8HP70/75 Trans Fluid Never Changed? What's your miles?

[RodRamCar]

The Zip kit upgrade isn't as common in the Dodge world as it is in the BMW world,but it's probably not a bad upgrade.I looked into them a few years ago,but never got around to ordering one to try out.If you spring for it,let us know your thoughts on whether it's a worth while upgrade,as i'm still seriously considering it,but being in Canada and being a cheap bugger,i was sort of waiting to see if anybody would try it out before i spent the money on one,lol

Same here. It looks fairly straight forward with good directions but i'm not willing to learn about it on my truck.

 

[RodRamCar]

The Zip kit upgrade isn't as common in the Dodge world as it is in the BMW world,but it's probably not a bad upgrade.I looked into them a few years ago,but never got around to ordering one to try out.If you spring for it,let us know your thoughts on whether it's a worth while upgrade,as i'm still seriously considering it,but being in Canada and being a cheap bugger,i was sort of waiting to see if anybody would try it out before i spent the money on one,lol

Do you have a good recommended scan tool that can see all transmission read data? so many to choose from on Amazon but I have no idea which ones are worth a damn or a good one to go with.

 

[Wild one]

Same here. It looks fairly straight forward with good directions but i'm not willing to learn about it on my truck.

I have no problem with trying it, if somebody sent me one,lol

 

[RodRamCar]

I have no problem with trying it, if somebody sent me one,lol

I'm just concerned I would screw it up and make a non-issue a real issue haha.

 

[EagleChief]

135k miles on mine and haven't touched it. It has been on my mind, though.

 

[Docwagon1776]

I find it interesting that many are skeptical of Ram's position that the 8HP series is good for lifetime, yet there's no skepticism of ZF recommendation for 80K fluid changes of their expensive, proprietary fluid. Seems to me that it's been just the opposite for ATF-4.

I don't know that you can't be skeptical of both, but at least 80k is a defined metric. "Lifetime" is meaningless without knowing what Chrysler considers a lifetime. Through the end of the warranty? 100k miles? 200k miles? Until it breaks?

 

[06 Dodge]

Do you have a good recommended scan tool that can see all transmission read data? so many to choose from on Amazon but I have no idea which ones are worth a damn or a good one to go with.

https://alfaobd.com/ software along with a quality OBD reader...

 

[Different Drummer]

Then it will be even more interesting to see what the UOA tells you. Please share it with us when you get the results.

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33-gallon fuel tank, factory dual exhaust, 18” wheels. Build date: 3 June 2018. Now at 78744 miles

As can be seen I drew a sample at 45,200 miles. My plan was to do the pan/filter change at 60,000 miles. I was just curious as to what the difference might be in 15, 000 miles of further use. Various factors contributed to the pan/filter change being done sooner at 57,600 miles. There was as expected a pretty good accumulation of grey "******" on all four magnets. I have not cut the filter out yet to examine. Fluid was not clear green like what came from the bottles of ZF lifeguard 8 I used for replacement.
UOA looks decent.

 

[RodRamCar]

I find it interesting, as the weather has gotten cold that when my truck is placed in 4wd auto, it no kidding feels smoother as it shifts through gears especially more noticeable when its cold out.

 

[Different Drummer]

I finally got around to cutting the filter out of my old Pan. The last transmission service I did was on a Mercedes Van with the 5 Cyl. diesel. It was the first service at 30,000 miles. I was very surprised to see a ton of assembly junk and metal wear caught in the filter of the Mercedes. I mean a whole lot. That transmission was functioning perfectly at 76, 000 miles when I sold the vehicle. Compared to that experience what I found in the RAM transmission was almost nothing. I was surprised to see so little debris caught in the filter. As stated in my last post the magnets did have the usual grey fine sludge that I could wipe off with my fingers. If I passed another magnet near them I could get some "fuzz" to stand up. I don't think I would be eager to use an after market pan without magnets. JMO
The filter is made of some very tough and dense material. It is not thick but the material is very robust. You cannot tear it and it is difficult to cut.
I have seen questions regarding reusing the OEM drain plug. The plug does have wording and arrows for open and close. There is a torque Spec. stamped on the plug. It is an O-ring sealing mechanism. No crush or compression type of gasket. I was able to reinsert the plug and snug it without difficulty. For those who have contemplated a drain and fill if your plug is like mine I would imagine it could be done at least once. Note that it does say "open only" on the pan. The replacement Mopar / Filtran pan I used does NOT have a drain plug.
The few flecks of metal in the filter can be seen in the attached photos.
Edit: The straight cut seen in the filter is where I passed trough with the cut off wheel I was using to cut the interior filter / pan housing.