8 speed transmission problems, or just how it is?

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Micah12

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Picked up my truck from the dealership today after 3 days of it being in the shop. They replaced the drive shaft. Truck drives and feels great just like it should. No bump stops, no jerks when slowing down, stopping or taking off. I drove the truck over a 100 miles, afternoon, evening and night, tried all driving scenarios, hard acceleration, quick stops, slow driving, stop and go traffic, jerky inputs and intermittent braking. Nothing caused me to experience the issue I had 4 days ago. Hopefully this has been fixed. I will keep you‘ll updated over the next few months.

2nd day of driving and no issues. Bump free stops and goes. Will keep driving over the next few weeks and let you’ll know.


Good to hear!

Did you have an issue with the truck bucking when you took your foot off the brake??

I feel i have a light shutter when taking my foot off the brake
 

joels

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Good to hear!

Did you have an issue with the truck bucking when you took your foot off the brake??

I feel i have a light shutter when taking my foot off the brake

No bucking or shudder but i felt a thump/bump either when i took my foot off the brake or when the truck began to move. Same thing when coming to a stop. It was in the first gear so definitely not a gear 1-2 thing. It was almost like something loose was engaging/disengaging. That was obviously the 2pc drive shaft in my case.

When you say shudder, do you mean like a vibration/hesitation? That is usually associated with the torque converter.
 

joels

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Almost 500 miles after the new drive shaft was put it. The truck is running great. I’ve almost forgotten what the stop and go bump felt like. I haven’t felt any shudder, bump or hesitation. I will send an update after a few months.

One thing I need to mention, those of you experiencing this issue, please don’t get sent away by the dealership/repair facility when they say it’s a transmission learning quirk or software update will fix it. I almost believed it too after a bunch of people at these places echoed the same theory and that FCA is still looking for a fix it hasn’t been able to find one!

In most situations I think this is nonsense because if that were the case, all rental and loaner trucks would start acting up given the different people that drive them, not to mention varied styles of driving and the abuse that some of them undergo. None of those trucks I drove had this issue, not a single one! Heck, the transmission should be confused even if your spouse drives the truck, let alone trying to learn your driving style! Utter BS in my opinion. The user manual states that there maybe an occasional bump here and there in the beginning during the run-in period but that’s it. It definitely should not be a systemic issue over thousands of miles. When I presented this argument to all the advisors and service techs who brushed it off as a software or learning issue they had nothing to say, just the dumbfounded look on their faces said it all.
 
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bamafan76

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Almost 500 miles after the new drive shaft was put it. The truck is running great. I’ve almost forgotten what the stop and go bump felt like. I haven’t felt any shudder, bump or hesitation. I will send an update after a few months.

One thing I need to mention, those of you experiencing this issue, please don’t get sent away by the dealership/repair facility when they say it’s a transmission learning quirk, software flash or transmission relearn should fix it. I almost believers it too after a bunch of people at these places echoed the same theory and that FCA is still looking for a fix!

In most cases I think this is nonsense because if that were the case, all rental and loner trucks would start acting up given the different people that drive them, not to mention different styles of driving and the abuse that some of them undergo. None of those trucks I drove had this issue, not a single one! Heck, the transmission should be confused even if your spouse drives the truck, let alone trying to learn your driving style! Utter BS in my opinion. The user manual states that there maybe an occasional bump here and there in the beginning during the run in period but that’s it. It should be a systemic issue over thousands of miles. When I presented this argument to all the advisors and service techs who brushed it off as a software or learning issue they had nothing to say, just the dumbfounded look on their faces said it all.

Thanks for the update. Mine is at dealer as of this morning for what seems to be the same symptom so I’ll see what they say.
 

joels

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Thanks for the update. Mine is at dealer as of this morning for what seems to be the same symptom so I’ll see what they say.

bamafan76, what did the dealership have to say after diagnosing the issue on your truck?
 

JayLeonard

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Picked up my truck from the dealership today after 3 days of it being in the shop. They replaced the drive shaft. Truck drives and feels great just like it should. No bump stops, no jerks when slowing down, stopping or taking off. I drove the truck over a 100 miles, afternoon, evening and night, tried all driving scenarios, hard acceleration, quick stops, slow driving, stop and go traffic, jerky inputs and intermittent braking. Nothing caused me to experience the issue I had 4 days ago. Hopefully this has been fixed. I will keep you‘ll updated over the next few months.

2nd day of driving and no issues. Bump free stops and goes. Will keep driving over the next few weeks and let you’ll know.

Last week the dealer also replaced my driveshaft after I had been there twice previously.
After one week no thumping, clunking whatever. Nice and smooth.
Hopefully this is the solution.
 

Micah12

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Almost 500 miles after the new drive shaft was put it. The truck is running great. I’ve almost forgotten what the stop and go bump felt like. I haven’t felt any shudder, bump or hesitation. I will send an update after a few months.

One thing I need to mention, those of you experiencing this issue, please don’t get sent away by the dealership/repair facility when they say it’s a transmission learning quirk or software update will fix it. I almost believed it too after a bunch of people at these places echoed the same theory and that FCA is still looking for a fix it hasn’t been able to find one!

In most situations I think this is nonsense because if that were the case, all rental and loaner trucks would start acting up given the different people that drive them, not to mention varied styles of driving and the abuse that some of them undergo. None of those trucks I drove had this issue, not a single one! Heck, the transmission should be confused even if your spouse drives the truck, let alone trying to learn your driving style! Utter BS in my opinion. The user manual states that there maybe an occasional bump here and there in the beginning during the run-in period but that’s it. It definitely should not be a systemic issue over thousands of miles. When I presented this argument to all the advisors and service techs who brushed it off as a software or learning issue they had nothing to say, just the dumbfounded look on their faces said it all.


Thanks for the update as well
 
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Micah12

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hey,
Just got back from dealer with same thing all they did was flash the transmission 2016 Laramie with 13,700 miles I think they are going to change it because on way home still what they call it a bump stop will see what happens


Did you end up getting a new transmission?
I was having the bump stop issue for four months, new valve body, two tranny flashed, and finally a new tranny.

I have the one piece drive shaft
 

madtrucker2016

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The Flash was done but still not happy with the Trans the way it jerks forward when stopping have to bring back to dealer
 

C Rogers

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My truck started doing this 8 months after purchased. It's a 2016 bought with 24,000 miles. First fix was a new valve body assembly, worked for 5 weeks then came back. Second fix was replace entire transmission, worked for 5 weeks. Being told it's the way I drive due to the adaptive learning feature. I think that's a bunch of BS. Everyone has to come to a stop one time or another. Dealer doesn't know what else to do other than blame my driving habits.
 

Micah12

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My truck started doing this 8 months after purchased. It's a 2016 bought with 24,000 miles. First fix was a new valve body assembly, worked for 5 weeks then came back. Second fix was replace entire transmission, worked for 5 weeks. Being told it's the way I drive due to the adaptive learning feature. I think that's a bunch of BS. Everyone has to come to a stop one time or another. Dealer doesn't know what else to do other than blame my driving habits.

Its such a pathetic excuse they use, they said the same about my bump-stop, and it was due to my driving, total B.S. They re-flashed the engine, and the tranny this past time and it seems to not be as awful.
 

C Rogers

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My sons 2016 1500 still does it after flash, new valve body assembly and new transmission. I was told to drive it for 500 to 1000 miles and if still doing it bring it in to take the foreman for a test drive because he didn't feel it when he test drove it. Don't know how that's possible, I can feel it from the passenger seat. The only time you don't feel it is when you roll through stop signs and don't come to a complete stop. Wondering if it's the drive shaft now? Reading a lot on the forum about that.
 

C Rogers

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My sons 2016 1500 got a new transmission and problem came back exactly 5 weeks later. Being told it's normal and it's the way he drives due to the adaptive learning . Bunch of BS
 

chrisbh17

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As Ive said for a long time, its in the programming. It "goes away" after a valve body or transmission change, simply because EVERYTHING is reset. Eventually it will come back to a harsh 2-1 downshift.

There are some people with actual legit driveshaft issues, but they are the minority and mostly those with 2 piece driveshafts.
 

C Rogers

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As Ive said for a long time, its in the programming. It "goes away" after a valve body or transmission change, simply because EVERYTHING is reset. Eventually it will come back to a harsh 2-1 downshift.

There are some people with actual legit driveshaft issues, but they are the minority and mostly those with 2 piece driveshafts.


So what do we as consumers do? If I take it to a tranny shop and get a diagnosis they won't even look at it since it's not their service tech doing the diagnosis. I understand that after resetting it that clears everything out and it runs fine but only for a short time. How can they expect me to believe it's the way one drives? That makes absolutely no sense to me but I know nothing about cars so they talk circles around me. Very frustrating
 

chrisbh17

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So what do we as consumers do? If I take it to a tranny shop and get a diagnosis they won't even look at it since it's not their service tech doing the diagnosis. I understand that after resetting it that clears everything out and it runs fine but only for a short time. How can they expect me to believe it's the way one drives? That makes absolutely no sense to me but I know nothing about cars so they talk circles around me. Very frustrating

Yeah, it seems silly, but it is what it is.

FWIW, my 9 year old G37 has similar transmission "issues". If I reset it (by disconnecting the battery for a day or two), the first who knows how many times I drive it, its like a bat out of hell. Responsive, crisp shifts, etc. But eventually it goes back to "granny mode", probably because I cant really drive like a bat out of hell 100% of the time (traffic, pesky children in my car :) , etc)

Mechanically I think the trans is fine. And even on a "bad" day, my 8HP acts more consistent and better than my G37 on a good day.

I know we hate to hear it, but kinda gotta live with it. I would imagine these issues crop up in other 8HP powered vehicles, like BMW, etc.
 

jstroud

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My truck has been at the dealership nearly a month waiting on valve body with the same problem.
 

jstroud

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So what is the end of story? Are we stuck with these defective transmissions?
 

C Rogers

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Yeah, it seems silly, but it is what it is.

FWIW, my 9 year old G37 has similar transmission "issues". If I reset it (by disconnecting the battery for a day or two), the first who knows how many times I drive it, its like a bat out of hell. Responsive, crisp shifts, etc. But eventually it goes back to "granny mode", probably because I cant really drive like a bat out of hell 100% of the time (traffic, pesky children in my car :) , etc)

Mechanically I think the trans is fine. And even on a "bad" day, my 8HP acts more consistent and better than my G37 on a good day.

I know we hate to hear it, but kinda gotta live with it. I would imagine these issues crop up in other 8HP powered vehicles, like BMW, etc.

My husband owns a 2005 300C with the 8HP hemi transmission and has never had this issue. I think Dodge is just blowing smoke.
 
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