8 speed transmission PPE pan install

[Kap1]

Hi All,

I just got my PPE pan installed onto my 2013 hemi 8 speed, it's at 105k miles right now. Truck was shifting very poorly and rough, now it's butter mooth like new!

1. The PPE pan for 8HP70 (part PPE228053020) did fit just fine to my stock 2013 hemi. Exhaust was not on the way of isntalling this pan. I searched all through the forums but couldn't get this confirmed for sure, but PPE tech support did confirm that it will fit.

2. I got the genuine zf lifeguard 8 fluid S671090312 $20 off ebay, and the new gastket for the pan: part 68172556AA. I drained almost 5 quarts of old dirty fluid, and pumped in almost 7 quarts (since the PPE pan adds 2 more quarts).

3. See the old fluid vs new fluid photo attached. Supposedly, my mechanic was supposed to change fluid at 50k... , but not filter, he charged me for 5 quarts of it. Seeing just how dirty the fluid is, i'm questioning if he really changed the fluid or not. I"m also a pretty mellow driver, not fast at all, and it scares me to see how terrible this fluid looks! I'm considering now to do another fluid change, since there was still about 4 quarts left in the transmission which you can't drain...

4. The fluid fill-up plug was extremely tight... i really struggled taking it off with the 3/8 ratchet lever from dewalt set i had. Also makes me wonder if my mechanic ever took it off to service it...

5. I researched all the guides on changing the filter pan/fluid, leveling truck, jacking up etc... but i still skipped one point where you have to drive it to 2nd gear (just couldn't do it as i jacked-up truck on 2x4's under tires to get level)

6. Those metal shavings and guuey sleeze/metal look pretty concerning. But oh well, life goes on, and thankfully transmission shifts very smoothly now.

Good luck to all !

 

[Ohio5pt7]

Nice work

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[Wild one]

Hi All,

I just got my PPE pan installed onto my 2013 hemi 8 speed, it's at 105k miles right now. Truck was shifting very poorly and rough, now it's butter mooth like new!

1. The PPE pan for 8HP70 (part PPE228053020) did fit just fine to my stock 2013 hemi. Exhaust was not on the way of isntalling this pan. I searched all through the forums but couldn't get this confirmed for sure, but PPE tech support did confirm that it will fit.

2. I got the genuine zf lifeguard 8 fluid S671090312 $20 off ebay, and the new gastket for the pan: part 68172556AA. I drained almost 5 quarts of old dirty fluid, and pumped in almost 7 quarts (since the PPE pan adds 2 more quarts).

3. See the old fluid vs new fluid photo attached. Supposedly, my mechanic was supposed to change fluid at 50k... , but not filter, he charged me for 5 quarts of it. Seeing just how dirty the fluid is, i'm questioning if he really changed the fluid or not. I"m also a pretty mellow driver, not fast at all, and it scares me to see how terrible this fluid looks! I'm considering now to do another fluid change, since there was still about 4 quarts left in the transmission which you can't drain...

4. The fluid fill-up plug was extremely tight... i really struggled taking it off with the 3/8 ratchet lever from dewalt set i had. Also makes me wonder if my mechanic ever took it off to service it...

5. I researched all the guides on changing the filter pan/fluid, leveling truck, jacking up etc... but i still skipped one point where you have to drive it to 2nd gear (just couldn't do it as i jacked-up truck on 2x4's under tires to get level)

6. Those metal shavings and guuey sleeze/metal look pretty concerning. But oh well, life goes on, and thankfully transmission shifts very smoothly now.

Good luck to all !

View attachment 216034

View attachment 216035

View attachment 216036

Looks good,grab yourself some header wrap and wrap the crossover pipe where it passes under the tranny,helps keep the pan from absorbing heat off the exhaust if you're stuck in rush hour traffic and not moving fast enough to get airflow under the truck

 

[Burla]

Original ZF fluid is the way to go. The lifegard is cheaper then the Mopar by about 5 bucks, clearly it is the same stuff. How did old fluid smell?

That pan is killer, if I had the ZF I'd put that thing on within 3 years new. So they have replaceable filters as well?

 

[Burla]

Looks good,grab yourself some header wrap and wrap the crossover pipe where it passes under the tranny,helps keep the pan from absorbing heat off the exhaust if you're stuck in rush hour traffic and not moving fast enough to get airflow under the truck

That sir is a good idea, hell yeah.

 

[Wild one]

That sir is a good idea, hell yeah.

Not my first go-around with the 8 speed Mike,they aren't cheap to buy,lol.

 

[Tim Garceau]

I’m questioning if they put a red ATF in, or that ZF fluid was toasted. Darkest I’ve ever seen but glad you had instant improvement.

 

[Wild one]

I’m questioning if they put a red ATF in, or that ZF fluid was toasted. Darkest I’ve ever seen but glad you had instant improvement.

I didn't want to say anything,but i agree Tim,that's the darkest fluid i've seen come out of a 8 speed,even when i toasted my 8 speed,the fluid was still semi clear,lol

 

[Burla]

Color doesn't really tell the story, if it was red added to green, this is what I'd expect after a few years. The question is how did it smell? It is nice to stay with factory, some of the youtubes had the fluid still green after a 40k mile change. A little darker, but still green.

I know with my wifes rav 4, I figured out the toyota uses black clutch material, so even after 10k miles my fluid was black. The fluid smelled brand new and was black. I don't know what the clutches look like in the 8 speed, anyone know? I bet manu's went to black clutches over nude color just so the fluid will look black so they can take up issues with it whenever something goes wrong, or whenever they want to push a service.

I had the same thing with my rfe, black fluid before 30k miles. Actually looked like that, a lil purple tint.

 

[Tim Garceau]

Yeah that bottle doesn’t tell a lot, could have been the last drips out of the drain plug. Mine was still transparent like a lot of other videos/photos but turned an olive shade. His magnets were quite a bit more caked than my application after 90k miles so you also have to ask if they actually swapped pans(edit saw they did fluid only which I’d bet they used the wrong red atf).

Adding 2 extra fresh quarts was a solid decision in his case...

 

[Kap1]

Thank you all for feedback!!

1. Tech who supposedly did fluid change at 50k miles clearly knew that it takes zf8 fluid, he told me about it from beginning, and listed 5 quarts of zf8 part number on the receipt. He recommended against changing filter/pan at 50k and I listened to him.

There was some skuff marks on the drain plug, as it's hard to get to it since it's right above the exhaust pipe. So I have to assume that they took it out..

2. All fluid in very dark color, can't even see any green in it.

3. I still have the old fluid bottled up and ready for recycling. I can go smell it again...

I don't know how it smelled... It stinks for sure, both new fluid and old stinks.

What smell am I looking for??

Here's a dirty fluid bucket photo for more visual

 

[Burla]

Stink is good, burnt is bad. Smell the new stuff for comparison.

 

[Burla]

It's an additive that smells I do believe, phos is close to sulfur on the atomic table, could be either, maybe boron, dunno. The base oil is usually a sweet smell. I think boron is scent free,, probably one of the first two is my guess.

 

[Burla]

Here is an example of a uoa with transmission fluid, as you see they contain phos which I think is what we smell. And what happens when you don't tend to the fluid.

https://www.blackstone-labs.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/1-6.png

 

[Burla]

Here ya go cool stuff. I guess I guessed right.

 

[Wild one]

Thank you all for feedback!!

1. Tech who supposedly did fluid change at 50k miles clearly knew that it takes zf8 fluid, he told me about it from beginning, and listed 5 quarts of zf8 part number on the receipt. He recommended against changing filter/pan at 50k and I listened to him.

There was some skuff marks on the drain plug, as it's hard to get to it since it's right above the exhaust pipe. So I have to assume that they took it out..

2. All fluid in very dark color, can't even see any green in it.

3. I still have the old fluid bottled up and ready for recycling. I can go smell it again...

I don't know how it smelled... It stinks for sure, both new fluid and old stinks.

What smell am I looking for??

Here's a dirty fluid bucket photo for more visual

View attachment 216216

Hunt yourself up a siphon gun for your air compressor,dial the compressor back to about 15psi,disconnect the cooler lines by the pass side of the rad and flush some new fluid through the cooler till it comes out clean,then i'd do another pan drop and fluid change. Pop the circlips on the cooler lines and they just pull apart. It'll get you one step closer to having new fluid,the convertor will be the only thing left with old fluid in it,and you should have enough new fluid in the system to offset what's in the convertor.

 

[Batt4Christ]

Thank you for the detailed post. Yeah- I find it very difficult to believe that fluid was changed at 50k.

Also, what did the entire pan + fluid change set you back?


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[Kap1]

Costs:
New pan gasket $25 eBay
Zf8 fluid, 7 quarts at $20 each, eBay
PPE pan $304 incl tax. From xdp site
Total: $469

Plus, lol 3 trips to the store for:
80mm Allen socket for fill bolt plug, didn't fit bc of exhaust so I had to shorten it with grinder $25 set from O'Reilly
100mm Allen for drain bolt plug bottom of old pan , didn't fit because of exhaust so I just drilled a hole
T40 (I think) torx for pan bolts, had to buy set from hardware $29
Fluid transfer pump from O'Reilly. $25 pita, requires two people to operate...
Drain pan from O'Reilly $10

Fun time... Priceless, and some bites from ants probably while I was under truck in the driveway.

So I'll think again about doing it

 

[Kap1]

Hunt yourself up a siphon gun for your air compressor,dial the compressor back to about 15psi,disconnect the cooler lines by the pass side of the rad and flush some new fluid through the cooler till it comes out clean,then i'd do another pan drop and fluid change. Pop the circlips on the cooler lines and they just pull apart. It'll get you one step closer to having new fluid,the convertor will be the only thing left with old fluid in it,and you should have enough new fluid in the system to offset what's in the convertor.

Thank you but this sounds a bit above my comfort zone, I'll need to do more research on this, and maybe a write up or video... I'll be afraid to break something

 

[16MaxSteelOutdoorsman]

I changed mine as well in April with 65k miles. Fluid was dirty and full of metal shavings. Shifts much better now. ZF recommends 50k change. I put the replacement pan in with the removable filter so I can change that out next time. Was a PIA but not impossible, had to use a Torx bit and a 1/4 inch box wrench above the exhaust pipe.