OK, I had the opportunity to drive it today for a few hours. Shifts are positive yet smooth. The car keeps getting quieter as I change out these old fluids. I bought 3 gallons of ATF to do this and measured off a half quart from each one, now in one of the ATF gallon containers. So I have a quart and a half. If I buy 2 quarts, I can do it again. And I might after driving it a while.

Maybe I just lucked out that I can reach my little rubber fill plug from under the hood and it's a straight shot down and not half hidden under the battery box. And I can shimmy my hand in there to pull it.

But, seriously, this is so easy and the results so immediate, I think anyone that gets one of these cars and doesn't KNOW if it's been changed, should do it. I drove mine up onto 3 stacked 2x12s...each one shorter than the one below it... screwed together.. and had plenty of room to get under there and get the plug out and have a pan under it.

Oh... and the turkey roasting pans from the dollar store worked perfectly.

If you haven't done this. Do it.

 

Hi All.

I’m a new contributor but a long time user of this forum’s great info. I just wanted to quantify some of the drain and fill estimates I’ve seen on several posts.

The idea of removing ALL of the old ATF only works if you do a complete “flush”. That is adding new fluid as old is being evacuated while engine is running. There is a short video earlier in this thread showing it on a Honda (dated 03-14-2014). Or you can have a professional mechanic do it with their handy dandy transmission flushing machine.

If you do a partial drain and refill, then you are at the mercy of physics and math. Given the following assumptions you will be able to get an 86.8% new-to-old ATF concentration in your car with 4 pan drain-refills (14qts), and a 99.0% new-to-old ATF concentration with 9 drain-refills. The assumptions are:

1) 8.8 quart (8.3L) ATF capacity (from Jaguar X-Type JATCO Workshop Manual)
2) 3.5 quart (3.3L) drain and refill amounts from pan drain plug
3) New and old ATF are consistently mixed through out the system before consecutive drain-refills.

The first drain gets you to 39.8% new-to-old concentration, second gets it to 63.7%, third to 78.2%, and forth to 86.8%.

You will mathematically never reach 100% new ATF doing this method but you can get pretty close after enough drains. It just depends on your time and how much ATF you wish to expend.

*Attached is an excel spreadsheet that does the breakdown depending on total capacity and replacement amounts. (I promise it’s not a virus infected file).

Also, there appears to be ways to increase the new-to-old concentration as I read previous comments.

1) Given that I assume thoroughly mixed new and old ATF, using short engine run times between drains (13-15 seconds) appears to be a way to take as much old (non-mixed) ATF out of the system as possible before consistent fluid equilibrium (I assumed that is why Michael_Toronto_Canada went for the short engine runs). If after the first drain, the pan with new ATF is circulated upon starting the engine and old ATF from the cooling system is collected in the pan, then you are likely draining out more old than mixed-new fluid. A First-In-First-Out sort of inventory idea.
2) A counter argument to this is not to “shock” your system with too much new fluid since ATF acts as a cleaning solvent in addition all its other wonderful properties. Since I don’t plan to (i.e. don’t know how to) change my X-Type’s transmission filter, I would rather not do a full flush on my 120K mile original transmission fluid all at once.

So this is what I plan to do this weekend. Replace 7 quarts in two drains with a 13 second engine run between. Drive for 1,000 miles over the course of the next couple weeks and then repeat the 7 quarts in two drains again. At the worst, I will be replacing 87% of the old with Castrol Import Multi Vehicle ATF. If more of the old comes out with short engine run between drains, then great, it increases the new fluid concentration.

I will let you know if some thing goes wrong and try to remember to update you later on if all is good after some more miles.

Cheers.

 

You must be a math teacher. Good luck with your project, though there's no such thing as "shocking" your transmission system with too much new fluid.

 

Good plan DM and I have followed this 13-15 second method. I agree with your logic that this very brief run is just enough to pump the newer fresh fluid you poured into the fill hole from the pan and it is now in the transmission body and used fluid took its place. You are going to notice the change in color visually to confirm your logic of calculations. If you do the changes you say the last drain is going to produce a blend which should have a predominately cherry red color. From everything I have read any filter is deep in the internals of the transmission and not serviceable. Have fun.

 

DM, I did something similar 2 years ago, did 6 cycles of drain+refill and figured I had ~90% new fluid in it (algebra is our friend).

But just did it again today and here is what I found, wrt the fluid holding up over time. Thought it would be of interest to those doing this or comtemplating it.

After 2+ years and 27k miles, I did a drain this morning. Got 2.8 qts, and put 3 qts back in. The drained fluid was equally as dark as drain #4 from 2 years ago (yes I saved a sample from all 6 drains, to see how it got better after each drain - engineering major). FWIW, the first drain was awful- dark, thick, stunk- by #6 you could tell it was not fresh out of the bottle but it was close.

So when I did the math last time, I figured after drain 4 it was about 30% old, and 70% new. Since my last drain 2 years ago, it implies the fluid got ~20% more used/burned/dirty over 27k miles. That's for my car anyway, your results may vary.

I am going to do one more drain today, which I think will put me at about 85% "good". Going forwards, I will probably just do one 3qt drain/fill every 10k miles. That should keep it between 80-85% good all the time, and I will get to keep an eye on it more often. I am in the camp of "don't shock your old transmission" with a full flush, prefer to not upset the ecosystem there. So gradual is my plan.

 

Really, the little bit of old fluid is not actually an issue; the older, higher mileage transmissions have some wear, and the old fluid has some solids in it (made up of the worn stuff) that will actually help clutch performance.


I've seen other boxes (not the JATCO) where a full change on a worn transmission made it worse, because things that WERE supposed to stick a little didn't anymore.


In the "old days", some tranny fluids had specific friction modifiers in them that would break down over time, only to be replaced by clutch material from the transmission...which left the actual lube properties right about where they started.


I did three partials, I'm driving for about 2500 or so, then going to do 3 more.


At three turns, the lab said the original fluid (148K miles!) was pretty well shot...the stuff from the 3rd change was about 85% fresh, and even at that, met all of the requirements. I'm good with that. Shifts nice and crisp.

 

I know this is an old thread, but I wonder if anyone has a full picture view of the undercarriage so we could see the tranny drain plug, the tranny level check plug and the dreaded bolt that screws up the reverse band that so many have encountered. That would be pretty cool to have.

peace out,
daddylogan

 

 

My write up on fluid change using the "14 second method". =
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...w-pics-183620/

 

Dell...as much as I appreciate your effort it still does not show what I was hoping for. I would like to see an upwards view (under the car looking straight up) of all plugs in the same picture if possible. I know where the level check plug is but it is very confusing about the tranny drain plug and the bolt that screws up the reverse band. It would be cool to have all three labeled and circled. I know where the tranny fill plug is. Kind of know what I mean?

peace out,
dadydlogan

 

Hello Danny a Fish
......It's been 10 years since you posted in the Jaguar Forum about your Jag X Type automatic transmission fluid change procedure and understandable if too much time has passed for a reply however, if possible, have a few questions regarding that procedure. From your post, the fluid was drained (about 3-4 quarts) refilled then repeated about how many times? 2nd question, the car was run through the gears before repeating drain and fill, what was the length of running time before repeating the drain and fill process? Interesting it was done one stop and certainly a better way to go. Your reply would be much appreciated......thanks

 

no, the fill plug is just that... a black rubber grommet plug next to the Allen wrench recessed plug. Both are under the battery box

 

This is the most informative guide. The pictures made it even more helpful to locate the fluid level plug. I was able to drain excessive transmission fluid (6litres) that was continuously leaking out of the breather.

 

Dandy

 

This is how to do a FULLLLLLLLLL flush:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...change-266693/