Transmission Heater

[Desert Dude]

Dropped off my 2015 Ram 1500 with 8speed with 33k miles at the dealer. Noticed Wednesday that it was blowing gray smoke getting onto the freeway like a freight train. I was sitting under the freeway on Tuesday night heading home from work, man that car in front of me stinks......turns out it's me....grrrrr.
Got a call from the dealership, Transmission heater is leaking fluid onto the exhaust causing the smoke/smell.
Not covered under powertrain OR the extended warranty. FML. No way i can shell out $832 plus tax. WTF.
I have a call into warranty hoping they can help me out. Dealer said it's not safe to drive. They have my truck and if warranty doesn't help me, I am screwed.
I saw a video online showing this might be common and could just be o-rings in the tubes that connect the heater to the trans. Dealership claimed that the whole thing needs to be replaced.
Any advice / help is appreciated.

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[OCDTech]

Wonder why its not covered under extended warranty? Did they tell you why? Seems like i seen a thread on this. Seems like there may be scratches in the housing where the orings seal unit having to be replaced, but i hope you get luckier than that. Nice truck by the way!

 

[OCDTech]

Found this, might help.

 

[Desert Dude]

Wonder why its not covered under extended warranty? Did they tell you why? Seems like i seen a thread on this. Seems like there may be scratches in the housing where the orings seal unit having to be replaced, but i hope you get luckier than that. Nice truck by the way!

Thanks, i do like it.
The dealer said that the warranties cover internal lubricated powertrain parts, this is technically not that. It's BS. 33k miles. I'm glad I'm on vacation this coming week or I'd be hosed. Trans cooler is covered, trans heater not. Ugh!!!

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[OCDTech]

Thanks, i do like it.
The dealer said that the warranties cover internal lubricated powertrain parts, this is technically not that. It's BS. 33k miles. I'm glad I'm on vacation this coming week or I'd be hosed. Trans cooler is covered, trans heater not. Ugh!!!

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I gotcha. So you don't have an extended bumper to bumper only powertrain. Well if your mechanical at all may try the deal in the video first. From my experience an o ring that looks like that was goofed on original install. ALSO, very important, these transmissions have very specific and meticulous refill procedure. This same guy has this procedure on 2 part video. Sure hope this helps you.

 

[Desert Dude]

Found this, might help.

Lol, that's the exact link I texted the service manager. He replied, "Sorry, it needs the heater." Then texted "He (mechanic) did say it looks to be a very bad leak and recommends not driving the vehicle.
Fyi, not a drop of trans fluid on my driveway....

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[OCDTech]

Well, he could be possibly be swaying his decision for a couple of reasons. Money, (pressured by dealer) or experience. No way to know which, he genuinely may see far more heaters that cause the leak than the o-ring. So, you may have to decide which way to go with that one.

 

[Desert Dude]

I gotcha. So you don't have an extended bumper to bumper only powertrain. Well if your mechanical at all may try the deal in the video first. From my experience an o ring that looks like that was goofed on original install. ALSO, very important, these transmissions have very specific and meticulous refill procedure. This same guy has this procedure on 2 part video. Sure hope this helps you.

Thanks,
I hope the warranty pulls through. When i bought the truck, i guess we did the powertrain. But if they can't help, I'll have a very hard time paying for it.

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[Desert Dude]

Well, he could be possibly be swaying his decision for a couple of reasons. Money, (pressured by dealer) or experience. No way to know which, he genuinely may see far more heaters that cause the leak than the o-ring. So, you may have to decide which way to go with that one.

Yeah, they escalated my phone call, so hopefully i hear back Monday or Tuesday. Then they can do the 4 recalls on it.

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[OCDTech]

Yeah, they escalated my phone call, so hopefully i hear back Monday or Tuesday. Then they can do the 4 recalls on it.

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You may also reach out to ramcares, i see they try to help a good bit, not sure if they can, but never hurts to try.

 

[OCDTech]

Had to remove part of that wasn't thinking.

 

[Desert Dude]

You may also reach out to ramcares, i see they try to help a good bit, not sure if they can, but never hurts to try.

Thank you, I filled out their online form for assistance. Fingers crossed.

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[pacofortacos]

Doesn't that "heater" also function as a trans cooler - as well as the cooler up front?
Pretty sure if the trans fluid is hotter than the antifreeze that the antifreeze will absorb some of that heat and cool the fluid a bit.

 

[OCDTech]

Doesn't that "heater" also function as a trans cooler - as well as the cooler up front?
Pretty sure if the trans fluid is hotter than the antifreeze that the antifreeze will absorb some of that heat and cool the fluid a bit.

No, the cooler is integrated into the condenser coil for the a/c in front of the radiator ( top three rows or so) and flow is controlled via a 3 way valve i believe is mounted on the frame.

 

[crash68]

No, the cooler is integrated into the condenser coil for the a/c in front of the radiator ( top three rows or so) and flow is controlled via a 3 way valve i believe is mounted on the frame.

The thermal bypass valve which directs the fluid to the condenser assembly is part of the 8spd TMU. The 6spd transmissions use an external 3 way valve.

 

[OCDTech]

The thermal bypass valve which directs the fluid to the condenser assembly is part of the 8spd TMU. The 6spd transmissions use an external 3 way valve.

Ok the thing im seeing looks like controls some of the coolant flow to the heater core from the transmission coolant lines. Thank you for the correction.

 

[crash68]

Ok the thing im seeing looks like controls some of the coolant flow to the heater core from the transmission coolant lines.

That three way is to direct coolant not used for heating the cab to the TMU.
There was a member on another forum with 8spd trans temperature issues. Learned a lot of how the system works and what is the tell tail signs the the transmission cooling isn't working properly.

 

[Wild one]

Found this, might help.

There's updated transfer tubes available now,that video must be a year or 2 old,as I replaced my 8 speed about a year and half ago,and ordered new transfer tubes from the dealer,and the new tubes don't use a O-ring,they are a rubber encapsulated tube now,apparently the change was due to the fact the 0-ring style tubes would leak after awhile or if they were re-used.The heater itself isn't all that expensive even from the dealer. If you do pull the heater yourself to replace it,make sure you drain the coolant and a pair of flexible hose clamp pliars are needed to get at the coolant hoses on the top of the heater.You'll lose some tranny fluid,so you'll want to grab a quart/litre or 2 of the gold plated fluid. Somebody on here did an excellent write up on how to replace the heater,that i'd hunt up and read.

 

[Desert Dude]

Well after dealing with warranty and the dealership, they let me pay a deductible for this "non warrantied" part. I'm not exactly sure how they changed their minds, but $100 is alot better than $900!!!
Hopefully the new heater has the upgraded tubes.
Thanks for the info everyone, couple of phone calls saved $100.

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[OCDTech]

Well after dealing with warranty and the dealership, they let me pay a deductible for this "non warrantied" part. I'm not exactly sure how they changed their minds, but $100 is alot better than $900!!!
Hopefully the new heater has the upgraded tubes.
Thanks for the info everyone, couple of phone calls saved $100.

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Great news man, I love hearing good warranty stories.