2020 Ram 1500 factory fill -ZF 8&9 fluid 36k miles

[Plawan]

About a quart 1/2 of Maxlife atf is mixed in there with factory fill. I had installed a remote mount spin on filter mount in cooler return line. Filter holds a quart of fluid and I topped the pan off. Can’t remember which one but it’s the older Fram ultra style FL1A size.
I dunno if maxlife effected the viscosity or if the ZF fluid shears down. Anyway I don’t have much to compare this too but it seems really decent.

 

[Plawan]

I guess it is more appropriately called Mopar 8&9 . Same as zF8 basically I think

 

[Deleted member 89374]

@Plawan would you please be so kind and post these pictures at a higher resolution? They're unreadable. Thank you.

BTW, MaxLife won't affect the viscosity.

 

[Plawan]

Hopefully this is better.

 

[Greasymechtech]

Honestly, all of it looks fine. Additive package looks stout. Use to seeing 1/2 the boron and phosphorous in too many ATFs.

Viscosity of Lifeguard is ~5.6 so nothing to worry about there.

Did you change this fluid out? or still in use?

What filter is on now?

 

[Plawan]

Honestly, all of it looks fine. Additive package looks stout. Use to seeing 1/2 the boron and phosphorous in too many ATFs.

Viscosity of Lifeguard is ~5.6 so nothing to worry about there.

Did you change this fluid out? or still in use?

What filter is on now?

No, it’s still in. Same pan filter. Slapped another og(previous style) fram on the spin on mount.
I’ll probably just leave the fluid in till 60k.

 

[Plawan]

By the way I took the sample right out of the spin on filter. Just dumped it in the bottle from the filter so I dunno if that effects the numbers one way or another.
I just wanted an idea of how thing look.

 

[Deleted member 89374]

No, it’s still in. Same pan filter. Slapped another og(previous style) fram on the spin on mount.
I’ll probably just leave the fluid in till 60k.

The OEM pan filter is a thin sheet of material that lets just about anything through. I wouldn't worry about it as it does the bare minimum.

By the way I took the sample right out of the spin on filter. Just dumped it in the bottle from the filter so I dunno if that effects the numbers one way or another.
I just wanted an idea of how thing look.

That's okay if you took the sample from there.
How did you manage to install that filter there? We have a 2016 RAM 1500 with the ZF 8 Speed and I'd like to do the same. If you could share what parts you used, how you installed it, and the filter model number you're using, that would be great. Thank you so much!

 

[The Critic]

I guess it is more appropriately called Mopar 8&9 . Same as zF8 basically I think

Mopar 8&9 is ZF Lifeguard 8. Not sure why Mopar uses Lifeguard 8 for the 9-speeds; ZF recommends Lifeguard 9 in their guide:

https://aftermarket.zf.com/remotemedia/lol-lubricants/lol-en/lol-te-ml-11-en.pdf

 

[Plawan]

This is basically just like what I used. I had just bought the mount for cheap somewhere and bought the hose fitting adapters and hose clamps at Lowe’s.
The cooler lines are mostly aluminum but have rubber hose sections right behind the radiator at the bottom passenger side. There’s a metal plate already welded onto the frame right there just below the lines. I mounted the filter adapter there.
I used self tapping screws but you can drill hole and use bolts and nuts with lock washers if you wanted. I just cut the return cooler line and there is enough length to fit down on the fittings.
You can know which line is the return by feeling the lines when the transmission is up to temp. (The fluid flow is thermostatically controlled to the cooler). A good drive on the highway will do. The return line will be noticeably cooler. So then you also know the direction of flow for that line is going from the cooler back to the tranny.
The mount I got fits a 3/4 in.-16 oil filter or a transmission spin on filter.
Wix 51515, PH8, FL1A are some good large oil filters for 3/4-16 mount. Wix also has a number of hydraulic/transmission spin on filters that will fit.
Best to use the biggest synthetic media filter you can fit.

 

[himemsys]

Hopefully this is better.

If you want to get a better idea of how much life is left, you need to know the virgin TAN of the oil. From what I've learned, when the used TAN becomes 3-4x higher than virgin values, then the fluid is spent. For example, on our '18 CRV, the virgin TAN of Honda HCF-2 is 0.4. I ran the factory fill 25k miles and the ending TAN was 1.3. And not all transmission fluids start with similar TANs, so you either have to find a virgin analysis of that oil, or send a sample in yourself.

 

[Plawan]

If you want to get a better idea of how much life is left, you need to know the virgin TAN of the oil. From what I've learned, when the used TAN becomes 3-4x higher than virgin values, then the fluid is spent. For example, on our '18 CRV, the virgin TAN of Honda HCF-2 is 0.4. I ran the factory fill 25k miles and the ending TAN was 1.3. And not all transmission fluids start with similar TANs, so you either have to find a virgin analysis of that oil, or send a sample in yourself.

I think the acid number on my UOA is the same thing as tan? Is that correct?
If so it doesn’t differ much from a VOA that is posted here.

 

[himemsys]

I think the acid number on my UOA is the same thing as tan? Is that correct?
If so it doesn’t differ much from a VOA that is posted here.

Correct. I just found it too after a search. Going from 1.4 to 1.6 after 36k miles is impressive. It certainly held up better than the Honda HCF-2 did in our CRV.

 

[Plawan]

Correct. I just found it too after a search. Going from 1.4 to 1.6 after 36k miles is impressive. It certainly held up better than the Honda HCF-2 did in our CRV.

Good to know thanks

 

[Deleted member 89374]

@Plawan this is going into our 2016 RAM 1500 this week. My two-year-old put his little toy on top. It improved shifting in the 6-speed Hyundai transmission. Let's see how it'll do in the 8HP70.

 

[CarbonSteel]

@Plawan - here is a VOA I did on ZF Lifeguard 8. From everything I have read Mopar 8&9 is just rebranded ZF.

Thread 'ZF Lifeguard 8 VOA' https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/zf-lifeguard-8-voa.356678/

 

[Plawan]

@Plawan - here is a VOA I did on ZF Lifeguard 8. From everything I have read Mopar 8&9 is just rebranded ZF.

Thread 'ZF Lifeguard 8 VOA' https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/zf-lifeguard-8-voa.356678/

Nice!

 

[Plawan]

@Plawan this is going into our 2016 RAM 1500 this week. My two-year-old put his little toy on top. It improved shifting in the 6-speed Hyundai transmission. Let's see how it'll do in the 8HP70.

View attachment 141178

How is the M1 doing? Great I hope.
Doe Exxon claim this to be a suitable application ? Jus curious to know thanks

 

[GladiatorPilot]

How is the M1 doing? Great I hope.
Doe Exxon claim this to be a suitable application ? Jus curious to know thanks

Only approved oils will be warrantied. A poor guy found out the hard way when his warrantee was denied. The trans failure with Amsoil was not due to the failure from it but from glycol contamination from the factory.

The oils that are recommended by the companies but not approved will void and are not exact exact specs but very close lol. Thats why they work with many transmissions.