Tinker Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 (edited) 120K+ on my Ram with 95% hwy miles, started to shudder shifting lately and a chug or shudder in ECO mode. The claim is these are sealed tranny's with no service required for 196km- Bullshit The fill and level procedure is a PITA and the pan and filter assembly, although high tech, is 500 fn dollars and the Mopar fluid is 58$/L. Dealer quotes were $850- $1000 so I jumped in myself. After driving the truck with trans up to temp but exhaust cool enough to work around, there is a 10mm drain plug on the pan but on my Crew cab it's right over the exhaust crosspipe so I dropped the hole pan just like the good old days. The fluid was disgusting, this shoulda been done at 80K. The filter is fixed in the pan so I reserve flowed the filter in the parts washer bin with clean solvent and some cheap Dextron III trans fluid mixed in. I kept sloshing it around til the grey slime stopped flowing out. The pan has 4 magnets (COOL!!) They pop out and I wiped the furry buggers clean as a whistle and brushed the rest of the pan clean. Light air pressure thru the filter to rinse any solvent out and I ran several baths of proper Trans fluid thru the filter to ensure no solvent was left behind - Amsoil Syn " Fuel Efficient" ATF with blue label- $18/L, yes it meets ZF and Chrysler specs. Triple check the pan O ring seal and the filter pick up tube O ring, pan back on and undo the 8mm fill/level plug. Pump about 2.5L of fluid into it until it runs out using a 15$ drill pump kit with hoses from Princess Auto. Re-install fill plug. Note, the fluid and trans have to be cool. My Sport has a digital Trans temp guage and it matches the Scan tool so I went by that. Start the truck, put it in Drive, Neutral, Reverse for 10 seconds each and back to Park. Get under the passenger side of the truck quick. Undo the fill plug and You gotta pump it full while the trans temp is well below 52C til it flows back out. Idling in Park it took maybe 4 minutes to reach 52C and slap the fill plug back in quick and tight right above the exhaust pipe with it still running, do not shut it off. By the time I crawled back out the temp was at 56C. So far the shifting is back to as new, driving temps are 6* cooler and shudder is gone. It took less than 5L and it holds 11 so if there's no leaks or issues I'll swap just fluid again in a week using a shortened 10mm allen key on the drain plug. I expect the pan and filter to be good for the life of the truck now with the majority of the wear in done, a 4L fluid swap every 40K should do it. In retrospect, I should have replaced the filter tube O-ring with a new one. In the time it takes the trans to cool you could easily take a sample and get one. The whole process seemed intimidating but it's not that bad, feel free to copy n paste this on a Ram Forum. Edited October 4, 2016 by Tinker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoney Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 Nice write up, Tink! Sounds like a PITA though. I tried to find a "cheap" pump kit for pumping fluid into tight spots a while ago with no luck, I will have to have another look at PA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoney Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 Does it look like this one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taillight Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 Or you could have brought it to me and one of my very experienced tech's could have done the work... I just bought the Mister Transmission in Newmarket, I will give FS'ers a good discount Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoney Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 44 minutes ago, Taillight said: Or you could have brought it to me and one of my very experienced tech's could have done the work... I just bought the Mister Transmission in Newmarket, I will give FS'ers a good discount Congrats, Aaron! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taillight Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 (edited) Thanks, steep learning curve. but they are closed sundays so I can still sled Edited October 4, 2016 by Taillight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoney Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 Sound like you could also give Tink a call for some friendly advise, if needed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinker Posted October 4, 2016 Author Share Posted October 4, 2016 3 hours ago, Stoney said: Does it look like this one? Yes that's the unit, they work for marine engine oil pump out too, prime it first helps. I wouldn't re-use the same pump for new clean ATF though, I bought a new one. I use the Mr T on Woodbine, Ken is a very diligent guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinker Posted October 4, 2016 Author Share Posted October 4, 2016 Aaron, can you get Valvoline Max Life Syn ATF ? It meets ZF spec too. Seems to be US only right now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taillight Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 I take over on Friday, i'll check next week Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puzzleboy Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 Call Kyle/Killer...... he apparently has lots of experience servicing trannies...... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoney Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 7 hours ago, Tinker said: Yes that's the unit, they work for marine engine oil pump out too, prime it first helps. I wouldn't re-use the same pump for new clean ATF though, I bought a new one. I use the Mr T on Woodbine, Ken is a very diligent guy. I already have an oil extractor to remove used oils, it works really good. I was using a smaller oil jug to fill cases with tight clearances, just took a bit more effort, but I will pick one of these up next time I am at PA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev144 Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 Yikes! That seems a little early for a tranny issue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoney Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 It's a Dodge..... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
04nightfire Posted October 5, 2016 Share Posted October 5, 2016 What ^ said Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake Schofie Posted October 6, 2016 Share Posted October 6, 2016 Good to Know. I have to do mine soon. I was also told you rarely have to service the ZF8. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinker Posted October 6, 2016 Author Share Posted October 6, 2016 23 hours ago, Kev144 said: Yikes! That seems a little early for a tranny issue No issues, just maintenance. That tranny works amazingly well. 400Hp, 5500 lb 4x4, no fluid lasts forever Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoney Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 13 hours ago, Tinker said: No issues, just maintenance. That tranny works amazingly well. 400Hp, 5500 lb 4x4, no fluid lasts forever There really are very few reported issues with the 6 or 8 speed transmissions, or the 5.7 for that matter. I wonder if the 8 speed will ever be robust enough to make it into the HD trucks, the 6 speed shift points is likely the biggest complaint I have with mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irv Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 On 10/6/2016 at 9:24 AM, Tinker said: No issues, just maintenance. That tranny works amazingly well. 400Hp, 5500 lb 4x4, no fluid lasts forever Glad to hear it was nothing serious, Tinker. Only 50,000 km's on my 6 sp but I have been thinking about changing out all fluids soon. Not that I need to, I am just anal that way. Speaking of which, have you changed/looked at your plugs yet? I am due based on the manual service interval, but it fires right up, runs great and still has all it's power as far as I can tell? On 10/6/2016 at 10:35 PM, Stoney said: There really are very few reported issues with the 6 or 8 speed transmissions, or the 5.7 for that matter. I wonder if the 8 speed will ever be robust enough to make it into the HD trucks, the 6 speed shift points is likely the biggest complaint I have with mine. No issues with my 6 sp yet, other than some wonky/funny shifts when it's cold. I usually throw it in neutral when the truck is warming up before I go, especially in the winter, and it seems to help, but sometimes it makes me scratch my head why it shifts like it does occasionally? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catalina Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 As far as plugs go - no matter what engine it is - they last longer now than they ever did, but I am not a fan of leaving them for more than 60 - 70K miles. They may still work OK, but I don't have much hope of getting them out of the head after 100,000 miles. Better to do them sooner, and not break anything. Probably only going t do them once or twice over the life of the motor anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoney Posted October 11, 2016 Share Posted October 11, 2016 10 hours ago, irv said: Speaking of which, have you changed/looked at your plugs yet? I am due based on the manual service interval, but it fires right up, runs great and still has all it's power as far as I can tell? No issues with my 6 sp yet, other than some wonky/funny shifts when it's cold. I usually throw it in neutral when the truck is warming up before I go, especially in the winter, and it seems to help, but sometimes it makes me scratch my head why it shifts like it does occasionally? If you can on your truck, turn off the MDS while driving in city/stop & go traffic, you will notice an improvement in the shifting. With the MDS on, the truck is always trying to shift into the OD quicker for better fuel economy, causing a clunkier drive train & also will feel like the truck is lugging. On my truck, if I am driving in traffic or in the city I manually shift mine into 6th gear, which eliminates the MDS from coming on, but mine is a HD and I know it works different than the 1/2 tons. As for the plugs, you will likely not notice any performance issues, as it will be gradual and you will think all is normal. Plugs do last longer these days, but the problem with worn plugs is the larger gap from a warn plug will put an added strain on the electrical system.....but I think newer vehicles do not see this as much of an issue as the older ones did, I would be more worried about a seized plug vs. a warn plug. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revrnd Posted October 11, 2016 Share Posted October 11, 2016 Looking @ the owner's manual of my brother's new GMC. I see the half tons have a 8 speed "maintenance" free (dipstick-less) trans too. Were these trans developed jointly by GM & Chrysler? I seem to recall reading about a joint venture on a trans' several years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinker Posted October 11, 2016 Author Share Posted October 11, 2016 German transmission Co in Friedrichshafen, their stuff is in BMW, Jag, Porsche, Alfa, Merc... good shit IMO. Lots of gearing and HP rating options set by the OEM. They have a Traxon HD trans coming up for big trucks and the option of a electric motor in the torque convertor, that would be nice to chug the Hemi along at 40+ MPG. Not to bash as I thought an 8 speed would bug me with all the shifting but it is fast and seemless. The few new GM 6 spd's I've driven had frustratingly slow throttle and transmission response. I hated driving them and mileage sucked ass. The smaller 5.0L Ford 6 spd was way better with good power and mileage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoney Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 On 10/4/2016 at 10:03 AM, Taillight said: Or you could have brought it to me and one of my very experienced tech's could have done the work... I just bought the Mister Transmission in Newmarket, I will give FS'ers a good discount How's the new business venture treating you, Aaron? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Algonquin Rider Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 On 10/11/2016 at 10:30 AM, revrnd said: Looking @ the owner's manual of my brother's new GMC. I see the half tons have a 8 speed "maintenance" free (dipstick-less) trans too. Were these trans developed jointly by GM & Chrysler? I seem to recall reading about a joint venture on a trans' several years ago. It was GM and Ford who did the joint venture with transmissions. Ford used GM's design, pays royalties and they share suppliers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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