68RFE Trans - 108K First Service

[SalmonKiller]

My 2013 68RFE has never been serviced.

I would say 8% of the miles are towing less than 6k pounds and 2% towing around 14k pounds, and the rest of the time was highway miles.

The oil doesn’t smell burnt and is still red, and the trans has never been too hot & and I always lock out 6th when towing heavy.

The trans is not slipping and is tuned by DRD.

The trans service interval is 120k on a 2013.

I can drop the pan and replace the filters and trans oil myself.

But I have a few questions and concerns.

Since I waited so long without changing the fluid, I’m afraid I might bring on issues with slipping by adding new fluid into the system.

Did I wait too long?

Would the dealer be liable if I take it to the dealer and it starts to slip or new issues immediately arise?

I need a little advice.






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[AK Bob]

The dealership would not be liable unless they performed the transmission service, and you could prove they were negligent.

I would go ahead and perform the service.

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[Chrisn162001]

Drop the pan and replace the fluid and filters.

If it weren’t slipping before, it wouldn’t slip after.

And no one will be responsible if your truck doesn’t shift after the service.

Most shops will likely turn you away.

Usually, when we get a customer wanting to service the transmission for the first time at over 100k, it already has a problem and becomes a headache.


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[Aj Grubb]

Yep, go ahead and do it yourself, that would be my advice.

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[rsl0311usmc]

You can cause issues waiting so long, especially if they flush it.

I have had shops inform me of this, and I have learned it in automotive work.

If anything, I would drop the pan and change the filters and fluid, as the above users stated.

I would honestly not flush it at this point.

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[SyN]

If it were my 2013, I wouldn't even blink an eye to get it done!

Not going to lie my OCD wouldn't let me go much past 20K miles without doing my first service on my 68RFE, but I deleted the OEM thermal by-pass and replaced the OEM pan with a deep PPE pan w/drain plug for easy / mess-free fluid changes before the summer towing months.

Edit: It sounds like & looks like your 68RFE is still in very good condition. Congrats & keep up your good driving habits.

It shows that this transmission can hold up if a (Civilized Human Being) drives it!

My only advice would be don't wait till the next 120K miles for your NEXT service. I would perform it around the next 60K miles.

Fresh ATF +4 is the lifeblood of the 68RFE, don't get relaxed & lazy; take care of IT, and IT will take care of you!

Stay Civilized with your driving style & habits & I will bet she will keep performing as designed = Not Perfect by any means, but above average.

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[SyN]

I probably should have said decent Transmission.

(Don't go too crazy with the tuning)

Average might even be pushing it.

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[KJC]

Change it, carry on, and don't worry about it.

I know there are a lot of posts across the forums about how weak the 68 is.

It is not a bulletproof transmission, but I believe there is no such thing as a bulletproof transmission in stock form.

Any automatic transmission in stock form will suffer when adding power, especially when you start adding the torque gains achieved with a diesel engine after some tinkering. From my experience, the 68 is a very stout transmission, and I have no complaints.

The trans in my 09 Megacab did everything I asked for 300K miles with all stock internals, including stock valve body, and I asked a lot of it, LOL!

It is my work truck, and most of the time has something behind it, not crazy heavy, usually around 8K pounds.

It has also had a snow plow on it from day one, and I am not very nice to it when plowing.

I am not a tune jockey who constantly changes power levels to show off to my buddies.

It always stayed on a 60hp tune. I burnt the clutches to the point of stinking up the cab at around 200k miles plowing a friend out in heavy drifted snow.

I burnt them again, plowing snow at about 250k miles. From there on to 300k miles, I would smell it whenever I worked it hard, but it still performed flawlessly.

At 300k miles, it started going into limp mode whenever I put something heavy behind it, so I replaced it.

I probably could have gotten away with replacing the valve body since the only code I was getting was a low-pressure code.

Still, knowing I had burnt the clutches several times, I replaced it with a built transmission only to feel safe running a little higher tune.

Remember that this is one person's experience and opinion, but it does what it was designed to do very well.

Kyle

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[Lash]

I’m at 53k on my 21’, and I wanna do mine as well.

Any tips on oil, gasket, filters, or pan?

Any suggestions?

Anyone, LOL.

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[IndyRamMega]

I’m at 53k on my 21’, and I wanna do mine as well.

Any tips on oil, gasket, filters, or pan?

Any suggestions?

Anyone, LOL.

OEM filters and do the bypass.

PPE makes the deep pan for Revmax, so pick which one you like best.

Use a lube locker gasket, and my favorite trans oil is Schaeffer's.

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