What's the consensus on fluid change for 8 speed?

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JS1500

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What's the general consensus on changing the 8 speed transmission fluid? Should you attempt to change it or just trust that the fluid lasts a really long time? I don't know how sold I am on the idea of it being "lifetime fluid."
 

Random_Walk

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Maintenance interval (for the 2017 1500s) says You don't have to change the transfer case fluid until 120k miles. Prolly wouldn't hurt to do the transmission fluid then as well, but check for leaks every 10k miles nonetheless.
 

chrisbh17

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I believe ZF (the manufacturer of the 8HP70) recommends 60-70k intervals. FCA only has self serving interests in labeling something lifetime, so I would go with what ZF says.

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Burla

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It's like 1200 bucks to have a dealer change the fluid, the pan and filter are allinone and need replacing. It's 4500 for a new transmission. The filters are synthetic, so that backs up a lifetime use interval. If you change the fluid, how do you tell if it's full, no fluid stick? That's a thing trust me, lol. It's a huge deal just to see the level of your fluid. Here's the process for changing the fluid, if I had the 8 speed, I woulda bought the max life warranty with it and not touched it.

 

chrisbh17

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Fwiw the 7 speed AT on my Infiniti g37 is the same way. No dipstick, very specific process to check level and drain/refill.

Its not impossible to do. I have maxcare lifetime but will probably change it myself at 60k.

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Bigskyroadglide

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I believe the manual indicates changing every 100 km, not miles. 100 km is approximately 60k miles. A reasonable replacement pan is available on Amazon for 174.00 and the fluid is Approx 25 to 30 bucks a quart and takes 8 plus quarts. So you are going to drop some coin changing it.

It's no more difficult to change than changing a rear diff, except you check the fluid volume by temp range. So it's a two person job once you get fluid back in. You will waste some fluid so be prepared.

Plenty of videos on YouTube.
 

huntergreen

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It's like 1200 bucks to have a dealer change the fluid, the pan and filter are allinone and need replacing. It's 4500 for a new transmission. The filters are synthetic, so that backs up a lifetime use interval. If you change the fluid, how do you tell if it's full, no fluid stick? That's a thing trust me, lol. It's a huge deal just to see the level of your fluid. Here's the process for changing the fluid, if I had the 8 speed, I woulda bought the max life warranty with it and not touched it.


Yup, lifetime max care, they can replace my trans when the fluid fails.
 

Bigskyroadglide

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Burla,

You are correct it's whacked but these are the cards we have been dealt on the 8 speed trucks. My 2011 is the 6 speed and my 2016 is the 8. The 11 is easier to check but IMHO harder than the 16 to change due to the two filters required.

I also like the 125 to 140 operational temp of my 11 vs the 185 to 200 operational temp of the 16. However I realize getting the temp down on the 16 is probably not possible due to how it's built with that heater on the trans so learning how to change the fluid is required.

Have you changed to Redline trans fluid vs the stock Mopar ZF?
 

Burla

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No, and I don't think I know anyone who has. I doubt it would be that much of an upgrade as the PAO mopar stuff is very high performance oil. Probably a wash between the two, but redline d6 likely will be substantially cheaper. I agree the 8 speed has so many benefits, but I am just pointing out the cost to receive those benefits. And if the OP wants a "consensus", good luck with that, lol. I wouldn't pay 1200 for a fluid change, so it would either be buck up and do it myself, or test ram's opinion it is lifetime fill.
 

Bigskyroadglide

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Absolutely agree, my 16 8 speed is approaching 40k so it's in my near future as the trans regularly sees 190 trans temps and lots of in town plus freeway driving. Not certain I want to mix the zf with redline but given redline's results on everything I've used it in, I may lean that direction come change time.

Thanks
 

huntergreen

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Absolutely agree, my 16 8 speed is approaching 40k so it's in my near future as the trans regularly sees 190 trans temps and lots of in town plus freeway driving. Not certain I want to mix the zf with redline but given redline's results on everything I've used it in, I may lean that direction come change time.

Thanks

190 trans temp is normal for the 8 speed. No reason to think the fluid isn't up to handling these temps. The question is how long will it handle these temps.
 
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Bigskyroadglide

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Absolutely agree, 190 is normal, when compared to my 11 which I've never seen over 145, it's different. I would like to see 170 routinely as it's more the center of the gauge and in reading about the zf fluid I have seen reference to fluid break down beginning at 215 which doesn't give a large safety margin over 190..

Obviously they are built to run hotter and probably have planned obselence build in the development so I will need to upgrade the truck.

I keep vehicles a long time. Guess it's really my problem not theirs.
 

PoMansRam

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Anywhere from 30-50K miles is probably the ideal point to do a pan drop and replace the fluid lost in the process to get some of the break in wear materials out. I haven't contacted a local transmission shop that I like for my Ram 8spd, but they are typically a fraction of the cost of a dealer.

What I'd like to know and I've never seen it answered anywhere is, there is what looks like a drain plug on the plastic transmission pan. Is this a one time use thing or can it be removed and replaced without leaking? If so, spill and fills would really be quite easy. Drain it cold and refill it with the exact amount of cold fluid that you removed. You can't get the level wrong doing it that way, but you are relying on the factory level as being correct.
 

RHeller

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I changed my pan/filter and fluid on my 2014 at 75k. Was pretty easy actually. I measured what i took out and put the exact amount back in. The only issue i had was the transmission needed to be level, not the truck. this meant jacking the rear of the truck like 2ft up. I think I got 4-5qts in, dont remember exactly.
 
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JS1500

JS1500

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Burla,

You are correct it's whacked but these are the cards we have been dealt on the 8 speed trucks. My 2011 is the 6 speed and my 2016 is the 8. The 11 is easier to check but IMHO harder than the 16 to change due to the two filters required.

I also like the 125 to 140 operational temp of my 11 vs the 185 to 200 operational temp of the 16. However I realize getting the temp down on the 16 is probably not possible due to how it's built with that heater on the trans so learning how to change the fluid is required.

Have you changed to Redline trans fluid vs the stock Mopar ZF?

I check my temps constantly, and the fluctuation I see on my 8 speed temp sometimes makes me nervous. I’d say it typically stays around 176, but it’ll sometimes climb to 180-181. On long highway trips it’ll stay around 168.
 
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JS1500

JS1500

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No, and I don't think I know anyone who has. I doubt it would be that much of an upgrade as the PAO mopar stuff is very high performance oil. Probably a wash between the two, but redline d6 likely will be substantially cheaper. I agree the 8 speed has so many benefits, but I am just pointing out the cost to receive those benefits. And if the OP wants a "consensus", good luck with that, lol. I wouldn't pay 1200 for a fluid change, so it would either be buck up and do it myself, or test ram's opinion it is lifetime fill.

By “consensus” I was basically just seeing who has actually changed theirs (and when) vs. leaving it alone.
 

R.L.K.

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I think most will just leave it alone , but I just can't [emoji1303]

I'm a mechanic by trade and to me there's no such thing as a lifetime fluid .

The xsmn manufacturer calls for a 60k oci that means 40-50k oil change intervals .....as all manufacturers push these limits to reduce direct operating cost down on the components they produce.

60k oci may be fine on subsequent oci's but the initial oci should be much lower .

I'll be changing the fluid in my wife's 16 Challenger with the 8 speed xsmn this summer with about 30k on the odometer [emoji1303]

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Absolutely agree, my 16 8 speed is approaching 40k so it's in my near future as the trans regularly sees 190 trans temps and lots of in town plus freeway driving. Not certain I want to mix the zf with redline but given redline's results on everything I've used it in, I may lean that direction come change time.

Thanks

I doubt if mixing Red Line will cause a problem. Long story but short version.... as a temporary fix I mixed Valvoline Max Life full synthetic the original fluid left in the system when a pan leak drained the pan. I ran the mix for about 2,000 miles and I couldn't tell the difference shift wise. So when I got back to civilization and could replace the plastic pan I decided to stick with Valvoline Max Life because it is on the recommended list according to Valvoline, it works fine and there was more of it in the transmission than there was of the original fluid.

When the new pan was in place I used a weed sprayer to fill the trans, with the weed sprayer it only takes about 20 minutes to fill the transmission. About 24,000 on the Valvoline Max Life now, it shifts perfectly and my transmission temps are fine = typically 168 to 174, it even stays below 180 when towing my 7,500 lb travel trailer in mountains, cant say the same for engine oil, on long climbs the engine oil gets over 230 degrees. I should mention that my engine is Eco-D /W factory tow package so I'm not sure if Mopar has different T coolers or plumbing on different models.
 
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fljab

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Just curious, is there an aftermarket dipstick for the 8 sp? I've not seen one in my searching or even know if there's a provision in the case to put one.

I've been looking into this as my Ram has ~19K on it now, and like said above, would want to do it early @ 30-40K or so, then 60-70K from there on.

There are several good youtube instructional videos on how to do it.
 
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