No need to change transmission fluid - BS?

[ghammer]

RAM Service Manager told me the transmission fluid on my 2020 1500 3.6L does not require changing. This is also what the owner's manual states. It's hard to believe that this is true.

I have been experiencing extremely hard shifting - especially the first time it goes from 3rd to 4th (when cold). I'm currently at 53K miles. Noticed the shifting issues around 45K.

 

[PurpleRT]

They advertise it as “lifetime” fluid which really think about it.. no fluid is lifetime. Instead it basically means the 4-5 years that you’ll generally will keep your truck before moving into something else. ZF the actually manuf of the trans says other wise. I believe the 50-60k mark is what they recommend (don’t quote me on that). Obviously that depends a lot on driving style could be more could be less. What you don’t want to do is a transmission flush, thats what either makes or breaks transmissions. You want a pan drop, filter change, add new fluid. You wont completely get all the old fluid out doing it this way (torque converter will still have some in it) unless you do multiple pan drop/fluid change within a short period of time. It’s fine just to add new fluid (about 4-6 qts depending on pan size and fluid lvl) and keep w/e old fluid is still left in the TC.


Take a look they outline the process pretty well and even sell their own kits.. this might be something you wanna do on your own and take it to an independent mechanic instead of the dealer.

https://www.blauparts.com/blog/how-to-change-ram-1500-transmission-fluid-8-speed.html

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[2025 Ram Limited]

They advertise it as “lifetime” fluid which really think about it.. no fluid is lifetime. Instead it basically means the 4-5 years that you’ll generally will keep your truck before moving into something else. ZF the actually manuf of the trans says other wise. I believe the 50-60k mark is what they recommend (don’t quote me on that). Obviously that depends a lot on driving style could be more could be less. What you don’t want to do is a transmission flush, thats what either makes or breaks transmissions. You want a pan drop, filter change, add new fluid. You wont completely get all the old fluid out doing it this way (torque converter will still have some in it) unless you do multiple pan drop/fluid change within a short period of time. It’s fine just to add new fluid (about 4-6 qts depending on pan size and fluid lvl) and keep w/e old fluid is still left in the TC.


Take a look they outline the process pretty well and even sell their own kits.. this might be something you wanna do on your own and take it to an independent mechanic instead of the dealer.

https://www.blauparts.com/blog/how-to-change-ram-1500-transmission-fluid-8-speed.html

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just curious, but why would a flush hurt it? What about a flush and then complete fluid change?

 

[ghammer]

They advertise it as “lifetime” fluid which really think about it.. no fluid is lifetime. Instead it basically means the 4-5 years that you’ll generally will keep your truck before moving into something else. ZF the actually manuf of the trans says other wise. I believe the 50-60k mark is what they recommend (don’t quote me on that). Obviously that depends a lot on driving style could be more could be less. What you don’t want to do is a transmission flush, thats what either makes or breaks transmissions. You want a pan drop, filter change, add new fluid. You wont completely get all the old fluid out doing it this way (torque converter will still have some in it) unless you do multiple pan drop/fluid change within a short period of time. It’s fine just to add new fluid (about 4-6 qts depending on pan size and fluid lvl) and keep w/e old fluid is still left in the TC.


Take a look they outline the process pretty well and even sell their own kits.. this might be something you wanna do on your own and take it to an independent mechanic instead of the dealer.

https://www.blauparts.com/blog/how-to-change-ram-1500-transmission-fluid-8-speed.html

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you for this info.

 

[HSKR R/T]

Just curious, but why would a flush hurt it? What about a flush and then complete fluid change?

Depends on the machine used, but most shops do what is called a power flush, where the machine pushes fluid through the transmission until clean fluid comes out the other end. This can dislodge debris and force it into smaller orifices inside valve body and transmission to which can cause flow issues. They are generally frowned upon doing.