NO DIPSTICK?? ZF-Based 850RE 8-Speed Automatic Transmission

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
We've all known that the JL Wrangler would be coming with a ZF-Based 850RE 8-Speed Automatic Transmission for some time now and while I'd be the first to say that I'm excited about it, I must say that the thought of it not having a dipstick does raise an eyebrow. Granted, modern transmission have seen a lot of improvements over the years and service intervals have been pushed farther and farther away and because of it, I suppose it should be no surprise that the 850RE would be a “fill for life” design but does this concern anyone else?


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JTCO

Meme King
I see this daily. Many manufacturers have gone to this. IMO, it's not really a problem on other vehicles; if there are no leaks and you follow maintenance guidelines in the manual, you're fine. However on a Jeep, I think it's a stupid idea. If you blow a tranny line on the trail or put a hole in the pan and you happen to CARRY the correct items/tools to do a trail repair, how will you know how much fluid to add when the repair is made? I hope more will be revealed in regards of a way to accurately check the fluid if you had to deal with it out on the trail. Most manufactures that don't have a dipstick either have a plug (like a tcase or manual trans) or an internal tube in the pan with an external plug (hard to explain) , basically if you pull the plug and fluid comes out, it's full.
 

JeepFan

Member
I'm not as worried about the maintenance aspect of the transmission as opposed to any damage that could occur to the trans pan or cooling lines on the trail. Brings a whole new meaning to drive it til it breaks! :(
 

JAGS

Member
I'm not as worried about the maintenance aspect of the transmission as opposed to any damage that could occur to the trans pan or cooling lines on the trail. Brings a whole new meaning to drive it til it breaks! :(

Trans skid will be a nice mod.
 

Piginajeep

Moderator
It’s a Jeep, it’s going to leak fluids. When it stops, be concerned.


2012 JK8
1958 FC170 (Jeep Forward Control)
 

NFRs2000NYC

Member
The ZF8 speed is literally on 100+ vehicles. It has long proven itself. I dont think you have anything to worry about.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
I can't say that I'm worried about the transmission itself but rather, it not having a dipstick does raise an eyebrow for me and for the reasons WJCO and JeepFan noted. I guess I'll have to be a lot more careful with my JL or at least, until I can get some proper armor to protect things. :yup:
 

JTCO

Meme King
That can’t be the only reason... Ughh... We are living amongst a new generation of snowflakes....

I just took this off of a random site online and will gladly enter in my own unsolicited commentary :yup:

According to the industry experts(WHO THE FUCK IS THAT ?), the reason for eliminating the transmission dipstick is that although most consumers may believe they should check their transmission dipstick and fluid level, experts (AGAIN, WHO?) claim that it is actually better for vehicle transmissions to only be serviced by professionals(BACK TO THE DEALER SO WE CAN DO YOUR MAINTENANCE FOR YOU FOR $$$$ ). For example, adding improper fluid to the transmission is actually detrimental to its life(SCARE TACTIC TO GET YOU TO GO TO DEALER), which is why manufacturers decided that getting rid of the dipstick was one way to prevent premature, owner-induced (MAKE YOU FEEL GUILTY FOR HAVING A DIPSTICK ON YOUR OTHER VEHICLES) transmission failure in new vehicles(COULD COST YOU MONEY SO YOU'D BETTER BE SAFE THAN SORRY AND GIVE YOUR MONEY TO THE DEALER TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR CAR).

Hope this helps. :beer:
 

TrailHunter

Member
I just took this off of a random site online and will gladly enter in my own unsolicited commentary :yup:

According to the industry experts(WHO THE FUCK IS THAT ?), the reason for eliminating the transmission dipstick is that although most consumers may believe they should check their transmission dipstick and fluid level, experts (AGAIN, WHO?) claim that it is actually better for vehicle transmissions to only be serviced by professionals(BACK TO THE DEALER SO WE CAN DO YOUR MAINTENANCE FOR YOU FOR $$$$ ). For example, adding improper fluid to the transmission is actually detrimental to its life(SCARE TACTIC TO GET YOU TO GO TO DEALER), which is why manufacturers decided that getting rid of the dipstick was one way to prevent premature, owner-induced (MAKE YOU FEEL GUILTY FOR HAVING A DIPSTICK ON YOUR OTHER VEHICLES) transmission failure in new vehicles(COULD COST YOU MONEY SO YOU'D BETTER BE SAFE THAN SORRY AND GIVE YOUR MONEY TO THE DEALER TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR CAR).

Hope this helps. :beer:

Lol!!! Not Surprised one bit. Why would anyone want to learn something or take responsibility or have to work at maintaining something or use common sense.... who’s got time for that shit? Lets screw the Knowledgeable to assist the Lazy. And put more money in the dealers hands... Makes sense.
 

13_gecko_rubi

New member
These ZF 8 speeds are used and have been used in many vehicles for years now and none have dipsticks. Neither do the new GM 8 speeds or the GM/Ford 10 speeds. They do have a fill port that is kinda like the diff. Fill it til it comes out and it's full. Watch some of Motech gen v videos you can see them doing it on the GM 8 speed.

Sent from my [device_name] using JL Wrangler Jeep Forum mobile app
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
These ZF 8 speeds are used and have been used in many vehicles for years now and none have dipsticks. Neither do the new GM 8 speeds or the GM/Ford 10 speeds. They do have a fill port that is kinda like the diff. Fill it til it comes out and it's full. Watch some of Motech gen v videos you can see them doing it on the GM 8 speed.

I was wondering if it'd be the same. Glad to know that it is :thumb:
 

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