[azlife]

Hey dudes...

So the real question is, is the fluid in you 8 speed really lifetime? NO! Ever since the inception of cars "back in the day" they have always needed service and will always continue that need to be serviced. I'd say your ok with putting 60K miles on it before changing it so you don't void your warranty. After that, go a head and change it out because manufactures of the ZF transmission have a service interval of 50K miles... "Some one isn't telling the truth! It's probably Dodge..." The service was super easy once I had it all figured out. It was trial and error watching some other videos on YouTube. None of them for the most part had every step, it was always missing something. So I put together a write that makes the service as simple and straightforward as possible.

Going to make a YouTube video about it in the next couple days when I get time.

TOOLS USED:

• IN/LBS TORQUE WRENCH
• 10MM ALLEN WRENCH
• 8MM ALLEN WRENCH
• LONG T40 or SHORT T40 w/ EXTENSION
• COMPACT T40 BIT KIT w/ RATCHET
• SMALL BUBBLE LEVEL
• FLOOR JACK
• 2x CHALK BLOCKS
• DRAIN PAN
• PAPER TOWELS AND GLOVES

POTENTIAL TOOLS NEEDED:

• JACK STANDS
• SCAN TOOL

PARTS NEEDED:
6x QTs of ZF LIFEGUARD 8FLUID (S67109031201)
1x Slippery Pete Pump (573B003)
1x ZF pan/filter (DORMAN 265-850)


PROCEDURAL STEPS:

• Vehicle must be in a cold state to begin. Let vehicle sit overnight and do service in the morning.
• Ensure fill plug breaks free. If you cannot get it to break free “do not” proceed with service.
• Place drain pan under transmission and break free the drain plug.
• While transmission is draining, pull fuse 77. This will disengage AWD allowing RWD only mode which is required in a later step.
• Upon completion of draining the transmission, put two chalks in front of the two front tires and jack up the rear of the vehicle until the transmission is level, not the vehicle. Use level, this is critical for proper fill level.
• Once level, now you can begin to remove the old pan/filter. The low profile T40 ratchet set will be critical when removing the front and rear bots on the old pan.
• Now that the old pan is off, secure you new one and lube the o-ring gasket with some of the old fluid.
• Put the new pan/filter on and hand tighten all bolts. After hand tight, begin to torque to 10NM (plastic pan) in torque sequence.
• Next, begin to start pumping fluid into the transmission. Once you get steady fluid coming out, cap with fill plug.
• Ensure rear wheels are off the ground and now start the car… place it into R for 10 seconds, hold brake… then place in drive, manually shift to second gear, and get RPMs up to 2,000 for 10 seconds… finally put car in N and rev at 2,000 RPMs for 10 seconds… lastly, place back in park and leave idling. ENSURE trans is back to level if raised.
• From here, you’ll ensure fluid temperature is between 86-122 degrees (F) and begin to pump more fluid into the transmission. Again, you will stop pumping when fluid starts to spill out of the transmission at a steady stream. Let fluid leaking slow and cap with fill plug.
• Turn off vehicle and lower... restore fuse 77 and go drive it to so that the transmission temp exceeds 160 degrees. This is to ensure the cooling valve has opened and that space has been filled.
• Once 160 is achieved, drive home and park back in same exact spot and place back in the air exactly how it was for when the service was conducted.
• Allow transmission to cool to between 86-122 degrees and check the fill level of the transmission by removing the fill plug. If fluid comes out, you are complete, if no fluid come out add until fluid does in previous steps.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
Spend some money on a pump that holds about a gallon or more and is able to be pressurized (Motive power fill 1735) or something similar. It will drastically cut down on the ass pain of pumping bottle by bottle and potentially spilling your fluid. At $20 a bottle it ain't no joke.

Best of Luck!

Great write-up. Thanks for posting it.