ZF Transmission pan

joesstripclub · May 28, 2024

I had a 2018 1500 hemi and I bought a V6 transmission pan off ebay for $30 after reading on the forum that they were the same size. Fit perfect and had all the same magnets, but the gasket leaked. Bought an OEM hemi gasket and found out the alignment pins were different. Snipped that pin off and it was fine. Both pans had the same factory style drain plug so I'm not sure why the other one you're looking at wouldn't have one.

BenchTest · May 28, 2024

joesstripclub said:
I had a 2018 1500 hemi and I bought a V6 transmission pan off ebay for $30 after reading on the forum that they were the same size. Fit perfect and had all the same magnets, but the gasket leaked. Bought an OEM hemi gasket and found out the alignment pins were different. Snipped that pin off and it was fine. Both pans had the same factory style drain plug so I'm not sure why the other one you're looking at wouldn't have one.

After speaking to the dealer parts guy today, he says current offerings consist of two varieties. One with and one without. And basically, no clear rhyme or reason as to why one exists vs. the other. Seems like Mopar may have been phasing out the drain plug equipped option due to potential leak point (as mentioned earlier) and then they got enough blowback from the public that they started back with making them equipped with drains. I don't know. I wasn't part of the planning party

Either way, two different part numbers yield two different pan types.

Wild one · May 28, 2024

BenchTest said:
After speaking to the dealer parts guy today, he says current offerings consist of two varieties. One with and one without. And basically, no clear rhyme or reason as to why one exists vs. the other. Seems like Mopar may have been phasing out the drain plug equipped option due to potential leak point (as mentioned earlier) and then they got enough blowback from the public that they started back with making them equipped with drains. I don't know. I wasn't part of the planning party Either way, two different part numbers yield two different pan types.

Well we tried to point you in a better direction,but if you're hung up on the OEM pan,go for it,it's your truck and money.What fluid are you planning to use.
I would guess when the bids went out for the pan,Ma Mopar picked the cheapest bid,i doubt it would have anything to do with push back,as they don't really listen to their buying public much,but they do pay attention to the cheapest bid

CanRebel · May 28, 2024

BenchTest said:
After speaking to the dealer parts guy today, he says current offerings consist of two varieties. One with and one without. And basically, no clear rhyme or reason as to why one exists vs. the other. Seems like Mopar may have been phasing out the drain plug equipped option due to potential leak point (as mentioned earlier) and then they got enough blowback from the public that they started back with making them equipped with drains. I don't know. I wasn't part of the planning party Either way, two different part numbers yield two different pan types.

While I agree most times it's better to go with OEM parts, even if I pay a more. But in this case, it's not. Having drain plug with plastic.... bad combo.

If you are going to change trans fluid, and work involved, put the better one.

BenchTest · May 28, 2024

I will stay the course with OEM.

JHoward · May 28, 2024

BenchTest said:
I will stay the course with OEM.

Suggestions were made, that's all. Good luck.

MRFREEZE57 · May 28, 2024

The beauty of the PPE pan is the drain plug is easily accessible to do a drain and fill where as the OEM style pan drain plug is right above the exhaust cross over and difficult to get to.

Mack20classic · May 28, 2024

BenchTest said:
Hello All,
Anybody know if there is a current production Mopar trans pan that has a drain plug? I went back and forth with several sources during my last fluid change trying to find a pan that was drain plug equipped. I had heard that Mopar discontinued the drain plug, but was told the one I was ordering did have it. It did not. It is Mopar, just no drain plug. Since that time, I've seen various places say that the drain plug is back "by popular demand", but have nothing else to go by other than internet chatter. So, is there a current production Mopar pan with drain plug? Part number if it exists? Thanks.

So I seen that you want to stay with the Mopar brand. I have a 2020 ram classic 1500 with the 57 and obviously the ACP. My pan came with the factory drain plug. I can’t tell you the part number because I already threw the thing in the trash. I end up going with the doorman pan and it has replaceable filter. I talked to spec at Newton meters and haven’t had one drop or any problems after like 10,000 miles. It runs perfect. I used the Mopar 89 speed fluid. I understand you want to stay with factory. I can’t give you the part number, but just know that they do make one at least my truck had one and it was factory equipment.

BenchTest · May 28, 2024

MRFREEZE57 said:
The beauty of the PPE pan is the drain plug is easily accessible to do a drain and fill where as the OEM style pan drain plug is right above the exhaust cross over and difficult to get to.

For those running the HEMI. I'm running the 3.6L, so not an issue for me. That was good that PPE made that design consideration.

BenchTest · May 28, 2024

Mack20classic said:
So I seen that you want to stay with the Mopar brand. I have a 2020 ram classic 1500 with the 57 and obviously the ACP. My pan came with the factory drain plug. I can’t tell you the part number because I already threw the thing in the trash. I end up going with the doorman pan and it has replaceable filter. I talked to spec at Newton meters and haven’t had one drop or any problems after like 10,000 miles. It runs perfect. I used the Mopar 89 speed fluid. I understand you want to stay with factory. I can’t give you the part number, but just know that they do make one at least my truck had one and it was factory equipment.

Thanks for the report on the Dorman unit. I've read people's accounts, both good and bad about the Dorman unit. I've used a bunch of different Dorman parts over the years with mostly successful results. On my last fluid exchange I refilled with Valvoline MaxLife. That's been about 30k miles ago, no issues.

Mack20classic · May 29, 2024

BenchTest said:
Thanks for the report on the Dorman unit. I've read people's accounts, both good and bad about the Dorman unit. I've used a bunch of different Dorman parts over the years with mostly successful results. On my last fluid exchange I refilled with Valvoline MaxLife. That's been about 30k miles ago, no issues.

If you get on Amazon, you can get a case of 6 quarts of Mopar eight and nine speed fluid for about $84 to your door. Don’t be like me I paid $230 for a case of fluid. If it was me, I would stick with the factory stuff just because these transmissions are so unique and high-tech. $85 is a lot better than what I paid never again while I buy the fluid from a dealership lol. As far as the Dorman product goes, I’ve had mostly success with most the products. The transmission pan was flawless. Has a drain plug has a Bolton filter and when it comes time to change your filter and gasket next time you can get it for $70 because the pan is reusable. Also, the magnets were all intact and in good shape, I have heard that some OEM pans are missing Magnets. At a dealership in Indianapolis, you’re looking at $550 and if you go on my moparparts.com they want 330. I got the Dorman pan for around 220 after discount and it comes with new bolts. Their torque spec was 80 Newton meters and I followed that to a T haven’t had any issues whatsoever. I would buy the pen 10 times over again.

BenchTest · May 29, 2024

Mack20classic said:
If you get on Amazon, you can get a case of 6 quarts of Mopar eight and nine speed fluid for about $84 to your door. Don’t be like me I paid $230 for a case of fluid. If it was me, I would stick with the factory stuff just because these transmissions are so unique and high-tech. $85 is a lot better than what I paid never again while I buy the fluid from a dealership lol. As far as the Dorman product goes, I’ve had mostly success with most the products. The transmission pan was flawless. Has a drain plug has a Bolton filter and when it comes time to change your filter and gasket next time you can get it for $70 because the pan is reusable. Also, the magnets were all intact and in good shape, I have heard that some OEM pans are missing Magnets. At a dealership in Indianapolis, you’re looking at $550 and if you go on my moparparts.com they want 330. I got the Dorman pan for around 220 after discount and it comes with new bolts. Their torque spec was 80 Newton meters and I followed that to a T haven’t had any issues whatsoever. I would buy the pen 10 times over again.

I've run MaxLife in a number of transmissions from different manufacturers without issue. I checked with the folks at Valvoline prior to doing this ZF fluid swap and it's good to go. Meets ZF's spec. $28/gallon and I can pick it up locally.

Mack20classic · May 29, 2024

BenchTest said:
I've run MaxLife in a number of transmissions from different manufacturers without issue. I checked with the folks at Valvoline prior to doing this ZF fluid swap and it's good to go. Meets ZF's spec. $28/gallon and I can pick it up locally.

Yes sir!

blackbetty14 · Jun 3, 2024

I got the Holley deep pan in black. Supposedly you don’t have to drop the exhaust to get this one on which I heard you do with the PPE. Plus the filter for this pan is a OEM filter for a Mercedes so it will be available for 20+ years from any auto parts dealer/store. Holley drain plug is in a more accessible place as well. I was going to do with with caulk bypass on my 18 Laramie but then the truck got totaled so now I have it for my 24 big horn if and when I get to the 60k mark.

RamDiver · Jun 3, 2024

blackbetty14 said:
I got the Holley deep pan in black. Supposedly you don’t have to drop the exhaust to get this one on which I heard you do with the PPE. Plus the filter for this pan is a OEM filter for a Mercedes so it will be available for 20+ years from any auto parts dealer/store. Holley drain plug is in a more accessible place as well. I was going to do with with caulk bypass on my 18 Laramie but then the truck got totaled so now I have it for my 24 big horn if and when I get to the 60k mark.

Is this the item you purchased?

B&M 71395 B&M Hi-Tek Deep Heavy Duty Transmission Pan - Black

B&M Hi-Tek Deep Heavy Duty Transmission Pan - Black 2013-2024 Ram 1500 Trucks and 2019-2024 Ram 2500/3500 Trucks with 845RE, 850RE, 8HP70, and 8HP75 Transmissions. Our Hi-Tek deep transmission pans are constructed from A356-T6 aluminum and are cast with thick internal and external fins...

www.holley.com

According to the listing, it holds an additional 4 quarts of fluid over the OEM pan. That sounds great as long as you're not using the Mopar Unicorn oil.

I'll have to investigate the Valvoline MaxLife cost up here. I still have about 40K miles before I'll be ready.

For other members up here;

General PDP Template

www.canadiantire.ca

Valvoline MaxLife™ ATF Multi-Vehicle Full-Synthetic Automatic Transmission Fluid, 5-L

$60/5 litres

.

AR RAM · Jun 3, 2024

Just fyi....I changed out, did not flush, the transmission fluid last year. Purchased pan and filter from O'Reilly. Got the wrong pan to start with...it was the shallow pan...returned it for the deep pan. Purchased oem fluid from dealer...very expensive...I think I was able to replace 7-8 quarts. THIS IS THE IMPORTANT PART, be sure and level the transmission prior to refill to get the proper level. This involved jacking up the rear of the truck quite a bit. Just be advised the pan needs to be level and at the right temperature to get the proper amount back in. Not hard Just seemed weird jacking the rear up that much...up will have to crawl under the truck so make sure it's secure and front wheels are chalked.

RamDiver · Jun 3, 2024

AR RAM said:
Just fyi....I changed out, did not flush, the transmission fluid last year. Purchased pan and filter from O'Reilly. Got the wrong pan to start with...it was the shallow pan...returned it for the deep pan. Purchased oem fluid from dealer...very expensive...I think I was able to replace 7-8 quarts. THIS IS THE IMPORTANT PART, be sure and level the transmission prior to refill to get the proper level. This involved jacking up the rear of the truck quite a bit. Just be advised the pan needs to be level and at the right temperature to get the proper amount back in. Not hard Just seemed weird jacking the rear up that much...up will have to crawl under the truck so make sure it's secure and front wheels are chalked.

.

Wild one · Jun 3, 2024

RamDiver said:
Is this the item you purchased?

B&M 71395 B&M Hi-Tek Deep Heavy Duty Transmission Pan - Black

B&M Hi-Tek Deep Heavy Duty Transmission Pan - Black 2013-2024 Ram 1500 Trucks and 2019-2024 Ram 2500/3500 Trucks with 845RE, 850RE, 8HP70, and 8HP75 Transmissions. Our Hi-Tek deep transmission pans are constructed from A356-T6 aluminum and are cast with thick internal and external fins...

www.holley.com

According to the listing, it holds an additional 4 quarts of fluid over the OEM pan. That sounds great as long as you're not using the Mopar Unicorn oil.

I'll have to investigate the Valvoline MaxLife cost up here. I still have about 40K miles before I'll be ready.

For other members up here;

General PDP Template

www.canadiantire.ca

$60/5 litres

.

The downside to the B&M pan is the leak prone cork gasket.Why they didn't set it up to reuse the original style O-ring gasket is beyond me,as nobody uses a cork gasket anymore. John/Boosted Motorsports was one of the first to run that pan,and he didn't run it long before swapping to the PPE pan.Some guys get lucky and it doesn't leak,but there's also a few guys who've fought gasket leaks with it

RamDiver · Jun 3, 2024

Wild one said:
The downside to the B&M pan is the leak prone cork gasket.Why they didn't set it up to reuse the original style O-ring gasket is beyond me,as nobody uses a cork gasket anymore. John/Boosted Motorsports was one of the first to run that pan,and he didn't run it long before swapping to the PPE pan.Some guys get lucky and it doesn't leak,but there's also a few guys who've fought gasket leaks with it

Thanks, that's great to know.

I recall cork gaskets on something I worked on as a kid, they're definitely useless.
And, back to the PPE pan, I go. I likely won't need anything for about 4 years.

.

br427 · Jun 3, 2024

When do you guys think the ATF should be changed on a 2014 Ram 1500 Hemi. It has about 60000 miles on it. Also, what trpe of fluid should you use and should the filter be changed as well? Seems to be working fine, thanks in advance.

ZF Transmission pan

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Junior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Junior Member

Senior Member

Junior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Junior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Junior Member

Similar threads

Forum statistics

Share this page