8speed shift issues

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Woodgrain

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So my ram is a 2015 quad cab sport with 50k miles. I have noticed a few things about the 8 speed trans:

- the below has been happening roughly the last 7500 miles (or as far as I can remember) but has not gotten worse
- slight flare of 200 - maybe 300 rpm only on the 3/4 upshift, all other shifts are butter smooth up/down
- happens only below ~ 2000 rpm whether warm or cold
- never towed with the truck, just casual daily driving and taking the occasional mattress to the dump (no off-roading, I have a ram-charger on 37's for that)
- light throttle seems to be the usual way I can make the flare? re-occur
- under minimal rpm, it rarely happens
- does not feel like a slip, truck keeps accelerating under power, when I test my theory and get the truck to shift at 3k+ rpm, it is fine and smooth on the 3/4 upshift

Tried to find a similar case and cant quite find anything else fitting the mold of my description.
I did read about someone having a rare flare on a 2/3 upshift and someone mentioned air purging? But hard to compare

Oh, no bangs or clunks or engine lights, trans temp stays normal operating temp and has never overheated. Tried a re-learn, but still persists.

Any thoughts greatly appreciated, thank you!
 
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This sounds like shift flare and the cause my be your transmission is adapting to your most recent driving habits .... I just got into this discussion with someone else but they are getting this on their 3500 ....

You might of felt the flare at some point and then started trying to duplicate the issue and now the transmission is trying to relearn your habits, driving style and it's causing the shift flare ...
 
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Woodgrain

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I drove 120 miles yesterday, changing my style of driving to super conservative, no hills etc, still slightly noticing the flare, thoughts? Any reason this would be a mechanical issue ie, valve body?
 
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I drove 120 miles yesterday, changing my style of driving to super conservative, no hills etc, still slightly noticing the flare, thoughts? Any reason this would be a mechanical issue ie, valve body?
The relearning is not going to happen overnight ...might take a few days to take effect ..

I honestly would suggest you just drive normal, almost grandpa like (lol) for a week or so and then see how it feels ... if you don't feel a difference then start looking at other things .... if you have a bad valve body you would probably have a leak and you would see blue smoke from your exhaust "most times" not all the time ...

Bad valve body would cause slippage during gear changing so might be that ..but I would first drive for a week like I said and then see how it reacts ... but if you do see blue smoke at startup I would then check your valve body ...
 
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Woodgrain

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I will try that for a week. Any reason why it doesnt flare over 2000 rom or so?strange that its only occurring at low rom.
 
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I will try that for a week. Any reason why it doesnt flare over 2000 rom or so?strange that its only occurring at low rom.
No clue honestly ... I will tell you this though ...

A neighbor just stopped by my house to ask how much do I charge for a full detail because I do mobile detailing and he saw me outside my house detailing my truck .. We talked a bit about prices and then he asked about my truck's setup ...We talked for a bit about the setup then he asked me if I had regeared which I answered yes ..

He just regeared about 2 months ago he said and just went through the break in period about 2 weeks ago, he said that during the break in period he didn't notice any hard shifting whether it was down or up ... But now that he is driving his truck like he regularly did before the regearing he has noticed a lot of hard shifting both ways ....

So I think because of how he was driving during the break in period, the tranny relearned those habits during the break in period and now that he wants to drive it to feel how those gears feel he is feeling the effects of the system trying to relearn yet again ....

I mentioned to him how these trucks have adaptive learning and he said he is going to check it out to see how his truck feels in the next 2 weeks ..

But the low rpms I have no clue there, hopefully it's just a relearning issue and not something else mechanically ...
 

joesstripclub

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Have you tried checking your fluid level or even changing the fluid? You are getting close to ZF's recommended change interval.
 

joesstripclub

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https://www.ramforum.com/threads/done-a-8-speed-trans-filter-and-fluid-change.172841/page-2 Go to page 2 and read the green box wild one posted. Basically skip all the stuff about revving and shifting through the gears, but you need to have the rear end lifted as much as you can to get the transmission as level as you can and be in the temperature range required. Pull the fill plug and the fluid should be even with the opening. You would need a pump to add any fluid but this would at least let you know if you are full or missing some fluid. I've heard multiple people say they were running a bit low with the factory fill. I think I added about half a quart more than I took out on my first fluid change.
 

EdGs

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^^^^This^^^^^

Just like Joe said, when I did my 8 speed service, I put in about 1/2 qt. more than came out.

You will have to get the ass end about 10 inches off the ground for the transmission pan rail to be level.

Crack your fill plug loose before you start, I had to use a cheater bar to loosen mine.
 

Bigskyroadglide

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Question on fluid for the 8 speed. Any difference in zf 8 speed fluid vs the mopar 8 & 9 speed fluid other than the price?

What about the maxlife?
 

EdGs

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Question on fluid for the 8 speed. Any difference in zf 8 speed fluid vs the mopar 8 & 9 speed fluid other than the price?

What about the maxlife?
AFAIK, the ZF and Mopar 8+9 speed fluid are one and the same.

It is pricey, though. I used it in my '15, just wanted to stay with OE.

That said, there are quite a few here that have used the Valvoline MaxLife with great results. It is way cheaper as well, I think you can get a gallon for about the same price as a quart of OE fluid
 

joesstripclub

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Question on fluid for the 8 speed. Any difference in zf 8 speed fluid vs the mopar 8 & 9 speed fluid other than the price?

What about the maxlife?
The only issue you may potentially have with maxlife is that it is not a certified fluid, only equivalent, so if you every had a transmission issue your warranty coverage might be denied due to improper fluid. That said, maxlife meets the same fluid specs as the ZF fluid and lots of people are running it without issue. I tried Redline D6 for a while as it is also an equivalent fluid but it seemed like it wanted to slip a bit so I swapped it out for some maxlife. It could have been all in my head but there have been mixed reports on the D6.
 

Jwrigh12

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With the MaxLife... is that compatible with the ZF or Mopar fluid? I bought the truck used. From a quick glance it seems like the transmission pan cover is aftermarket (has the drain plug and is deeper than stock) so I assume the previous owner had the transmission serviced. By all indications, this was a very well maintained vehicle.

Only concern is... I only want to do a drain and fill... not a full flush at this point. If I use ZF/Mopar and he had replaced with MaxLife or the other way around, would mixing fluids cause an issue? Im at 150k miles, so well past any warranty considerations at this point.

Thoughts?
 

joesstripclub

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With the MaxLife... is that compatible with the ZF or Mopar fluid? I bought the truck used. From a quick glance it seems like the transmission pan cover is aftermarket (has the drain plug and is deeper than stock) so I assume the previous owner had the transmission serviced. By all indications, this was a very well maintained vehicle.

Only concern is... I only want to do a drain and fill... not a full flush at this point. If I use ZF/Mopar and he had replaced with MaxLife or the other way around, would mixing fluids cause an issue? Im at 150k miles, so well past any warranty considerations at this point.

Thoughts?
I mixed D6 into the stock fluid without issue. I ended up doing another drain and fill shortly after though to try to get all the stock fluid out. Do you have a metal pan? The factory pan has a drain plug so thats not a giveaway if its original or not.
 

LuckiestMan

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Gentlemen, I have been diagnosing the same condition in my new to me 2013 RAM 5.7 8hp70 4X4. I found that the torque converter clutch is oscillating the mA sent to the solenoid. I see it start around 450mA then over the next few seconds slowly dip to 410mA and then a slight flare occurs, under 100 RPM in my case, and the TCC is commanded back up to 450mA. To me this shows a logic issue versus a mechanical issue. The TC can lock well under hard acceleration but doesn't maintain during cruising speeds. Do we have any Dodge calibration engineers in here? I seriously feel the is a poor performing adaptive versus a failing component. Let me know you thoughts and if you have any ideas. I am now chasing this down the rabbit hole to find out why the transmission thinks it should be relaxing the TC hold. Thanks in advance for anything you guys can provide and I hope this helps someone else with their diagnosis.
 

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Wild one

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crash68

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I am now chasing this down the rabbit hole to find out why the transmission thinks it should be relaxing the TC hold.
It's probably intentional to maintain a smooth feeling while moving at slow speeds. One of the goal from the factory engineers is keeping NVH to a minimum, a firm shift at slow speeds would most likely be a complaint.
 

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