NEED QUICK ADVICE Please - Transmission fluid level checking.

[Andymax]

CONFUSED..PLEASE HELP. I'm in the middle of the fluid replacement. In researching this job some say to raise the rear of the truck to get the transmission perfectly level, which requires the rear tires be off the ground by 9 inches! If I watch the many videos, not one single video for ANY ZF 8speeds require this step...only that the Vehicle is level, whether lifted off the ground or not. So anyone KNOW which is correct?

 

[vincentw56]

The transmission pan needs to be level. It doesn't matter how you get there.

 

[HSKR R/T]

Could always get a couple big people to sit on hood.

Also, if you jack from the pumpkin you don't have to jack as high

 

[Darksteel165]

This is a great video you can watch about it. Well worth the 18 minutes.

 

[Andymax]

This is a great video you can watch about it. Well worth the 18 minutes.

thanks, i watched. here is yet another nod toward leveling the vehicle, not the transmission itself.

 

[Cbty2050]

Vehicle needs to be level.

 

[Andymax]

The transmission pan needs to be level. It doesn't matter how you get there.

Vehicle needs to be level.

So this right here is exactly the problem. some say level the transmission, some say level the vehicle. Even ZF documents say two different things. This is so frustrating.

 

[vincentw56]

So this right here is exactly the problem. some say level the transmission, some say level the vehicle. Even ZF documents say two different things. This is so frustrating.

I would think the pan needs level. The transmission may not be level even when the vehicle is. How can you get a "level" reading without the pan being level.

 

[Jimmy07]

This screenshot is pulled from another forum, and is from ZF for the 8hp.
When I retrofitted an 8hp on my truck, I initially followed instructions to just have the vehicle itself level. I could hear some gear whine when accelerating fast after properly using those instructions.
When I used the instructions to make sure the transmission rail is level, it took another ~2 quarts, and the gear whine was gone.

 

[Cbty2050]

You are over thinking it. Pick one and do it. You will be fine.

 

[barrak]

This screenshot is pulled from another forum, and is from ZF for the 8hp.
When I retrofitted an 8hp on my truck, I initially followed instructions to just have the vehicle itself level. I could hear some gear whine when accelerating fast after properly using those instructions.
When I used the instructions to make sure the transmission rail is level, it took another ~2 quarts, and the gear whine was gone.
View attachment 162225

Thank you for sharing this screenshot and the underfill story. So I guess a good reference is the pan's gasket seam that should be leveled.

 

[Scram1500]

Good grief. What was wrong with having a dipstick?

 

[vincentw56]

Good grief. What was wrong with having a dipstick?

Exactly

 

[Cbty2050]

I have done the procedure from Ram/Stellantis/FCA at least 100 times(I'm just guessing). How unlevel is the trans when the vehicle is level on a hoist/jack stands?

 

[barrak]

Good grief. What was wrong with having a dipstick?

Today's transmissions are so finicky and mindlessly designed, and with elaborate fluid change procedures, that a dipstick becomes a warranty liability. I'm just glad RAM doesn't ask for dropping the whole transmission to do a routine service. Subaru CVTs require a complete tear down just to reach the filter.

RAM comes close though... the need to unbolt the crossmember and lift the transmission to have enough clearance for removing the pan and replacing the filter (4x4 1500).

 

[Jimmy07]

I have done the procedure from Ram/Stellantis/FCA at least 100 times(I'm just guessing). How unlevel is the trans when the vehicle is level on a hoist/jack stands?

Mine is a 2500 with factory suspension (no level kit, etc), and I had to raise the rear up 10” to get the pan rail level.
I would say that most people that do it off a lift would never even realize this. The only thing that made me do more research was that I just happened to hear some gear whine when I was accelerating on a frontage road that has a tall divider wall for the highway, and I heard it echoing off of that. Then the fact that the trans will take almost 2 more quarts of oil when the pan rail is level, and no more gear whine.

 

[Andymax]

So on Wednesday I reached out to ZF directly. I am attaching a doc to show the exact exchange I had with them. Do with this what you will. For me this issue is put to bed. I followed their instructions and for two days and 180miles my tranny is running at 185 in town on a 94 degree day, and 179 on the freeway.

I inserted an image of the document if that is easier to see.

 

[vincentw56]

So on Wednesday I reached out to ZF directly. I am attaching a doc to show the exact exchange I had with them. Do with this what you will. For me this issue is put to bed. I followed their instructions and for two days and 180miles my tranny is running at 185 in town on a 94 degree day, and 179 on the freeway.

I inserted an image of the document if that is easier to see.
View attachment 162383

So basically, it's a tossup because what is vehicle level? Where do we put the level? I will assume it is on the frame or the transmission. If you use a frame lift, you will be fine like they say because it is lifting the frame level. But if you have the rear higher than the front like these trucks come from the factory, that isn't level, or is it? So how did you make sure it was level? By the tires or by the frame? Even their conversation is contradictory. A frame lift lifts the frame level while doing it by the wheels, doesn't.

 

[Cbty2050]

One small thing, yes I am being that guy. Ram does offer guidance on how to service the transmission. They just don't give a service recommendation by time or mileage.

BMW has their own verbiage also. "Vehicle in horizontal position"

 

[vincentw56]

One small thing, yes I am being that guy. Ram does offer guidance on how to service the transmission. They just don't give a service recommendation by time or mileage.

BMW has their own verbiage also. "Vehicle in horizontal position"

Here is the actual pages from the service manual. This should put it to rest. "Level hoist" = level frame.