a foam mat, sprayed silicone (Liquid Wrench) where the shutters attach and removed 8 out of 12. I left the top and bottom shutters in place so that the motor still has something to move and the computer thinks that the shutters are still there. Then I put everything back together. I should have documented it with pictures, but it was on a Saturday and with the kids, I only had so much time to work on it. I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[MRFREEZE57]

thanks for the replies, am going to check them out sometime.

 

[MRFREEZE57]

Sorry for the late reply, the last couple of days have been loaded for me from early morning until late night. I just removed the radiator grille (what a PITA, broke two $10 clips), and then took off the entire grille shutter assembly. I put the assembly on the tailgate on a foam mat, sprayed silicone (Liquid Wrench) where the shutters attach and removed 8 out of 12. I left the top and bottom shutters in place so that the motor still has something to move and the computer thinks that the shutters are still there. Then I put everything back together. I should have documented it with pictures, but it was on a Saturday and with the kids, I only had so much time to work on it. I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

did you ever get that thermostat installed yet? am curious on how it works out.

 

[Rod Knock]

did you ever get that thermostat installed yet? am curious on how it works out.

Not yet, hopefully very very soon. Been busy with a lot of other problems.

 

[MRFREEZE57]

a bit off the subject but just did a drain and fill on my 2011 ford fusion yesterday, was a piece of cake, drain the old fluid, fill it thru dip stick tube and warm it up and adjust level between the add/do not add mark on the dip stick. why the hell could the mfg of the 8 speed in the ram not make it that easy?

 

[joesstripclub]

After driving the truck for a few weeks after my fluid change, I noticed a couple spots on the driveway from the transmission. I wanted to do another flush with Redline anyway, so took the opportunity to drain and refill Sunday. Found a few pan bolts that were not completely tight so I retightened them all. The truck sat yesterday and this morning when I went to drive it I noticed a leak again. I'm going to try to tighten the pan bolts when its cold to see if that helps, but if not what am I missing? I dont have an inch-lb torque wrench so I tried to get them tight without going crazy. Do the pan bolts need loctite? or do I need to pull the pan and add RTV?

 

[Wild one]

After driving the truck for a few weeks after my fluid change, I noticed a couple spots on the driveway from the transmission. I wanted to do another flush with Redline anyway, so took the opportunity to drain and refill Sunday. Found a few pan bolts that were not completely tight so I retightened them all. The truck sat yesterday and this morning when I went to drive it I noticed a leak again. I'm going to try to tighten the pan bolts when its cold to see if that helps, but if not what am I missing? I dont have an inch-lb torque wrench so I tried to get them tight without going crazy. Do the pan bolts need loctite? or do I need to pull the pan and add RTV?

Pull the pan and check the gasket.You might need a new one.What pan are you using? The bolts don't need to be super tight.

 

[joesstripclub]

Pull the pan and check the gasket.You might need a new one.What pan are you using? The bolts don't need to be super tight.

Ordered a cheapo aftermarket one on ebay. Looked identical but could have a bad gasket. My bigger concern was that the bolts were loosening.

 

[Wild one]

Ordered a cheapo aftermarket one on ebay. Looked identical but could have a bad gasket. My bigger concern was that the bolts were loosening.

I'd look the cheap pan over really close,and check the gasket out.Your local dealer should have a gasket in stock if you need one.Tranny gaskets aren't where you want to cheap out on.