Automatic transmission fluid and filter change

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HangmanNY

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Hey fellas,

I’m new here and am trying to learn about the ZF transmission. I have a 2015 big horn with the 5.7L Hemi and 8HP70 transmission. I just turned 90,000 miles and have towed a small enclosed trailer occasionally during the past 20,000 miles.

Ideally I would like to choose a replacement pan with a filter that can be changed later. What are my best options?

Thanks for any helpful advice!
 

Daw14

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Hey fellas,

I’m new here and am trying to learn about the ZF transmission. I have a 2015 big horn with the 5.7L Hemi and 8HP70 transmission. I just turned 90,000 miles and have towed a small enclosed trailer occasionally during the past 20,000 miles.

Ideally I would like to choose a replacement pan with a filter that can be changed later. What are my best options?

Thanks for any helpful advice!
The search function can lead you to what you want , give it a shot .
 

Atcer2018

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Hey fellas,

I’m new here and am trying to learn about the ZF transmission. I have a 2015 big horn with the 5.7L Hemi and 8HP70 transmission. I just turned 90,000 miles and have towed a small enclosed trailer occasionally during the past 20,000 miles.

Ideally I would like to choose a replacement pan with a filter that can be changed later. What are my best options?

Thanks for any helpful advice!
I’m a big believer in preventive maintenance so I changed my fluid at 40K. Then at 52k I went hiking 4 hours from home on the Appalachian Trail, parked on a old logging road, went to leave the park and ran over something. I heard a loud thump under the truck. I got out to check when I got to the main road. A log or rock had struck the transmission pan and left a very noticeable “scuff” on the pan. It didn’t break the pan in any way but it spooked me about the durability of a plastic pan. I am not a off-roader and have very little experience. For peace of mind I convinced myself that a aluminum pan would be better suited. I went with the PPE pan. I read on this forum that others were happy with that pan. It was pricey but it is machined aluminum with a replaceable filter. I don’t know if it actually offers better protection but it’s on now and serves my needs. If you chose to go with the PPE pan they recommend a new OEM gasket and you’ll need to press in the metal barrel spacers from the old pan. I’ve read that others skipped the barrel spacers with success but I was reluctant to go that route because the pan bolts have a lot of slop without them. Many of the spacers didn’t fit well in the PPE pan so I had to use a dremel tool to ream out the pan hole to accommodate the spacers. It wasn’t difficult to do but it is an added step that I wasn’t aware of ahead of time. I elected to use the Lifeguard 8 fluid for both drain and fills. Not cheap changing it twice in 12k miles. Many have switched to Valvoline MaxLife ATF with good results and much cheaper.
 

HangmanNY

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I’m a big believer in preventive maintenance so I changed my fluid at 40K. Then at 52k I went hiking 4 hours from home on the Appalachian Trail, parked on a old logging road, went to leave the park and ran over something. I heard a loud thump under the truck. I got out to check when I got to the main road. A log or rock had struck the transmission pan and left a very noticeable “scuff” on the pan. It didn’t break the pan in any way but it spooked me about the durability of a plastic pan. I am not a off-roader and have very little experience. For peace of mind I convinced myself that a aluminum pan would be better suited. I went with the PPE pan. I read on this forum that others were happy with that pan. It was pricey but it is machined aluminum with a replaceable filter. I don’t know if it actually offers better protection but it’s on now and serves my needs. If you chose to go with the PPE pan they recommend a new OEM gasket and you’ll need to press in the metal barrel spacers from the old pan. I’ve read that others skipped the barrel spacers with success but I was reluctant to go that route because the pan bolts have a lot of slop without them. Many of the spacers didn’t fit well in the PPE pan so I had to use a dremel tool to ream out the pan hole to accommodate the spacers. It wasn’t difficult to do but it is an added step that I wasn’t aware of ahead of time. I elected to use the Lifeguard 8 fluid for both drain and fills. Not cheap changing it twice in 12k miles. Many have switched to Valvoline MaxLife ATF with good results and much cheaper.
I’ve been reading some recent threads on that topic. I’ve decided to go with the PPE Aluminum pan/filter. If I don’t use the spacers what are the potential problems/issues? I’m not sure I want to alter the PPE pan to accommodate the original pan spacers?
 

Atcer2018

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I’ve been reading some recent threads on that topic. I’ve decided to go with the PPE Aluminum pan/filter. If I don’t use the spacers what are the potential problems/issues? I’m not sure I want to alter the PPE pan to accommodate the original pan spacers?
Honestly I’m not sure what potential problems would arise without the spacers. It would seem to me that without the spacers you could deform the gaskets when remounting the pan because the pan bolts engage the spacers and only allow you to tighten the pan down a given amount. I suppose if you torque the bolts properly there would be little to no deformation. With the spacers installed you’d strip the threads out if over torqued before the gasket would deform. Maybe a member who didn’t use the spacers can shed more light on the subject. Fitting the spacers in the PPE pan wasn’t difficult. I used the drum shaped bit to do it. It didn’t take much to fit them just extra time. About half fit in very snugly by pressing them in with a little force. I tapped them in with a block of wood and a light hammer. The other half needed a little bit of of the pan holes to be reamed out but not much. After I was finished I had to thoroughly wipe out the pan with brake cleaner to make sure no abrasive material was left in the pan from reaming the holes. It took about 45 minutes to fit all the spacers.
 

HangmanNY

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By the way I have read posts regarding getting the Transmission level when putting new ZF fluid in. How exactly do you measure the transmission being leveled? Where is the measurement taken and with what tools? Thanks!
 

Wild one

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By the way I have read posts regarding getting the Transmission level when putting new ZF fluid in. How exactly do you measure the transmission being leveled? Where is the measurement taken and with what tools? Thanks!
Bubble level works,and you level the pan rails.
 

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Atcer2018

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By the way I have read posts regarding getting the Transmission level when putting new ZF fluid in. How exactly do you measure the transmission being leveled? Where is the measurement taken and with what tools? Thanks!
Crawl under the passenger side of your truck. Locate the transmission pan. Follow the mating surface where the pan contacts the transmission. Follow it from front to back of the transmission. Almost at the rear of the transmission pan you will find about a 4 inch machined section of the transmission adjacent to where the pan mates to it. That machined surface is a good place to put a small level.
 

IMRAM

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Can somebody please verify the torque specifications for the transmission pan on a 2017 1500 Limited 5.7 4x4 with 8 speed? Also can you please verify the proper transmission fluid? Last question is does the transmission fluid have to be at a certain temperature when I drain it? Thank you
 

Atcer2018

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Can somebody please verify the torque specifications for the transmission pan on a 2017 1500 Limited 5.7 4x4 with 8 speed? Also can you please verify the proper transmission fluid? Last question is does the transmission fluid have to be at a certain temperature when I drain it? Thank you
The transmission does not need to be a certain temp to drain. I personally wouldn’t do it while hot for safety reasons. Mopar 8&9 speed automatic transmission fluid is Ram OEM but all the ZF lifeguard 8 speed fluids are the same as per ZF. I’ve used Mopar, Audi and Lifeguard brand. They are all greenish and smell the same. Others have successfully used Valvoline MaxLife, Amsoil, Red Line and Ravenol. I believe Ravenol is the ZF OE blender of the fluid. As for torque specs and sequence follow this link, it’s a ZF pdf.

 

MRFREEZE57

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Did your trans slip with Redline, as some reported? On some other threads, Amsoil seemed to work better in the 8 speed. (disclaimer: I am not associated in any way with Amsoil. In fact, I don't use it - I use Redline, but have a 6 speed).
Sorry haven't checked the forum in a while but have not noticed any slippage of any kind, I also have CAULK4's t stat bypass installed.
 

MRFREEZE57

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I’ve been reading some recent threads on that topic. I’ve decided to go with the PPE Aluminum pan/filter. If I don’t use the spacers what are the potential problems/issues? I’m not sure I want to alter the PPE pan to accommodate the original pan spacers?
The OEM spacers will work fine in the PPE pan, you just may need to ream the holes in the pan a bit for them to fit.
 

MRFREEZE57

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By the way I have read posts regarding getting the Transmission level when putting new ZF fluid in. How exactly do you measure the transmission being leveled? Where is the measurement taken and with what tools? Thanks!
When doing my trans I just measured from the rear edge of the gasket surface and the front edge to the floor to check the level.
 

IMRAM

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Can somebody verify the sizes of the tools needed for the job? I have a 2017 5.7 four-wheel-drive 8 speed. Wondering what the size of the torque bolts are on the transmission pan and filler plug. Also reading through this thread it seems like some people have the wheels off the ground and some don’t, is that needed? The reason I ask is I can get my transmission level just on my driveway, it’s pretty steep. Thanks all, I appreciate all the advice.
 

Atcer2018

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Can somebody verify the sizes of the tools needed for the job? I have a 2017 5.7 four-wheel-drive 8 speed. Wondering what the size of the torque bolts are on the transmission pan and filler plug. Also reading through this thread it seems like some people have the wheels off the ground and some don’t, is that needed? The reason I ask is I can get my transmission level just on my driveway, it’s pretty steep. Thanks all, I appreciate all the advice.
Pan bolts are 10mm if I remember correctly. Could be 8mm but I replaced my OEM pan with a PPE and used hex machine bolts. They are torqued to 10NM. The fill plug is 10mm hex head for a 4X4. It’s torqued to 30NM. The drain plug is either 8 or 10mm hex depending on your specific transmission. If you refer to the link in post #30 it takes you to a ZF pdf document that has a wealth of good info including torque specs, size and shape of plugs and bolts, fill procedures and torque sequencing for pan bolts. As for leveling the transmission I too have a steep driveway and level my transmission by backing up the sloped driveway. I don’t lift the rear wheels off the ground so the second gear shift is not realistically possible. I do however select 2nd gear via the steering wheel gear selector but I do believe it’s electronically controlled and doesn’t actually shift into second gear unless the wheels are spinning. If you refer to the ZF pdf their instructions cover many different models with the same transmission and they simply say to shift into second gear, not that the vehicle actually has to engage second gear. Therefore I’m not sure if it matters but Ram procedures do say to allow the transmission to shift into second gear. Personally I have changed my fluid twice and neither time actually had the rear wheels off the ground or had the transmission run in second gear. I’ve put back essentially the same amount of fluid I had initially drained the first time both times I’ve changed the fluid and that is without the second gear shift. I’m not sure that step matters and keeping all four wheels on the ground parked on an incline is both safer and easier to do.
 

IMRAM

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So I did my transmission fluid and filter change today. my driveway has enough incline to get level so I just drained the fluid in that position, it was cold and it had not been running for a few hours. I put the new pan on with no issues. I pumped the TF in until it was up to fill then started the truck and continued to add fluid until it was dripping out. I put the plug in and the went through the gears and drove the truck about 1/2 mile, temp went to about 105F. I then Parked the truck in the same location, removed the fill plug and put TF in until is started to come out. (Still running) It never did become just a drip but slowed to a slow steady drizzle, so I installed plug. I am wondering if it is over filled? I put in about 5 1/2 quarts I estimate.
 

IMRAM

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Curious if anybody has any input if they think 5 1/2 quarts would’ve overfilled my transmission per the above post?
 

Ghost1500

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Anyone ever use this?


Looks promising....

Best regards,

-Mike
 

huntergreen

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I'm at 131,000 now on the original fluid. I was told the same thing that it was lifetime fill. I don't have any abnormal issues on mine.

Trying to decide if I'll ever do it or just wait till I swap to 4x4 tranny.
My manual says lifetime fill. I am going with that. Also have the lifetime warranty to replace it when it fails.
 
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