8 speed maint schedule?

[tzr916]

Got a used 2014 QC SLT 8 speed with 94k miles. I see engine oil and differential service records using the Garage feature on CarFax.com, but I see no mention of Transmission service.

I am confused about when (or if) the 8 speed requires flush/filter? The manual that came with the vehicle says 60k/120k "for 6 speed". Seeing the same "for 6 speed" notation on the Mopar website.

Does the 8 speed every require service? Do you guys just have it done regardless?

 

[Eddywardo]

Got a used 2014 QC SLT 8 speed with 94k miles. I see engine oil and differential service records using the Garage feature on CarFax.com, but I see no mention of Transmission service.

I am confused about when (or if) the 8 speed requires flush/filter? The manual that came with the vehicle says 60k/120k "for 6 speed". Seeing the same "for 6 speed" notation on the Mopar website.

Does the 8 speed every require service? Do you guys just have it done regardless?

I think it’s at 100k for the 8 speed. Someone who knows will eventually comment but you’ll have to do it pretty soon.

 

[joshuaeb09]

Got a used 2014 QC SLT 8 speed with 94k miles. I see engine oil and differential service records using the Garage feature on CarFax.com, but I see no mention of Transmission service.

I am confused about when (or if) the 8 speed requires flush/filter? The manual that came with the vehicle says 60k/120k "for 6 speed". Seeing the same "for 6 speed" notation on the Mopar website.

Does the 8 speed every require service? Do you guys just have it done regardless?

FCA claims its a lifetime fill, but I've never bought that line of BS from any of the manufacturers on transmission fluid. Personally I would do it pretty soon having close to 100k. The procedure for the 8 speed is pretty ******, however, since we have no dipstick and the pan is also the filter assembly. I plan to do both of my 8 speeds around 50k to see how the fluid is holding up/check for wear and then make a determination from there on how often I'll service them.

 

[Pull Ya]

The pan and filter is all one and it is PRICEY!!! With the fluid and pan and filter your looking at north of $300. I agree I think the recommended service is 100k
Jay

 

[PoMansRam]

I would definitely do a pan drop and refill now, even if one had been done in the past.

I've seen replacement pan kits for $100 shipped. Suitable ATFs can be had for much less than dealer juice. Figure on a DIY pan drop and refill costing about $200.

Not a difficult job other than having to refill from the side of the trans case. No worries messing with RTV or gaskets given the gasket is built onto the plastic pan. Lots of support online for this process.

 

[huntergreen]

There is no recommend Ed service interval in my manual. As stated FCA says lifetime fill. I will change at 75000 miles. Some with the lifetime warranty say they are going to not change it and let FCA replace the trans when if blows.

 

[Burla]

It's near $300 just for the fluid, redline d6 would cut the price down and still be very similar fluid pao based.

350 bucks for the filter. This is how the build **** now.

 

[Burla]

Inline filters are the way to go, manufacturers are heavily invested on screwing you, making it impossible to maintain tranny so they last forever. They even pre-heat the fluid. Kinda glad I have the 6 speed right about now.

 

[Wild one]

ZF's recommended maintaince schedule is a 100,000 kilometers,or just over 62,000 miles,not a 100,000 miles as has been stated. You might want to take a look at PPE's heavy duty replacement pan,it holds more fluid and has a replacable filter.Boosted Motosports has a pretty decent video on the fluid replacement procedure,except for one thing,he didn't jack the ass end of the truck up in the air far enough. You're supposed to check the fluid level with the tranny pan rail level front to rear and side to side,and to get the pan rail level front to rear,the rear of the truck should be a couple feet in the air. I put a brand new ZF in my 14 a couple months ago,and they are very specific about having the transmission pan rail level in the instructions that came with the transmission,in fact it's the only part of the instructions that is high lighted.John you might want to recheck your fluid level with the tranny pan rail level.

 

[Boosted Motorsports]

Here you go!



ZF Automatic transmissions are filled with specially developed semi-synthetic oils.
At very high operating temperatures, the oil ages faster than under normal conditions.
Examples:
- Many trips at high speeds
- Many trips while towing a trailer
- Sporty Driving
Depending on the driving style, ZF recommends a transmission oil change every 80,000 to 120,000 kms or after eight years at the latest.

https://www.zf.com/global/media/med...eifend_1/ZF_SI_Oelwechselkit_8HP_50130_EN.pdf

You can get a ATP pan with integrated filters for just over $100 as seen in my video below

 

[indept]

Makes you wonder where FCA got the Lifetime fill interval at?????

Maybe it's good until it dies & that's the lifetime.......

 

[joshuaeb09]

Makes you wonder where FCA got the Lifetime fill interval at?????

Maybe it's good until it dies & that's the lifetime.......

Pretty much nailed it.

Automakers only care about it lasting through the warranty so they don't have to pay for repairs and it's not in their own interest for it to last for years and years. They would rather you be a good little consumer and buy a new one every 5-7 years at ever increasing prices. Reducing service requirements helps them achieve it through the cost of ownership appearing lower if you follow their maintenance plan and by shortening the life of the components with said reduced service recommendations. They bank on you following that service plan and then trading it in when something breaks rather than preventative maintenance and/or easy/affordable repairs.

 

[Pull Ya]

ZF's recommended maintaince schedule is a 100,000 kilometers,or just over 62,000 miles,not a 100,000 miles as has been stated. You might want to take a look at PPE's heavy duty replacement pan,it holds more fluid and has a replacable filter.Boosted Motosports has a pretty decent video on the fluid replacement procedure,except for one thing,he didn't jack the ass end of the truck up in the air far enough. You're supposed to check the fluid level with the tranny pan rail level front to rear and side to side,and to get the pan rail level front to rear,the rear of the truck should be a couple feet in the air. I put a brand new ZF in my 14 a couple months ago,and they are very specific about having the transmission pan rail level in the instructions that came with the transmission,in fact it's the only part of the instructions that is high lighted.John you might want to recheck your fluid level with the tranny pan rail level.

I guess some of the confusion comes from not reading carefully enough when it says 100,000 kln vs 100,000 miles. Sorry for the misinformation.
Jay

 

[tzr916]

Thanks everyone. Video makes it look easy, so I'll be doing this very soon. Gonna try the Red Line D6 ATF. According to their site, when I put in my vehicle info it says - "this product is recommended". So should be able to do it all for less than $250 (regular Pan/Filter, 2 gallons Red Line, Pump).

 

[Pull Ya]

Please let us know how it goes. I think lots of people would be interested.
Jay

 

[joshuaeb09]

Thanks everyone. Video makes it look easy, so I'll be doing this very soon. Gonna try the Red Line D6 ATF. According to their site, when I put in my vehicle info it says - "this product is recommended". So should be able to do it all for less than $250 (regular Pan/Filter, 2 gallons Red Line, Pump).

Yes please do let us know how it runs with D6 in it. While I have no doubts D6 should work perfectly fine in our 8 speeds, lubeguard specs MercULV(Just a bit thinner than D6/LV/DexVI) w/Platinum when not using the expensive ZF juice. I personally plan to swap to one of these pans with D6 when I service mine in the future as I'd rather have the slightly thicker and more robust Redline with the "Normal" temps my 8 speed operates at. The pan is for the EcoD, but I do remember seeing at least one thread around here where someone with a Hemi is running the pan as they are the same tranny. Since I have my shutters deleted I might even add a transcooler off to the side of the rad where the stock grill has the airdam things after I get me a high airflow replacement grill.

https://www.dieselpowerproducts.com...ransmission-pan-14-18-ram-1500-ecodiesel.aspx

 

[Boosted Motorsports]

Don't want to derail this thread as many people get argumentative over oil choice but I never understood the common assumption that the ZF oil is too expensive. I changed the oil on my truck at about 90k miles and it still looked great. I now have 112k MILES running a procharger and probably in the neighborhood of 600hp and my transmission holds the power great and shifts smoothly. So their specially formulated oil lasts a long time and won't give you issues...

At $23 shipped a bottle and you only need about 6 is it REALLY worth experimenting with universal oils?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/LifeGuard-...h=item2cdd742444:g:6XwAAOSw5dlaNycp:rk:3:pf:0

 

[Wild one]

Yes please do let us know how it runs with D6 in it. While I have no doubts D6 should work perfectly fine in our 8 speeds, lubeguard specs MercULV(Just a bit thinner than D6/LV/DexVI) w/Platinum when not using the expensive ZF juice. I personally plan to swap to one of these pans with D6 when I service mine in the future as I'd rather have the slightly thicker and more robust Redline with the "Normal" temps my 8 speed operates at. The pan is for the EcoD, but I do remember seeing at least one thread around here where someone with a Hemi is running the pan as they are the same tranny. Since I have my shutters deleted I might even add a transcooler off to the side of the rad where the stock grill has the airdam things after I get me a high airflow replacement grill.

https://www.dieselpowerproducts.com...ransmission-pan-14-18-ram-1500-ecodiesel.aspx

A stand alone cooler plumbed through the stock cooler set-up isn't going to accomplish as much as you think.The 8 speed has it's own thermostat,that doesn't allow full cooler flow till I think 195F,up till then it only allows a percentage of fluid through the cooler. Paramount has a 160F thermostat ,but you have to buy one of their transmissins to get it. The 8 sp in the trucks also has a heater that flows engine coolent to it to help it warm up faster.You could pull the coolent hoses off the heater and tie them together to bypass the engine coolent heater,but it'll still eventually get to an operating temp of 185F+.The cars with the A8 don't use the coolent heater assembly,so you'll be perfectly fine disconnecting them and bypassing the heater.But be forewarned they are on the top of the tranny,and are a ***** to get at,you'll need a set of hose clamp pliars to pull the clamps,and make sure you drain the rad as much as possible,cause the lines are about 5ft long and go directly to the rad,so you'll lose some anti-freeze,lol. I figure the PPE pan took close to 5 degrees out of my trannies operating temp when the air temp is 90F. I've thought about drilling and tapping my PPE pan for some 1/2" fittings and plumb in a stand alone cooler that's totally separate from the factory cooler.My thoughts were to use a small pony pump plumbed from a 1/2" fitting on the rear of the PPE pans sump,then plumbed to an external filter,from there to a thermostat, which is then plumbed to a stand alone cooler,and from there back to a return fitting in the front of the PPE pan.Like I said it's only a thought,haven't done much about it except kind of mentally lay it out,lol.You'd want a thermostat somewhere in the system though to maintain the tranny temp at least around 160F

 

[joshuaeb09]

A stand alone cooler plumbed through the stock cooler set-up isn't going to accomplish as much as you think.The 8 speed has it's own thermostat,that doesn't allow full cooler flow till I think 195F,up till then it only allows a percentage of fluid through the cooler. Paramount has a 160F thermostat ,but you have to buy one of their transmissins to get it. The 8 sp in the trucks also has a heater that flows engine coolent to it to help it warm up faster.You could pull the coolent hoses off the heater and tie them together to bypass the engine coolent heater,but it'll still eventually get to an operating temp of 185F+.The cars with the A8 don't use the coolent heater assembly,so you'll be perfectly fine disconnecting them and bypassing the heater.But be forewarned they are on the top of the tranny,and are a ***** to get at,you'll need a set of hose clamp pliars to pull the clamps,and make sure you drain the rad as much as possible,cause the lines are about 5ft long and go directly to the rad,so you'll lose some anti-freeze,lol. I figure the PPE pan took close to 5 degrees out of my trannies operating temp when the air temp is 90F. I've thought about drilling and tapping my PPE pan for some 1/2" fittings and plumb in a stand alone cooler that's totally separate from the factory cooler.My thoughts were to use a small pony pump plumbed to a thermostat,then plumbed to an external filter which is then plumbed to a stand alone cooler,and from there back to a return fitting in the PPE pan.Like I said it's only a thought,haven't done much about it except kind of mentally lay it out,lol.You'd want a thermostat somewhere in the system though to maintain the tranny temp at least around 160F

Oh I know all about the terribleness of the design. My main reasoning for adding a trans cooler is radiator efficiency tanks during the hottest months around here which are also the most humid when I would actually be doing some towing. I figured since I'd have to refill during the pan swap I might as well spend a few more bucks and add a cooler to that unused space next to the factory cooling equipment since I don't have shutters anymore.

 

[Wild one]

Oh I know all about the terribleness of the design. My main reasoning for adding a trans cooler is radiator efficiency tanks during the hottest months around here which are also the most humid when I would actually be doing some towing. I figured since I'd have to refill during the pan swap I might as well spend a few more bucks and add a cooler to that unused space next to the factory cooling equipment since I don't have shutters anymore.

If your tranny operates above 200F in the summer ,you might benefit from a stand alone cooler then.To bad Paramount wouldn't sell their 160 thermostat set-up separately.

http://www.paramountperformanceprod...rmostatic-valve-by-paramount-performance.aspx