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8 spd tranny downshifting a little...clunky?

124K views 653 replies 146 participants last post by  Bigbird 
#1 ·
I picked up my 2014 V6 8 spd let a few weeks ago, I have about 1400kms on it... now it up-shifts smooth as silk... but down-shifting is a little ruff... no don't get me wrong it's not terrible I'm just curiuos if the down-shifts should be significantly more noticable, I would even say it makes a clunking sound (and not every time) going from 2nd to 1st just as the truck comes to a stop...

Any thoughts?

Thanks...
 
#456 ·
But did they actually run the quicklearn procedure? The flash (per the TSB) only gives them the ability to run a quicklearn (that capability did not exist in the original software).

You were complaining of a flare during cold 1-2 upshifts. Ask them to actually run the quicklearn (if they didn't already).
 
#460 ·
I guarantee they do, they just dont want to spend the time or the money to address the issue that they messed up on or didnt do enough testing on. It always comes down to shortcuts and under thought process just to get it to the market and profit from it. They have the attitude of "get it out there, we`ll worry about it later". In my line of work, when it comes down to new product launch time, it can NOT have problems or small issues, peoples lives depend on our products. The company i work for, builds WAY MORE complicated things than automotive company`s do, so there is absolutely no excuse for car company`s to screw up this badly. Its all driven by the all mighty dollar.... GREED...!
 
#467 ·
I can't send a pm- Transengineer, if you can pm me, or have an email I can send to... I'm happy to provide the details you request, plus some.

I had the transmission in my 2014 hemi 8spd replaced at 3600 miles in April 2014 by the dealer because of these terrible shifting characteristics, and 3000 miles later, It's back to shifting the same - holding 1st gear when cold, and the push or clunk when coming to a stop.

The Laramie looks great sitting in my driveway. Unfortunately, it looks better than it drives. <frustrated sigh>.
 
#469 ·
Transengineer:
Sorry i may have missed this in the many other posts on this page.
Do you work for a dealer?
i don't mind sending you my info ( already did), I'm just wondering if ther is some thing else i can do that you are already doing, unless you have some way to talk to corp.
Actually I work for Chrysler, in Transmission Engineering. I am not an "official spokesperson," just trying to share what knowledge I have, and hopefully be a help to people. And, I get to see what some of the common complaints in the field are, so I can share that with others in the company (and advocate for fixing those problems). Of course, when I do point out a possible field problem, one of the first questions is, "How many customers are having that problem?" hence my desire to gather that information.

So, if you are experiencing (or have experienced) the harsh 3-2 or 2-1 coastdown shift (on a 5.7L 8-speed truck), please PM me with:
• Last 8 digits of your VIN
• Your physical location (city, state / province)
• Current odometer reading (approx., and is this miles or km?)
• Do you feel a harsh 2-1 only, or a harsh 3-2 followed by a (possibly less harsh) 2-1?
• Approx odometer when you first noticed the harsh shift (if known)
• If your harsh shift has cleared up, approx. odometer when it disappeared (if known)
• Has your TCM been reflashed at all (if you know), and if so how did that affect the problem?
• Fuel tank size (if known)

VBlacknd, just keep posting now and then and soon you'll be able to PM me..
 
#471 ·
I had my transmission flashed almost 2 weeks ago now, shifts great, very smoothly. Seems as though my gas mileage has decreased by about 3 or 4 mpg since then. Could be the transmission or maybe the crazy Christmas traffic or maybe I am driving shorter distances as well. Did anyone else notice a decrease in fuel economy with the update?
 
#474 ·
Had mine done yesterday. Though my 2-1 clunk is not completely gone, I was pleasantly suprised at how the overall feel of the truck improved. Much smoother overall, and for lack of a better way to describe it...easier and smooth access to the power of the motor. I have driven about 150 miles so far and my mileage went up 1/gal. Didn't expect that, but glad to see it because for the 3 weeks and 2K miles so far on the truck I had been disappointed in the mileage.
 
#475 ·
Took my truck out last night after all the traffic was gone. It looks as though I am probably getting about the same gas mileage as I did before the flash, it probably was because of the absolutely crazy holiday traffic that we have had for the last few weeks.It has often taken more than two cycles of a traffic signal to make it through an intersection, you just sit there idling for 3 to 4 minutes. Can't wait for traffic to return to normal.
 
#477 ·
I took another test drive in a 2014 Sport Crew today. The downshift clunk when slowing down was very noticeable. More so than a couple others I test drove I think. I'm thinking that in my previous test drives I was using the brakes to slow down quicker which may have made it less noticeable. But on todays drive, letting the truck slow down a bit on its own, it feels like someone has hit the brake pedal suddenly. Its brief, but very noticeable.

Another thing I found interesting, maybe meaningless, was the fuel calculator. When I started the truck, it had 64km on it I think, and it was showing an average of 118 l/100km.....lol.
So I reset it. When first starting to drive out of the lot, it was super high instantly, which I guess is not surprising. But then I drove around the outskirts of town, about a 10km loop point to point, couple traffic light stops. The average when I was done was 20 l/100km. Can't say I was too impressed!

It could have just been something about this particular truck. The whole thing seemed to be a bit more shaky/loose than the other two I test drove...

I think these trucks are really great looking, very nice interiors and features, but I've decided I'm going to pass on it. Just don't have confidence or that good feeling about it...

Cheers
 
#478 ·
Smart Man. I drove 3 RAMS and all 3 clunked including mine. I have 8K on my Limited and the transmission has never learned my driving habits. So when is the transmission going to learn my driving habits, maybe after 100K miles? Sometimes it feels like it get hit from behind when making abrupt stops. Also, I don't believe the poll numbers of users with transmission problems. There are over 456 post and 38K views on this post alone not including my original post. I find it hard to believe 78% RAM users don't have the clunk/thump. RAM told me they designed he transmission to clunk and thump. If you don't believe me then call RAM customer care and report your clunk. See what they say.
 
#482 ·
Good tip on the insurance, never even thought to check. That said, I just got off the phone with them. I was previously paying $686 per year for full coverage on a 2013 CRV. The 2015 Ford Lariat with same coverage will be $874. About a 27% increase, which I guess shouldn't be a surprise since the Ford would be twice the price.
I'm in Canada, maybe the insurance companies here are different? Sounds pretty extreme that yours wanted to double your premium.
 
#484 ·
Just remember The Squeaking Wheel Gets The OIL

When you pull up to the dealerships Service Dept, they are suppose to give you a Service Request Form, on that form there should be a place to fill in under Reason For Visit
You should be writing in something like :
OIl & FILTER CHANGE
Tire Rotation
Harsh transmission downshift when coming to a Stop
etc.
etc.

The Service Writer then writes down your mileage & other information & goes to fill out the WORK ORDER & they bring back to you to Sign if you agree with what they put on the Work Order.
IF they didn't include the Harsh transmission downshift when coming to a Stop, you can respectfully request that they redo the Work Order to include it.
If it is not on that paperwork, no one higher then the Service Dept. Manager will ever know that you have an issue.
After all the work has been done, they give you a INVOICE that you have to also sign before you make your payment.
Make sure that on that invoice that the Harsh transmission downshift when coming to a Stop is mentioned

Don't just do it one time, write it down Every Time,
Chrysler can never say that not ENOUGH complaints came in for them to consider putting it under Urgent Status in their STAR files

BE THE SQUEAKING WHEEL
 
#487 ·
So I initially had the harsh 3-2-1 downshift.. now that has gotten better (not 100% smooth by any means) BUT downshifting into 5th is HORRIBLE. no idea what happened over last few thousand miles but just has gotten worse. Its bad when in "v8" mode and worse in ECO/MDS mode.. truck acts like it is going to stall then lunges forward even if on brakes. Im all almost 6700 miles on my 2014. Just dropped it off at the dealer tonight to have them deal with it. I'm sick of it that's for sure. why isn't there a recall or fix or anything. I love the ram but a leftover 2014 ford F-150 is sounding really good right now...
 
#488 · (Edited)
Here's my observation for what it's worth. I've have a 2014 with 8.5K miles. I had my transmission flashed 3 times. I've also had the quicklearn flash applied as transengineer recommended. Once I had the quick learn utility applied, I started driving more aggressively from quick starts to quick abrupt stops. My transmission started having harsh coast down shifts from 3-2-1. Sometimes so harsh it felt as if someone rear ended my truck. Then I started driving very easy, slow start to long coast down slow stop. Now my transmission would shift better on coast down stop, but right before the truck would come to a complete stop, I would feel a mild 3-2-1 bump at stop. After driving slow for a few more days, the harsh coast down shift almost was unnoticeable. I thought the transmission learned my driving habit, so I started driving aggressive again and the harsh coast down shifting came back. I've come to the conclusion, aggressive driving is the cause of harsh cost down shifting. Maybe owners who say they don't have the harsh coast down shift, drive the truck mildly from start to stop? I've driven 3 RAM's and all 3 trucks had the harsh coast down shift.
 
#489 ·
I agree. From my experience you have to feather the transmission and ease the gear shifts and brake softly. If so, you will get a very smooth response. However if you are harsh on your acceleration and braking you get a jerky response form the transmission. I used to drive a manual transmission and that taught me to get a feel for when to throttle the gear shifts. To me it's almost like if you have to work the gear shifts almost like shifting a manual. You will get a bad response like when shifting a manual from first to second to third too fast and like wise when downshifting on a manual. I read on here where people state they drive their truck like they stole it but IMO that is not the way to get the best response from the 8 speed.
 
#492 ·
Isn't that what the "learning transmission" is supposed to be doing? Drive it hard, it shifts hard.

What I don't understand is the people saying it did a hard downshift and simultaneously pushed them forward even though they are on the brakes. Makes no sense at all. A hard downshift is going to SLOW you down.
 
#495 ·
Check your window sticker. I read that Ram is using 2 different models of the same 8spd transmission for their 2013-2014 trucks. Some made here in the states, some made in Germany. If you have a (buy) by the transmission on your window sticker then you have one they got from Germany. The German made transmissions supposedly have no issues. The domestic makes... well they recalled a few trucks with them here in Texas. I have had nothing but good times with mine. 1st through 6th burnout for a local car show a while back, and 0 problems. (Cops started looking at me funny so I quit before 7th) The transmission is rated for a significantly higher amount of torque and hp. According to Dodge. They use a variant of the same transmission in the Hellcat.
 
#496 ·
Check your window sticker. I read that Ram is using 2 different models of the same 8spd transmission for their 2013-2014 trucks. There are the 845RFE, and the 8HP45 for the V6. There is only one model for the Hemi, the 8HP70.

Some made here in the states, some made in Germany. If you have a (buy) by the transmission on your window sticker then you have one they got from Germany. The German made transmissions supposedly have no issues. I'm not sure where you heard that. There are members here with both German and American made transmissions, some of each have issues, some of each have none.

The domestic makes... well they recalled a few trucks with them here in Texas. I have had nothing but good times with mine. 1st through 6th burnout for a local car show a while back, and 0 problems. (Cops started looking at me funny so I quit before 7th) The transmission is rated for a significantly higher amount of torque and hp. The 8HP70 is rated to 516 lb-ft of torque, the 45/545/65RFE is rated to 410

According to Dodge. They use a variant of the same transmission in the Hellcat. That is the 8HP90

Hope this helps :smileup:
 
#497 ·
Just got mine back a few hours ago after taking it in for hard downshifting from 6th to 5th and 3-2-1 issue. they said " Road test...shifting fine...scanned modules..no DTC's or event data stored...no service info for concern" -- I really don't understand how this truck shifts fine. I completely disagree, how can a new $45000 truck shift worse than my 01 Dakota. Any input for what to do next? do I just keep taking it back and wasting my time? or just drive it and live with it? Thanks for any suggestions.
 
#498 ·
Call RAM customer care and they will tell you they designed the transmission to clunk and shift harsh. I've called multiple times and got the same answer. I asked to speak to an engineer why they designed the transmission to shift harsh, but they refused. I drove my 2000 Chevy with a 4" lift, with 33's for 13 years - 120K miles and never had it repaired, once. I kick myself every day for selling it and buying my junker RAM limited for 50K.:smiledown:

I spoke with transengineer and only 18 people sent in VIN's, so I'm guessing it will never be fixed and time to sell.
 
#499 ·
Every time i hear or feel mine clunk, i think about all the unneeded wear & tear on the driveline that will make them fail sooner than they should. You KNOWWWW its not doing these trucks any good. And not to mention, they`ll be just out of warranty when they fail and chrysler will tell you to go shit in your hat.
 
#500 ·
I am curious if what I am reading about the "learning transmissions" is true. I have had my 8 spd for a couple months and have been babying it while it breaks in. I do get the high gear downshift clunk now and then, but I do get one on acceleration if in the 2-3 gear range when driving slow. The 2nd to 3rd gear ratio hop is huge, may have something to do with the 37" tires.

What's more annoying then that for me is the transmission constantly down and up shifting through 6-7-8 on the highway. And with the flow master exhaust, it loud and gets old on long trips. Puts the kid to sleep though :)
 
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