Fluid For Chrysler ZF-8 Speed ?

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Don't change it, they are supposed to be filled for life and I suspect that's the case. I don't think you will gain anything by spending that $700.

What mileage are you at?

I have no plans of ever changing the fluid in mine.


Frankly if you don't intend to keep the vehicle long term that is prudent. And warranted!

But for the long term owner a fluid and filter change is usually critical in the earlier stages of the transmission's life. But these are NEW tech and not even comparable to ordinary slushboxes. They were designed from the get go to be lifetime sealed units...

 

[mcrn]

Serious question....why can the pan not be reused? Is there a built in gasket? Does it crack when you take it off?

 

[bdcardinal]

On some ZF units the filter is part of the pan, so the pan cannot be reused if you want to change the filter.

 

[ledslinger]

Here is the best price I've seen on ZF fluid. They may have the pan also. If not try some of the BMW suppliers such as Bavauto, if the pan is the same.

http://www.thectsc.com/products/zf-lifeguard8-case-of-12-x-1l-container-193-62.html

 

[DoubleWasp]

I'll say this transmission, even though the 6 speed, is incredibly good. Shows no signs of age at 141k miles, and it has actually been Maxlife taking it the past 41k.

I wouldn't have touched it at all, but severe service doesn't even begin to describe what this truck has been through. I'm about to yank out a 32' Rinker right now.

 

[mcrn]

Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
Originally Posted By: mcrn
Serious question....why can the pan not be reused? Is there a built in gasket? Does it crack when you take it off?


On some ZF units the filter is part of the pan, so the pan cannot be reused if you want to change the filter.



Ahh ok thank you! Maybe installing an inline filter would be great for this vehicle?

 

[hattaresguy]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Don't change it, they are supposed to be filled for life and I suspect that's the case. I don't think you will gain anything by spending that $700.

What mileage are you at?

I have no plans of ever changing the fluid in mine.


Frankly if you don't intend to keep the vehicle long term that is prudent. And warranted!

But for the long term owner a fluid and filter change is usually critical in the earlier stages of the transmission's life. But these are NEW tech and not even comparable to ordinary slushboxes. They were designed from the get go to be lifetime sealed units...


I don't plan on keeping the truck to far past 100k miles.

But I believe the engineers know what they are doing.

The amount of wear a gear box will accumulate over its expected service life isn't terrible hard to calculate. The vast majority occurs when its brand new, and the rest happens when it fails, in between there is almost no wear. So all they have to do is make sure the filter is of the right size to capture anything that could cause an issue.

Fluids like anything else can be manged which this transmission does very well in terms of operating temps. The engineers can spec a more robust add pack, etc, which is why I suspect this stuff isn't cheap. Its a blend that ZF has made for their application.

I suspect the ZF boys did their homework on this one.

I bet if a company ran a fleet of say 20 and changed half every 50k miles and the other half followed the FSM they wouldn't notice much of a difference in failure rate.

 

[CT8]

Drop the pan at 50,000 miles to see all the metal in the pan.

 

[R2d2]

Don't look forward to the changing or having changed my TLX ZF-9 fluid changed.

 

[Ram01]

I will do 1 fluid exchange and won't touch it again . That's a lot of $$ for that ZF FLUID

 

[QwikKota]

Believe it or not the pan on the new ZF 8 speed is plastic! Probably not a big deal and they are meant to run warmer than normal however an aluminum pan would shed a lot more heat. I will try to source a skid plate at least but this exhaust routing may hinder that idea.

 

[CT8]

Originally Posted by SteveSRT8
Note that Bentley and Jaguar use these units in extremely high powered applications. IMO the Bentley with AWD and tons of torque is a severe test of any transmission...
How many Jags or Bentlys are ever driven enough to wear them out?

 

[SteveSRT8]

C'mon, think about that for a minute!

Just because the original owners get rid of them doesn't mean they are discarded. You just won't hear much about them due to low production numbers and owners who aren't here griping...

 

[The Critic]

Just had a BMW 528i in for service. It had 195k on the original fluid with the ZF 6HP29. Still shifted better than most transmissions with a lot less miles!

 

[hattaresguy]

Originally Posted by CT8
How many Jags or Bentlys are ever driven enough to wear them out?

Their are a ton of 20 year old Jags and Bentley's on the road. Expensive cars tend to be kept around, a 10 year old Arnage is still worth $30k-$100k depending on the model.