My PPE transmission pan: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

[Aidan]

Did anyone do a complete flush or just re-fill the oil?

 

[2021QCBH]

I saw online some use the collars. My instructions didn’t say anything in regards to those. I popped them out and test fit them. They looked like they would prevent the gasket from being fully compressed once installed so I didn’t use them.

They protruded from the PPE pan a bit. When installed in the stock pan they were much closer if not fully flush with the pan surfaces.

 

[c3k]

Like others have said, there's no need to use anything from the old pan other than the bolts.

Make sure you have a new gasket.

 

[Rebob0510]

Like others have said, there's no need to use anything from the old pan other than the bolts.

Make sure you have a new gasket.

I ordered a new gasket for it, I am going to do like all the other have and just bolt the pan on without the flange collars from the old pan

 

[Rebob0510]

I saw online some use the collars. My instructions didn’t say anything in regards to those. I popped them out and test fit them. They looked like they would prevent the gasket from being fully compressed once installed so I didn’t use them.

They protruded from the PPE pan a bit. When installed in the stock pan they were much closer if not fully flush with the pan surfaces.

That makes sense, If they wont sit perfectly flush the gasket wont be compressed enough. I wont be installing them into my pan

 

[2021QCBH]

I suspect the only reason they are present in the stock pan is to prevent cracking/warping the flange since it’s plastic. Not really an issue with the PPE pan unless it prevents over compression of the gasket.

At some point I plan to re check my fluid and bolt torque. Been through plenty of heat cycles at this point.

 

[HSKR R/T]

I suspect the only reason they are present in the stock pan is to prevent cracking/warping the flange since it’s plastic. Not really an issue with the PPE pan unless it prevents over compression of the gasket.

At some point I plan to re check my fluid and bolt torque. Been through plenty of heat cycles at this point.

I suspect the gasket issue. You don't need to crank the bolts down with the factory style gasket. You can actually damage the gasket if you compress it too much.

 

[2021QCBH]

I kept all my spacers. If I have a gasket issue associated with it I’ll try and reuse those but as it sits now I think it’s fine. It’s been on for 3k miles now.

I used the Felpro replacement gasket.

 

[DonH-Texas]

My PPE review:

The pan is a definite upgrade to the OEM. It holds more, it has cooling capability (aluminum with fins) and will make future filter swaps MUCH less expensive. A filter costs $30, a drain O-ring is $6, and a gasket (from KLM) is $27.50. Fluid cost would be the same (okay, add a quart for the bigger pan): Less than $65 instead of north of $250. I'll save $200 per filter change from here on.

The bad: no gasket??? WTF. And the "re-use the old one"? No...just, no.

Get the pan. Buy a gasket from KLM. Install a NEW O-ring on your drain plug. Add an aftermarket magnet to it if you want (like I did.)

Hopefully my experiences and suggestions will save you the time, trouble, and expense, that I had to go through to learn about PPE's shortcomings.

Again, the pan should help my transmission's longevity: cooler temps and more oil.

Good luck!

I don’t know how many times I’ve reused a gasket thinking it’ll be fine….wrong! Don’t do it guys, unless you want to do it again.

 

[HSKR R/T]

Did transmission fluid change and installed the PPE pan. If you are planning on doing this, few tips based on my experience today. I remove the three nuts from transmission mount into cross member and jacked the rear of transmission up by the transfer case vs trying to drop exhaust. You will need to do this in order to get the 10mm Allen wrench on the factory drain plug(if you have one). Unless your factory gasket is hard and brittle there is no reason to replace it. Mine was still very pliable, and the PPE pan is designed to use the factory o-ring style gasket. Just be careful removing it from the factory pan. And it will push right into the PPE pan. You do need to make sure it is fully pushed into the groove of the PPE pan.

For the factory bushings/flange collars in the bolt holes. The instructions clearly state to use them in the PPE pan. And they should be used as it will prevent you from over torquing the pan and crushing the gasket and damaging it, causing leaks. I used a 5/16" deep socket and they easily tapped out of the stock pan with light taps from a hammer. They pushed right into the PPE pan. Didn't need to use a hammer. They also help center the gasket in the holes. The instructions say to install the collars the same time as putting the bolts in, but they will push into the pan holes and stay. Will make it easier to get the bolts in doing it first as well as making sure the gasket isn't being pinched by the spacers. After tightening the pan, I lowered the jack and the transmission mount bolts dropped right back into the cross member.

Fluid filled. Might be a little low because I was stupid and shut the truck off before getting fill plug installed, but it was rear high with the way I had rear axle jacked up. Not sure about other bottles of fluid, but I went with Liqui Moly 1800 which meets ZF specs for the 8hp75. These bottles come with tubes built in that you can pull out after you take lid off. Still make s little mess trying to get bottle positions and tube shoved into the fill hole, but not too bad. You start by putting bottle in top first facing the rear of the truck over the exhaust. Once you get the back of bottle clear of cat, you push the back up and forward over top of the oxygen sensor. Then the fun part is getting the tube into the fill hole while fluid tries to run out. Initial 5 bottles before I started the truck wasn't too bad as exhaust was cold and I was able to use my finger to plug end of tube until I got it right to the fill hole. I used my welding gloves for final fill to work around hot exhaust. Once I put the gloves on, it didn't work well to keep my fingers on the tube. Probably only lost an ounce total out of all 7 bottles. Took about 6.5 liters of fluid. I ordered 8 to be safe.

 

[2021QCBH]

Good write up. My instructions didn’t say anything about torque or re using the collars. I saved them but didn’t use them. Leak free so far. I did use a new Felpro gasket though.

How many miles on yours ? How did the old fluid look when coming out ?

 

[HSKR R/T]

Good write up. My instructions didn’t say anything about torque or re using the collars. I saved them but didn’t use them. Leak free so far. I did use a new Felpro gasket though.

How many miles on yours ? How did the old fluid look when coming out ?

 

[2021QCBH]

Mine came with minimal instructions. Not a booklet like that, just one piece of paper.

 

[HSKR R/T]

Mine came with minimal instructions. Not a booklet like that, just one piece of paper.

This isn't really a booklet. Folded piece of paper.

 

[popcenator]

I bought a new gasket when installing the PPE pan, it was only like $20 and I'd rather have a new one in there anyway. I didn't use the collars either, just tightened the bolts without overdoing it and I've been leak free as well. I did, however, find it easier to jack up the rear of the transmission than lowering the exhaust like Husker.

Sent from my SM-S928U1 using Tapatalk

 

[pagepilot]

All Concerned,
I have the PPE deep pan on my 2022 RAM Ecodiesel. Was installed 2 months ago, never any issues/leaks with drain plug or leaks with the pan gasket.
My 2 cents...
The stock transmission pan flange collars (removable), provide three important functions; keeps the (stock "reusable" gasket) centered over the pan mounting holes, keeps the pan bolts centered in the mounting holes, and keeps the gasket from being over compressed when torquing to spec's.

Respectfully,
David

 

[HSKR R/T]

All Concerned,
I have the PPE deep pan on my 2022 RAM Ecodiesel. Was installed 2 months ago, never any issues/leaks with drain plug or leaks with the pan gasket.
My 2 cents...
The stock transmission pan flange collars (removable), provide three important functions; keeps the (stock "reusable" gasket) centered over the pan mounting holes, keeps the pan bolts centered in the mounting holes, and keeps the gasket from being over compressed when torquing to spec's.

Respectfully,
David

That what I said in my post about my install as well.

 

[rocket1949]

Here’s some of my experience with installing my PPE pan .
I originally bought the smaller pan that takes one additional quart of fluid .
After the install I had issues with the truck going into park and not being able to get back into gear . I also had codes.
I thought that I had broken something and went ahead and had the truck towed to the dealer .
They discovered that the park mechanism was binding on the pan filter thus tripping codes and making the vehicle inoperable. They then installed the original stock pan and I was able to drive the truck until we came up with plan B .
I contacted PPE and they were skeptical that this could have happened.
I sent them the video the dealer had put together of the issue . That convinced them of the problem.
PPE offered me the larger pan ( 2 quarts additional fluid ) no additional charge and gave me 2 additional filters at no charge.
With that pan I ended up putting in a mix of 7 quarts of ZF and MoPar transmission fluid .
I did not use the spacers. My thought is that the spacers are there because of the plastic pan . Too much torque would crack the pan . With the aluminum pan not so much.
I did not level the transmission. I leveled the truck. At the dealer they just put the truck on a lift and have the truck level .
So far alls good. It has been most interesting to read of everyone’s experience and to hear the different opinions and options that have been put forth.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[HSKR R/T]

Here’s some of my experience with installing my PPE pan .
I originally bought the smaller pan that takes one additional quart of fluid .
After the install I had issues with the truck going into park and not being able to get back into gear . I also had codes.
I thought that I had broken something and went ahead and had the truck towed to the dealer .
They discovered that the park mechanism was binding on the pan filter thus tripping codes and making the vehicle inoperable. They then installed the original stock pan and I was able to drive the truck until we came up with plan B .
I contacted PPE and they were skeptical that this could have happened.
I sent them the video the dealer had put together of the issue . That convinced them of the problem.
PPE offered me the larger pan ( 2 quarts additional fluid ) no additional charge and gave me 2 additional filters at no charge.
With that pan I ended up putting in a mix of 7 quarts of ZF and MoPar transmission fluid .
I did not use the spacers. My thought is that the spacers are there because of the plastic pan . Too much torque would crack the pan . With the aluminum pan not so much.
I did not level the transmission. I leveled the truck. At the dealer they just put the truck on a lift and have the truck level .
So far alls good. It has been most interesting to read of everyone’s experience and to hear the different opinions and options that have been put forth.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The spacers also prevent over tightening the bolts and damaging the gasket

 

[Aidan]

Here’s some of my experience with installing my PPE pan .
I originally bought the smaller pan that takes one additional quart of fluid .
After the install I had issues with the truck going into park and not being able to get back into gear . I also had codes.
I thought that I had broken something and went ahead and had the truck towed to the dealer .
They discovered that the park mechanism was binding on the pan filter thus tripping codes and making the vehicle inoperable. They then installed the original stock pan and I was able to drive the truck until we came up with plan B .
I contacted PPE and they were skeptical that this could have happened.
I sent them the video the dealer had put together of the issue . That convinced them of the problem.
PPE offered me the larger pan ( 2 quarts additional fluid ) no additional charge and gave me 2 additional filters at no charge.
With that pan I ended up putting in a mix of 7 quarts of ZF and MoPar transmission fluid .
I did not use the spacers. My thought is that the spacers are there because of the plastic pan . Too much torque would crack the pan . With the aluminum pan not so much.
I did not level the transmission. I leveled the truck. At the dealer they just put the truck on a lift and have the truck level .
So far alls good. It has been most interesting to read of everyone’s experience and to hear the different opinions and options that have been put forth.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I also installed the additional 1 quart pan. My truck is levelled, and I used 4 jack stands to get the wheels off the ground. I had no issues when I started the filling procedures, then a minute or so after I had completed them, it would not shift into park, gave the error message in the cluster - no issues with any other gears. I also thought I had broken something and checked for codes etc. but literally had none.

After about 5 minutes of panicking, the issue resolved itself and I confirmed no error codes were thrown. It has been completely fine since (touch wood), but have only done about 5000 miles.

I also did not use the spacers and used a brand new gasket. Have been checking for leaks every 2 weeks and appears to be fine. Have also been monitoring temperatures and performance and no issues to report.

I found installing the pan was a tight squeeze even with lifting the transmission off the support bar. I also ended up detaching (not removing) part of the exhaust pipe so it could be moved (about an inch) out of the way. I wanted the clearance so i wasn't dragging the pan across the mating surface.