8hp70 shifting issue.

[TC Retired]

In hotter climates, change the fluid, or colder climates when you get a hard shift in the lower gears... But especially hotter climates.

 

[RamRBest]

Mine did some clunking every once in a while for years 3 to 7 but hasn happened lately.

 

[jh90731]

FWIW - I had my pan and fluid changed by a local shop at around 70k miles. I purchased online a factory Mopar pan and filter combo and 7 qrts of the ZF 8-speed fluid. The shop said they replaced about 6.5 qrts of the 7qrts I gave them. I immediately noticed a slightly different shift pattern after this, nothing drastic just different. After about 20k miles I finally jacked up the rear so the transmission body was level and crawled under. Following the instructions I downloaded from the ZF website I checked the fluid level. It turns out they had overfilled the trans by almost a full qrt. Draining some out to the correct level helped but I still wasn’t happy with how it felt. About 10k miles ago I crawled back under and used an electric suction pump I purchased off Amazon to suck out fluid via the fill hole. I was able to suck out about 4 qrts and replaced them with Pentosin’s ZF 8spd fluid purchased from Rock Auto. Just changing 4 qrts I noticed a huge improvement in the shifting. I’m getting ready to crawl back under and repeat the same process - suck out 4 qrts and replace with the Pentosin. We tow a small travel trailer through the Sierra Nevada’s so once I get about 8 more qrts of the Pentosin changed into it I’m planning to repeat this process at least once a year.

Curious to know if anyone else uses the Pentosin.

 

[RASelkirk]

Of all things (2018) RAM, the one single thing I HATE, HATE, HATE is the shifting of my trans. Part throttle is fine, but WOT shifts, worse than rubber bands or hamsters running in a cage, are totally for crap. I am loath to spend $1200 for a new ECM, unlock, and tune just to fix it. Totally sucks to get on it and suffer from this crappy flaring issue...

Russ

 

[Wild one]

Of all things (2018) RAM, the one single thing I HATE, HATE, HATE is the shifting of my trans. Part throttle is fine, but WOT shifts, worse than rubber bands or hamsters running in a cage, are totally for crap. I am loath to spend $1200 for a new ECM, unlock, and tune just to fix it. Totally sucks to get on it and suffer from this crappy flaring issue...

Russ

You might be experiencing torque management if it's happening at WOT. Watch this short little video till the end where the car is on the track,and listen to the 2 -3 shift,my grandmother can double clutch a straight cut transmission faster then the car makes the 2-3 shift,lol.

Launching The 2019 Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack 1320

Jim Wilder, Vehicle Development Manager for Dodge Challenger SRT and Charger SRT, demonstrates drag strip launch technology in the 2019 Dodge Challenger R/T ...

www.youtube.com

 

[ThunderMug95]

Im 3 weeks post-trans pan and fluid change at 80k. My trans is happy. It was happy beforehand though. Its tuned and it shifts great. Went with a PPE pan, but I was lucky. Found it sealed/NIB on Marketplace. I need to drain and fill again though.

 

[RASelkirk]

You might be experiencing torque management if it's happening at WOT. Watch this short little video till the end where the car is on the track,and listen to the 2 -3 shift,my grandmother can double clutch a straight cut transmission faster then the car makes the 2-3 shift,lol.

Launching The 2019 Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack 1320

Jim Wilder, Vehicle Development Manager for Dodge Challenger SRT and Charger SRT, demonstrates drag strip launch technology in the 2019 Dodge Challenger R/T ...

www.youtube.com

It's even worse when you get off a full throttle run mid-way. The trans gets so confused it doesn't know whether to shift up, down, or hold. Kinda sounds like a ricer with a full-on engine...

Russ

 

[TC Retired]

FWIW - I had my pan and fluid changed by a local shop at around 70k miles. I purchased online a factory Mopar pan and filter combo and 7 qrts of the ZF 8-speed fluid. The shop said they replaced about 6.5 qrts of the 7qrts I gave them. I immediately noticed a slightly different shift pattern after this, nothing drastic just different. After about 20k miles I finally jacked up the rear so the transmission body was level and crawled under. Following the instructions I downloaded from the ZF website I checked the fluid level. It turns out they had overfilled the trans by almost a full qrt. Draining some out to the correct level helped but I still wasn’t happy with how it felt. About 10k miles ago I crawled back under and used an electric suction pump I purchased off Amazon to suck out fluid via the fill hole. I was able to suck out about 4 qrts and replaced them with Pentosin’s ZF 8spd fluid purchased from Rock Auto. Just changing 4 qrts I noticed a huge improvement in the shifting. I’m getting ready to crawl back under and repeat the same process - suck out 4 qrts and replace with the Pentosin. We tow a small travel trailer through the Sierra Nevada’s so once I get about 8 more qrts of the Pentosin changed into it I’m planning to repeat this process at least once a year.

Curious to know if anyone else uses the Pentosin.

They used the drain/fill process. It is very easy to over/under fill. Better process is to use a clean pan and once drained - verify how much fluid you have and only add that amount of new fluid!
Also, if your Tranny was acting up, repeat the process after a few hundred miles so that you have mostly new fluid. And yes, keep repeating the process regularly.

Side note the Aisin Transmission on 2015 3500 - they want you to change the fluid every 30k miles.

 

[joesstripclub]

How do you do it for $60? The Pan and filter combo is more than that by itself! Unless your doing the cheap no name ebay brand pan.

Yep cheap no name ebay pan and filter. Actually got the one for the v6 as it was only $30. I did have to buy a new gasket for it, so maybe $70 with a jug of maxlife as well. Been running for 20k miles with no issues. Drain plug even sealed after using it when I had to change the gasket.

 

[blackbetty14]

Yep cheap no name ebay pan and filter. Actually got the one for the v6 as it was only $30. I did have to buy a new gasket for it, so maybe $70 with a jug of maxlife as well. Been running for 20k miles with no issues. Drain plug even sealed after using it when I had to change the gasket.

Was the gasket defective or junk? I thought they wouldn't work great given the low low price of them.