So I went to look at this truck. Had been sitting on the lot since May. On a cold start, I did notice a small stutter when shifting but only when barely on the throttle. Truck would rev a tad higher than what one would expect, then the RPM would fall proportionate to the next gear, but instead of a smooth shift, would stutter or 'slip' or what seemed like it, 2-4 times quickly with a 100RPM or so jump before going into the next gear, it was minimal, and didn't happen every time in every gear. and never happened when the gear that it was attempting to go into was 2k rpm or higher, when driving hard, the truck performs flawlessly. Its only at less than 2k rpm that it happens. Truck has a lot of miles, but I got it for almost 10k under nada. so even if I end up replacing the trans, I'm still in the positive. Has any one had this issue? any solutions or attempts at one? I drove the truck almost 400 miles home. didn't seem to matter on a specific gear, or if the truck was operating temp or not. Only light throttle were a down shift would barely be necessary. But it is certainly concerning. I have not looked up the tutorials yet, but I intend to reset the throttle body, learned patterns of the trans and any other electronic memory function I can find to do for starters. Can anyone rule anything out for me? Torque converter? driveshaft? engine bogg? HELP!
Just bought a 2014 5.7 4x4 Laramie A8... What is wrong with this Trans?!
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The transmission needs to warm up a bit before it starts shifting like it should even to the point where it actually has a built in heater to expedite the process so that is typical for the first few shifts. You said that it had a lot of miles on it(how many?) so it might also need a fluid and filter change and who knows if it had a hard life or not(did it spend a lot of its life towing heavy loads?) which would make regular fluid and filter changes even more important. It could possibly even be a little low on fluid too maybe. Did you get any kind of warranty with it? If you did I would take it back to the dealer you bought it from and insist that they check it out if I were you.
truck has 173,000 miles. no such warranty exists. I asked that they do a fluid and filter change on the trans before purchase, they did not. I haven't really looked for a trans dip stick, but didn't notice one while inspecting the engine bay either. is there a way to tell the fluid level without draining? what does your trans temp read when at operating temperature for reference? this was a reading I found while toying with the cluster setting.
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It's normal for the 8speed to run from 170°-195° for normal driving, and they usually stay below the coolant temp when towing. If the temperature spikes upwards of 260-270 you most likely need to replace the aforementioned transmission heater(side of the trans), which also has the thermostatic control valve for cooling.
As for a dipstick your out of luck. There is a specific procedure to check the fluid level when changing the trans fluid, there is a port on the side of the trans that's used to fill and check the level.
As for a dipstick your out of luck. There is a specific procedure to check the fluid level when changing the trans fluid, there is a port on the side of the trans that's used to fill and check the level.
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The rpm searching when cold and the shifting feeling strange sounds like a normal response of the TQ Converter to me .
At 173k I'd definitely be dropping the pan for a fluid & filters change . I believe your sump filter is part of the pan itself , so a pan replacement would be in order here . I'd also go aftermarket on a pan with a drain plug . With a drain plug you can drain the fluid into a measured container , this helps with knowing how much to put back in .
Check out alldata.com for procedures on checking the fluid level [emoji1303]
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At 173k I'd definitely be dropping the pan for a fluid & filters change . I believe your sump filter is part of the pan itself , so a pan replacement would be in order here . I'd also go aftermarket on a pan with a drain plug . With a drain plug you can drain the fluid into a measured container , this helps with knowing how much to put back in .
Check out alldata.com for procedures on checking the fluid level [emoji1303]
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+1. Sounds normal to me until warmed up.
And again, +1 for the filter/fluid change. FCA claims "lifetime" fill, but the designer and original builder of the trans states 60k-70k changes. If you worked the change into the deal (on paper) and they didn't do it, I'd make them. If they refuse, demand that they give you the parts and fluid so you can do it yourself.
Its not hard, but its not your typical "old school" change; its a German-designed transmission. Its a great unit, but a little different. As others said, no dip stick. The filter is integrated into the pan and not changeable. There are aftermarket pans that have changeable filters, but the OEM pan and filter cannot be separated.
If you end up doing it yourself, you can buy the parts and fluid and do yourself for $400-$600 (last time I checked) depending on where you go for the stuff. May be a bit cheaper if you use aftermarket pan/filter. I'd stick to LifeGuard fluid or FCA/Chrysler fluid though, and make sure its stuff meant for the 8-speed. ATF+4 that the older 6-speeds/5-speeds used will not work well at all, and probably cause issues.
And again, +1 for the filter/fluid change. FCA claims "lifetime" fill, but the designer and original builder of the trans states 60k-70k changes. If you worked the change into the deal (on paper) and they didn't do it, I'd make them. If they refuse, demand that they give you the parts and fluid so you can do it yourself.
Its not hard, but its not your typical "old school" change; its a German-designed transmission. Its a great unit, but a little different. As others said, no dip stick. The filter is integrated into the pan and not changeable. There are aftermarket pans that have changeable filters, but the OEM pan and filter cannot be separated.
If you end up doing it yourself, you can buy the parts and fluid and do yourself for $400-$600 (last time I checked) depending on where you go for the stuff. May be a bit cheaper if you use aftermarket pan/filter. I'd stick to LifeGuard fluid or FCA/Chrysler fluid though, and make sure its stuff meant for the 8-speed. ATF+4 that the older 6-speeds/5-speeds used will not work well at all, and probably cause issues.
UPDATE. I'm thinking fluid and filter next. I'm sure it could use it anyway, but ultimately I'm suspecting torque converter. I just don't know why I only have issues with minimal throttle at low RPM. So I disconnected the battery today, left it unhooked for a couple of hours. touched the cables together for 30+min. then put it back together and did throttle position reset. the check engine light flashed on throttle reset and then starter spun a about 4-5 sec before truck started after reset. I believe the throttle reset worked, not sure if disconnecting the battery did. I still had all my trip info and mpg info in there. anyway, no change with the issue. I cleaned the TB really well, it was dirty. and the MAF too which was dirty as well. also trans stays around 192 to 195.
Something I think I have identified driving the truck, under load primarily, at around or above 70 it feels like a wheel is out of balance but shifts feel like tow/haul mode, enough to raise an eye brow and comes with a stutter but not as bad as lower gears. sometimes will get a slow 1/2 second pull, 1/2 second miss, repeat x2 when just cruising not during a shift. Like the cycle of the spin of the drivetrain has a shake or miss or shutter. if you let off the throttle completely, it lessens significantly but doesn't totally go away. first and 2nd gears usually ride a little higher on the RPM naturally, so I don't notice much there. But shifting into third, its a much harder shift and harder shutter. shutter seems harder in 3rd, like hitting a speed bump but not braking for it. 3rd is harder than 4th, 4th harder than 5th, and so on. But same goes for higher gears issue seems to follow RPMs not speed. the shutter dissipates with rise of RPM. Nothing seems to be consistent 100% of the time. but 75% of the shifts and every time I have driven the truck, I have noticed occasions of fore mentioned issues.
any one have any issue isolation methods they can think of here? I would really love to pinpoint the cause? Anything I can rule out for sure besides throttle position and "ohh these do this when cold."
Something I think I have identified driving the truck, under load primarily, at around or above 70 it feels like a wheel is out of balance but shifts feel like tow/haul mode, enough to raise an eye brow and comes with a stutter but not as bad as lower gears. sometimes will get a slow 1/2 second pull, 1/2 second miss, repeat x2 when just cruising not during a shift. Like the cycle of the spin of the drivetrain has a shake or miss or shutter. if you let off the throttle completely, it lessens significantly but doesn't totally go away. first and 2nd gears usually ride a little higher on the RPM naturally, so I don't notice much there. But shifting into third, its a much harder shift and harder shutter. shutter seems harder in 3rd, like hitting a speed bump but not braking for it. 3rd is harder than 4th, 4th harder than 5th, and so on. But same goes for higher gears issue seems to follow RPMs not speed. the shutter dissipates with rise of RPM. Nothing seems to be consistent 100% of the time. but 75% of the shifts and every time I have driven the truck, I have noticed occasions of fore mentioned issues.
any one have any issue isolation methods they can think of here? I would really love to pinpoint the cause? Anything I can rule out for sure besides throttle position and "ohh these do this when cold."
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Let's see if this link works:
http://www.atra.com/Webinars/Import/ZF8HP_Introduction.pdf
Interesting information on the 8HP transmissions
http://www.atra.com/Webinars/Import/ZF8HP_Introduction.pdf
Interesting information on the 8HP transmissions
So I will be going to the local dealership some time this week and dropping the truck off. they told me $100 diagnostic to find the problem. Obviously I can pay them an absurd amount to fix it, or I can take the diagnostic, buy the parts, and fix it myself. OR I can pay $1250 for a used A8, also from a ram 1500 4x4 with the same 3.21 ratio out of a wrecked truck with 21,000 miles on it, shipped to me. depending on the diagnosis, I would like to do whatever is cheaper. But here are a couple issues that arise when I think about my options.
-Will the new transmission, even though it is exactly the same, be accepted by the trucks computer? what if I take all of the electronics out of the old trans and donor them? I don't know anyone who has ever had to do a swap on these, and neither does the transmission guy at the dodge dealer. He said he has only had to do software issues on them, so he provided no help in troubleshooting.
-does the trans have its own computer?
-If price is about the same, I think I would rather have a trans with 21,000 vs 175,000
-I believe the trans comes with a few thousand mile warranty, so thats comforting buying from a wrecked vehicle and all.
-Will the new transmission, even though it is exactly the same, be accepted by the trucks computer? what if I take all of the electronics out of the old trans and donor them? I don't know anyone who has ever had to do a swap on these, and neither does the transmission guy at the dodge dealer. He said he has only had to do software issues on them, so he provided no help in troubleshooting.
-does the trans have its own computer?
-If price is about the same, I think I would rather have a trans with 21,000 vs 175,000
-I believe the trans comes with a few thousand mile warranty, so thats comforting buying from a wrecked vehicle and all.
Wild one
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You'll have to have it towed to a dealer after you install the transmission,and have them hook up their scan tool and flash the new transmission to the truck.
Thank you for the reply! Thats what I have been waiting on.
Just spoke to the trans guy at my local dealership. He said he can flash it for $100. But he also said it needs to come from the same year truck or it may not work. being that mine is a 2014, I would assume 2013-2018 should work correct? I don't think they changed anything from those years.
Just spoke to the trans guy at my local dealership. He said he can flash it for $100. But he also said it needs to come from the same year truck or it may not work. being that mine is a 2014, I would assume 2013-2018 should work correct? I don't think they changed anything from those years.
