Owners of vehicles with ZF 8 spd transmission

[BlueOvalFitter]

Maybe but I'll walk before I crawl in a "Blue Oval"

Very good exercise.

 

[4WD]

My only caveat is that I have not found a dealer that I like/trust. I bought it near Dallas and that is too far to drive for normal maintenance. I am having the steering TSB (replacing the aluminum gearbox with a new cast iron one) done at a dealer in the Woodlands, but the fact they stated the disconnected rear window defroster wire (that has plagued thousands) is not covered leaves me room for pause with them since it IS covered.

This looks like a well made pan … actually a useable drain … I have to decide if I’ll tamper with the 850RE with just the base warranty … or wait it out

PPE HD Cast Aluminum Shallow Transmission Pan - Black

PPE HD Cast Aluminum Shallow Transmission Pan - Black

www.northridge4x4.com

 

[CarbonSteel]

This looks like a well made pan … actually a useable drain … I have to decide if I’ll tamper with the 850RE with just the base warranty … or wait it out

PPE HD Cast Aluminum Shallow Transmission Pan - Black

PPE HD Cast Aluminum Shallow Transmission Pan - Black

www.northridge4x4.com

Yep; looks like a nice one. I would only run it with full skids though since it is cast aluminum. I plan to have my fluid + filter changed at 50K and will have to find a good dealer to do it since I have the 7 year, unlimited mileage maxcare warranty. So far, I have not found one.

 

[4WD]

Yep; looks like a nice one. I would only run it with full skids though since it is cast aluminum. I plan to have my fluid + filter changed at 50K and will have to find a good dealer to do it since I have the 7 year, unlimited mileage maxcare warranty. So far, I have not found one.

Yeah … got a ways to go … but I’ll eventually give it a try. One of our engineers did one with a digital BBQ probe and said it was within 2F from the dashboard trans temp …

 

[JTK]

I have done dozens of fluid changes. Dozens of valve bodies. Many full units.

anyways I recommend the fluid the same as ZF interval 60k. That mileage it’s drain and fill essentially

next interval you can replace the pan. The filter and magnets are in it.

the hemi ram as mentioned above is the most challenging to remove the plug and I have had a few random plastic plugs not want to come out of different pans. Had to hammer chisel them lose I have extra drain plugs

the awd charger challenger 300 is the worst to fill as the front ds is right where you want to remove the fill plug

if you do maxlife and have a problem under warranty be aware you will likely have some hard times when they take your fluid same pick for warranty authorization and it’s red. FCA won’t care for that and likely blame the fluid. Your dealer and outcome may vary

In warranty would either use the zf fluid or not do it at all.

and the initial 1-2 shift thing is pretty common it bugs some people and others not.

The pentastar powered Ram 1500s look the easiest in terms of ZF8 pan access. The pan drain is in the wide open, as is the refill port. The exhaust system on pentastar Rams doesn't "Y" together untill the tail-end of the transmission.

Another curious thing I found is the 8HP45 and 8HP70 both use the same pan, but the pentastar/8HP45 pans are way cheaper. As soon as you add the word Hemi or Jeep to your aftermarket pan search, the price goes up 2-3x.

Not sure if I read it here or on a Ram board I frequent, but I have seen at least 2 instances where owners kicked up a stick and punctured the plastic pan on their Rams. Pros and Cons to everything I suppose.

 

[4WD]

The pentastar powered Ram 1500s look the easiest in terms of ZF8 pan access. The pan drain is in the wide open, as is the refill port. The exhaust system on pentastar Rams doesn't "Y" together untill the tail-end of the transmission.

Another curious thing I found is the 8HP45 and 8HP70 both use the same pan, but the pentastar/8HP45 pans are way cheaper. As soon as you add the word Hemi or Jeep to your aftermarket pan search, the price goes up 2-3x.

Not sure if I read it here or on a Ram board I frequent, but I have seen at least 2 instances where owners kicked up a stick and punctured the plastic pan on their Rams. Pros and Cons to everything I suppose.

Been a while since I traded my Hemi Ram … but get the Jeep part … Mopar is not missing out on it either …

 

[Deleted member 89374]

Hi guys,

I was looking at a used Ram 1500 3.6 with A ZF transmission. Owner says it's got a harsh shift from 1st to 2nd gear.

I see these tranny's have a plastic pan with and use special fluid that's pricey.

Do any of our members do their own drain and fills along with pan replacement on these vehicles? At the dealer it seems that this service is pretty pricey. YouTube has a lot of videos which show how the pan change and refill can be DIY'd.

Are these transmissions durable long term?

The harsh shift is from the transmission, indeed, however, it's amplified by the transfer case. The transfer case most likely is either low on fluid or shipped from the factory low on fluid. I had the same issue, then changed the fluid to 1.5 quarts Amsoil MV ATF and added 4 oz. of Lubegard Platinum ATF to it. Now those first harsh shifts are barely noticeable. Next, I'll do the transmission as I'm switching to a PPE aluminum drain pan.

 

[doublebase]

Took a class with a ZF factory rep four years ago...great guy, pretty forthcoming with information.

He said...we make a great transmission, however we sell them to auto manufacturers and SOME manufacturers ask us to lower the price of the units, which results in lower durability/quality of the product.

Immediately everyone tried to guess which manufacture he was talking about...he asked everyone to guess. Everyone raised their hand and said, Chrysler. He said, yup, it’s Chrysler. Our factories are filled with Chrysler returned units.

I don’t work on Chrysler’s and I haven’t heard of them having automatic transmission issues (at least not like they used to have in their minivans).

 

[Deleted member 89374]

Took a class with a ZF factory rep four years ago...great guy, pretty forthcoming with information.

He said...we make a great transmission, however we sell them to auto manufacturers and SOME manufacturers ask us to lower the price of the units, which results in lower durability/quality of the product.

Immediately everyone tried to guess which manufacture he was talking about...he asked everyone to guess. Everyone raised their hand and said, Chrysler. He said, yup, it’s Chrysler. Our factories are filled with Chrysler returned units.

I don’t work on Chrysler’s and I haven’t heard of them having automatic transmission issues (at least not like they used to have in their minivans).

I wonder how they could compromise their own transmission to meet a certain price point and why they would even be willing to do it in the first place? The ZF 8 speed is a great transmission. However, there isn't that much you could save money on by using cheaper parts. The ZF 845RE is built by Stellantis (former FCA) under license in their own factory to cut all kinds of corners. ZF manufactures transmissions like the ZF 870RE/875RE, and I highly doubt they will compromise their own products. RMA/Dodge is doing a fine job of that already by running them way too hot.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

I wonder how they could compromise their own transmission to meet a certain price point and why they would even be willing to do it in the first place? The ZF 8 speed is a great transmission. However, there isn't that much you could save money on by using cheaper parts. The ZF 845RE is built by Stellantis (former FCA) under license in their own factory to cut all kinds of corners. ZF manufactures transmissions like the ZF 870RE/875RE, and I highly doubt they will compromise their own products. RMA/Dodge is doing a fine job of that already by running them way too hot.

ZF should revoke Chrysler's license to make the transmissions or require them to make it correctly

 

[2EHA]

the indiana built NAG1 is a good and extremely tough transmission like the MB made one.

why would it be any different with the current zf. if you can cut corners and still have a great product that’s something to be celebrated

 

[JTK]

I wonder how they could compromise their own transmission to meet a certain price point and why they would even be willing to do it in the first place? The ZF 8 speed is a great transmission. However, there isn't that much you could save money on by using cheaper parts. The ZF 845RE is built by Stellantis (former FCA) under license in their own factory to cut all kinds of corners. ZF manufactures transmissions like the ZF 870RE/875RE, and I highly doubt they will compromise their own products. RMA/Dodge is doing a fine job of that already by running them way too hot.

I'm sure the ZF rep has more info than us, but given the number of Ram 1500s out there with the 845RE since 2013 or the 870RE hemi version, issues are far and few between on the innerwebs at least.

 

[CarbonSteel]

I'm sure the ZF rep has more info than us, but given the number of Ram 1500s out there with the 845RE since 2013 or the 870RE hemi version, issues are far and few between on the innerwebs at least.

Same for the Wranglers with the 850RE transmissions, there has been very little chatter about transmission problems on the Wrangler forums.

 

[doublebase]

I wonder how they could compromise their own transmission to meet a certain price point and why they would even be willing to do it in the first place? The ZF 8 speed is a great transmission. However, there isn't that much you could save money on by using cheaper parts. The ZF 845RE is built by Stellantis (former FCA) under license in their own factory to cut all kinds of corners. ZF manufactures transmissions like the ZF 870RE/875RE, and I highly doubt they will compromise their own products. RMA/Dodge is doing a fine job of that already by running them way too hot.

It's about money - they are making money off that Chrysler contract...if Chrysler tells them they are only willing to spend so much...and ZF counters with, we can only meet that price if we change this component by using a different cheaper material/tolerance? And Chrysler gladly agrees. ZF will gladly do it, and so would almost any major corporation out there. Heck, Walmart does this every single day...tells their suppliers to make their product cheaper - and they do - but the customer is not getting the same quality, but then again they are paying a lower price. Walmart has become notorious for this.