If You’re Really Going to Service 8HP70 Trans on Your Driveway ...

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Different Drummer

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Has anyone just drilled a hole in the old pan that's going to get thrown away anyway instead of fighting with the drain plug?
Seems reasonable. The replacement pan that I recently installed does not have a drain plug. It is OEM made by Filtran. when my next transmission service comes around I will drill it to drain. With the V-6 I do not have the exhaust crossover pipe to contend with. There is a pad like area on my pan where the drain plug normally would be. That is where I plan to carefully drill. Wherever you decide to drill just take it easy and don't push through the pan like a rocket at launch.
 

EdGs

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Seems reasonable. The replacement pan that I recently installed does not have a drain plug. It is OEM made by Filtran. when my next transmission service comes around I will drill it to drain. With the V-6 I do not have the exhaust crossover pipe to contend with. There is a pad like area on my pan where the drain plug normally would be. That is where I plan to carefully drill. Wherever you decide to drill just take it easy and don't push through the pan like a rocket at launch.
I would just leave the truck level and loosen the pan bolts. With the way the trans is angled down, seems like it would drip at the rear first.

Not sure if the V6 sits different than the hemi, though.

Too risky for me to take a chance drilling through and damaging something else. I would be the one it happens to, also.
 

Different Drummer

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I would just leave the truck level and loosen the pan bolts. With the way the trans is angled down, seems like it would drip at the rear first.

Not sure if the V6 sits different than the hemi, though.

Too risky for me to take a chance drilling through and damaging something else. I would be the one it happens to, also.
I hear ya, I had a book around somewhere titled " I'm the guy who..."
It was a compilation of bad or embarrassing situations that might befall you.
My favorite was "I am the guy who could catch VD from a ******".
Edit: What??? I can't say ( type) vur-jin?
 

jelih

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Too risky for me to take a chance drilling through and damaging something else. I would be the one it happens to, also.
It does seem like a bit of a sketchy undertaking, but I was thinking going in horizontally at the bottom rear of the pan to minimize the chances of hitting anything other than dirty fluid.

Also, I have a question that I haven't seen addressed about filling before the gear procedure on the green sheet. I'm supposed to fill initially until it spills over, then start the truck, but do I need to go back down there and fill until it drops out again before I run through the gears so its closer to being full, or do I run through the gears first with just the initial amount before topping off after running through the steps on the green sheet? Watching some YouTube videos, it's never made clear and people are going back under and letting our excess after the procedure without showing that they're topping off after starting the engine. The green sheet doesn't mention filling at all, it just says to let out the extra afterwards.
 

Wild one

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It does seem like a bit of a sketchy undertaking, but I was thinking going in horizontally at the bottom rear of the pan to minimize the chances of hitting anything other than dirty fluid.

Also, I have a question that I haven't seen addressed about filling before the gear procedure on the green sheet. I'm supposed to fill initially until it spills over, then start the truck, but do I need to go back down there and fill until it drops out again before I run through the gears so its closer to being full, or do I run through the gears first with just the initial amount before topping off after running through the steps on the green sheet? Watching some YouTube videos, it's never made clear and people are going back under and letting our excess after the procedure without showing that they're topping off after starting the engine. The green sheet doesn't mention filling at all, it just says to let out the extra afterwards.
Jack it up till the pan rail is level,fill it as full as you can,re-install plug,doesn't need to be overly tight,just snug,then go through the gear procedure,then re-pull the fill plug,if it dribbles out,you're good to go,if not put more fluid in till it does dribble out.The 8 speed seems to be really sensitive to having the proper amount of fluid in it,as even a 1/2 litre down on fluid will mess up it's shifting.The green sheet assumes the transmission has already been static filled prior to going through the gears.
 

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Different Drummer

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Jack it up till the pan rail is level,fill it as full as you can,re-install plug,doesn't need to be overly tight,just snug,then go through the gear procedure,then re-pull the fill plug,if it dribbles out,you're good to go,if not put more fluid in till it does dribble out.The 8 speed seems to be really sensitive to having the proper amount of fluid in it,as even a 1/2 litre down on fluid will mess up it's shifting.
And DO NOT shut the engine off until you are completely done.
 

jelih

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The green sheet assumes the transmission has already been static filled prior to going through the gears.
Ah. That makes the whole thing make more sense. Thanks.

I was all ready to do this this past weekend, and then realized I needed jack stands instead of ramps. I had convinced myself everything was done while holding the brake.

But in preparation, I wrapped the exhaust pipes near the pan in sacrificial header wrap. I'll bust my knuckles on the concrete before I deal with a burn. Will also be wearing some of those knit, cut resistant gloves and at least one Kevlar sleeve I have lying around. Might video everything for *****.

Appreciate the help.
 

Wild one

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Ah. That makes the whole thing make more sense. Thanks.

I was all ready to do this this past weekend, and then realized I needed jack stands instead of ramps. I had convinced myself everything was done while holding the brake.

But in preparation, I wrapped the exhaust pipes near the pan in sacrificial header wrap. I'll bust my knuckles on the concrete before I deal with a burn. Will also be wearing some of those knit, cut resistant gloves and at least one Kevlar sleeve I have lying around. Might video everything for *****.

Appreciate the help.
I use a small modified 1 gallon garden/pump sprayer to fill my 8 speed. After cooking one 8 speed and replacing it with a brand new one,on my dime,i change the fluid in the truck every season,even though it might have only 5,000 miles on it at most,it's cheaper to bite off the fluid change then swap the transmission,lol. My truck gives Hellcats fits at the dragstrip,so it's a bit harder on the transmission then most trucks,lol
 

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I use a small modified 1 gallon garden/pump sprayer to fill my 8 speed. After cooking one 8 speed and replacing it with a brand new one,on my dime,i change the fluid in the truck every season,even though it might have only 5,000 miles on it at most,it's cheaper to bite off the fluid change then swap the transmission,lol. My truck gives Hellcats fits at the dragstrip,so it's a bit harder on the transmission then most trucks,lol

And people say beating on RFE's makes 'em fail........
 

jelih

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So I finally got to it yesterday, and not a moment too soon. First, here's the header wrap. I know now that I don't have to wrap too far from where they meet at the Y, but even with the wrap and some knit gloves I cold still feel the heat, so I will 100% continue doing it this way. 20221210_175802.jpg

With the slope of my driveway, I still had to get the rear wheel 6" off the ground to level the trans. Those wheel chocks are the real MVPs of this job. I think I want some bigger ones though.20221210_163703.jpg
That tarp was bought specifically to do the transmission and was the smartest decision I made all year. I made a mess all over it.


The pan was marked ZF, so I can't say one way or the other if it was ever serviced before. You can see the hole where I drilled it to drain. More about that at the end. All the magnets looked like this. You can just see the one on the right is broken. I don't think I did that. It came out easy enough.
20221211_132444.jpg

Here's a closeup of the broken magnet.
20221211_132640.jpg

Assuming the trans has never been serviced, is this to be expected for 151,*** miles? Carfax shows the first couple owners averaged 27k miles a year, which is, in my opinion, a ****load.

The last 2 weeks the transmission had been making a whining noise under spirited acceleration, and was slow on the downshifts. I put about 50 miles on it after doing the service last night and it's nice and quiet now and feels like new. I should have done this months ago.

My biggest concern other than all the crap on the magnets, is that I've seen on here that it should take about 5 quarts to fill it back up. This picture shows all that's left of the 2nd gallon!!. Even accounting for the few ounces I spilled on the tarp, this seems excessive. Every drop that came out of it except for the little bit that soaked into the header wrap made it into the catch pan, and every drop of that fit into the other empty gallon bottle. The bottom of the pan and the sides all the way around was dry, so if it's leaking, it's from somewhere else. When I was under the truck last week doing the wrap I took the time to look around at all kinds of stuff and there wasn't any leaking from where the drive shaft comes out of the trans either.

20221211_132912.jpg

It's been mentioned in this thread and I've seen it mentioned in other related threads that these transmissions are very picky about fluid level. I drilled the hole to drain it before putting the truck on the jack stands, then checked the pan mounting surface with a level before putting the new pan on. I pumped new fluid in until it dribbled out. I don't know how much it took at that point because the hose for the pump curled up in the jug and I had to open the 2nd gallon before the first one was empty. Then I combined those into one bottle before remote starting the truck from underneath, filling it until it dribbled out again, repaced the fill plug, getting in the truck to follow the green sheet procedure, then going back under and removing the fill plug, and then I had to add what felt like a ton more fluid until it started dribbling out again.

After seeing what was left in the bottle I thought I must have spilled a bunch until I looked at the tarp and didn't see too much on it. Certainly not 2 quarts. I guess now I just wait and see what happens.

Now, about drilling the pan to drain. I will absolutely do this again, even though it was almost a catastrophe, as it worked great and didn't start getting all over the exhaust until the wind blew the last dribbles and then that started dripping along the pan and then onto the header wrap. The problem was that when the drill bit broke through the pan, instead of cutting it threaded itself like 2 inches into the pan. AAHHHH!! But I wiggled it a bit and it didn't feel like it was touching anything so I reversed it out and the fluid flowed nicely into the catch pan. I'll use this method again, but in the meantime I'm going to look for or make some type of ring with a locking nut to put on the drill bit to preven it frog going in farther than maybe a half inch. I used a gallon ziploc freezer bag over the drill to prevent it from getting covered in oil. Just poke the bit through one of the bottom corners. In the pic of the pan with the hole, on the underside, there is a flat spot that doesn't have those plastics fins, That's where I drilled, and that's where I'll drill next time, but maybe farther off to the side. On the bottom of the trans, there is some kind of electrical connector that I would hate to mangle, but otherwise there's room, which is why I didn't hit anything with the drill. I didn't know that going in, I just got lucky. The next time I do this at 200k should be a lot easier.

The only thing I regret is forgetting to install that little thermal bypass valve I ordered from the guy on here. It was 85F when I started, and I panicked a little when I went to check the final level and had a hard time getting the fill plug in for the last time. That valve being in would have put me at ease. As it was though it only got up to 104 by the time I finished and shut the truck off.

And finally, those little $12 transfer pumps that come with the two plastic hoses, to hell with them. Next time I'm going to use the garden modified garden pump that Wild One suggested.

Thanks to everyone who did writeups for how they did it.
 

MRFREEZE57

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That is what is nice about the PPE pan as the drain plug is very easy accessible and easy to do additional drain and fills. What brand of Fluid did you use?
Harbor freight has a little battery powered fluid transfer pump that does ok if the lift is minimal.
 

jelih

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I used the Valvoline Maxlife full synthetic. I'll look at the harbor freight pump. For $12 maybe I'll find a way to screw it onto the bottle.

The PPE pan is nice, but a bit out of my budget with all the other crap I've done to this truck in the 15 months I've had it.
 

MRFREEZE57

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I used the Valvoline Maxlife full synthetic. I'll look at the harbor freight pump. For $12 maybe I'll find a way to screw it onto the bottle.

The PPE pan is nice, but a bit out of my budget with all the other crap I've done to this truck in the 15 months I've had it.
I got a good price on Redline when I changed the fluid but had I known about Maxlife before would have used it instead as could have saved a lot of $.
 

EdGs

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@jelih, it sounds like you did a fantastic job! Don't know why yours took a bit extra fluid, but it is what it is. The garden sprayer mod is the way to go on the refill.

When you described the drill bit breaking through the pan, that's exactly the kind of thing I was worried about. But, it sounds like it didn't cause any additional issues for you. Good deal.

I am debating using the maxlife fluid on my next go-around. Hell of alot cheaper than OE fluid.
 

jelih

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@EdGs As far as the drill bit going too deep, I found these that I'm going to pick up. Be nice to have in the toolbox anyway, and a lot easier than whatever abomination I was going to cobble together.

The only downside to drilling the pan next time is having to buy another pan when this Dorman unit has a replaceable filter. I'll have to weigh the cost vs the trouble of cleaning up the huge mess I will surely make trying to drain it correctly. Maybe I'll have an exhaust shop move the Y pipe so it's not in the way.

Also, so far the max life fluid is working fantastic. I'm a fan.
 

Different Drummer

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I don't have the exhaust problem with the V-6. I was a bit disappointed to find my OEM replacement pan does not have a drain plug. I cut the filter out of my original pan and was surprised to find it quite free of any debris. My going forward plan was to do relatively frequent drain and fills without the pan / filter change for a few cycles. No drain plug nixed that idea for now.
I wonder how much fluid would drain from the fill hole for the folks with the exhaust problem. Raise the opposite side of the vehicle from the fill hole and open when cold after sitting. Or, how much might be sucked out with a flexible tube? Sounds crazy but it might get enough fluid out of the pan to allow you to drop it without making a mess.
 

EdGs

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While it sucks that the OE drain plug is right above the crossover pipe, it really isnt that bad.

A stubby 10mm hex key was enough to break it loose for me. It did get a few inches of the crossover wet with the draining fluid, but some brakleen on a rag took care of that when it was all done.

The drain on the PPE pan is definately in a better spot. I do so want to go with the aluminum pan, but finances are really rough for me at present, I have about 25k miles to go before I hit 200k miles.

The Valvoline maxlife looks like a better and better option every day, IMO.
 
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