Good morning Mr. Kilmer,
I have a 4.7 Liter PowerTech/Magnum Engine in my 2004 Dodge Dakota Sport 4X4 with a 545RFE Automatic Transmission and a 22 Gallon Fuel Tank. I was curious if I were to replace the current transmission with a ZF 8HP70 Transmission would I see a major difference in fuel economy and performance? Note, this is my project truck and I'm trying to max it out with a balance of performance and efficiency. I'm a retired U.S. Army Veteran of 27 years of service in IT and a new automotive student. I'm also a MOPAR fan but hate Fiat.
Oh it would definitely get better gas mileage but it would be a cow cuz all the computer program they would have to be changed too
Are you referring to the retuning of the PCM that would be required? If so, is there a specific scan tool that you would recommend for this task?
Thank you for your service.
It may get alittle better gas millage, but it would take a very long time for the savings in money spent on gas to offset the cost of a new transmission + either your time or the labor involved in getting that thing in there and making it work correctly. I have no idea how hard it would be to get the existing ECU & PCM to talk to the new TCM.
To me this is definitely not worth it. Youre limited by other factors outside of just your transmission alone. Old school V8 design, the aero of a truck... your best bet is to just drive conservatively until you want to go
Cars are already pretty balanced in terms of performance (I assume you mean power output) & efficiency, you cant increase both without a major engine redesign.
If so, is there a specific scan tool that you would recommend for this task?
probably HPtuners or the OEM tool, but you will never recover the cost of the tools with your gas savings. Or the time.
