If anyone still believes that the trans fluid is "for life"
 

I changed out the trans fluid in the STR yesterday. Did a full flush with 20 quart bottles of the ford SP fluid. It took a full 20 bottles to flush the fluid until it was coming out new looking.

I disconnected the top line going into the radiator right by the air box if people want to try it. Put a line going out of the car into a bucket to collect the old fluid (the side going off to the car is the side you want to use for letting the old fluid out) and connected a new line to the side connectd to the radiator with a large funnel hung up by the hood latch filed with the new fluid. Turned the car on and let it pump out old fluid while sucking in new.

I would assume the fluid that's in my car is the OE fill since no one flushes the trans on cars that have fluid change interval, I bet no one bothers to change the fluid in the STR since its "lifetime" . The old fluid that came out was garbage, dark dark black looking and smelled terribly burnt. 82k on this fluid.

The Ford fluid was $ 6.xx dollars a quart vs $60 for the fluid from Jaguar. I guess I could have taken the time to set up a "wholesale" account with ford but this was such a good price compared to OE jag fluid I didn't care. I don't know if anyone else has actually tried this fluid out yet? I will report back my experience with this fluid to the forums. Took the car out for a spin last night with the new fluid and every thing seemed to be working 100%.

I will be flushing the fluid out again in 6 months or so when I do a trans cooler, trans temp sender, shift kit and remote mount spin on filter.

The guy at Ford parts was cool, I told him what I was doing and he didn't even bat an eyelash when I asked for 20 quarts. He said the had 67 in stock.

Let us know how it goes.
It sounds like you needed to get it done
You can get the ZF fluid from various sources for around $15.

I thought the Ford fluid was the wrong spec for the ZF transmission, no?

That's what I understand is the case.

I did look at these, but I didn't want to get hit with all that shipping on 20 bottles worth. I think even Pentosin makes a fluid that they recommend for our 6 speed auto.

Everything I read about the Ford fluid is that it will work, but I didn't see too many who had actually tried it. I weighed it out, and felt that the ford fluid was cheap enough i could waste a bunch doing a full flush, then redoing it again in six months and not feel bad vs the more expensive fluids would make me want to save every drop.

Did you look at Land Rover fluid?

I looked at a ton of different fluids. I haven't seen a single post about some one putting the ford fluid in their 6hp26 and it blowing up or acting weird on any of the platforms that use this trans.

In case anyone is interested:

from ZF:

https://serviceline.zf.com/interoele...011_en0700.pdf

for 6hp26 -

So, if you don't mind running Hyundai part numbers in your car :D

The snobs with more money than brains can upgrade to the Bentley part number. :D

++

Lifetime fluid on a 3.0 S-type for a 2000 was 6 years and 67,000 miles, that is how long the trans lasted before a major rebuild, "and fluid change" !!

Different gearbox. But yes no doubt likes to have fresh oil periodically.

I've spoken with ZF Tech Support in Chicago several times discussing their concept of "lifetime" fluid for our 6-speed transmissions. They essentially told me that under "normal operating conditions" (which means a 50/50 mix of highway vs. city driving, no towing, no dirt or gravel roads, and absolutely no drag racing), Lifeguard 6 is engineered to do up to 100,000 miles. One tech did say that he would consider changing the fluid at 80,000 miles. If I remember correctly, these phone converstations with ZF took place back in March 2010....

All ZF techs emphasized the importance of getting the fluid level absolutely correct when you do decide to perform a drain-and-fill. I believe that proper fluid level may be more important than the actual fluid brand you select. Rick (joycesjag) has been running Castrol Multi-Import ATF for more than two years now. Other forum members have gone with Mobil 1 ATF, Pentosin ATF, and Wolf's Head ATF just to name a few. I still believe that if you choose a fluid that meets the required Shell specs and you do your drain-and-fill properly (yes, it is a major hassle with no transmission dipstick/fill tube), you'll be fine....

Our 2005 S-Type 3.0 has just over 71,000 miles on its factory fluid. Our 2006 XK8 4.2 has just over 45,000 miles on its factory fluid. Knock on wood, I have no ZF issues with either vehicle. I wish I had a dipstick/fill tube on both of them, though. Caring for these ZFs would be so much simpler....

My 03 STR was recently at Jaguar, who maintained that the trans. fluid is for life. Mine was swapped at 95k miles.

Even Hyundai wants $75 a quart for their fluid, can't imagine what Bentley would ask. :icon_omg:

I got a price quote receipt from a Hyundai dealer here in Atlanta for $89.00 + tax for 1 bottle of Golden Hyundai juice for the Genisis transmission (ZF box)!

Typically I find that asking for a 1l (qt) price is the wrong thing to do. Ask for 10l or 5l. Though at those numbers it's not likely to help enough!

Ok ... so who got a quote for the Bentley juice?

How about the Maserati juice?

Maybe its complimentary because it was included in the original purchase :D

Quick answer to the next moron who claims "lifetime" ... life does not end at 100,000 miles. Just like life does not end at age 55.

The old Saab 900's were just nicely broken in at 100K.

Now here is a tactic for the next new car purchase negotiation:

-- sit down with the nice sales guy and his copy of the owners manual

-- make a full list of all fluids, sparkplug, filters, etc.

-- tell the sales guy to go see the parts guy and get a retail total

So then your care died? ;) Hey 95K is impressive given what you've done to the car and your Mad max driving style ... LOL :D

Birdman of NJ
 

I've got go find the threads on the changing of the fluid as well as the ones on birdie chirp, chirp noise. Mine isa just over 30K and it's chirping more each day.

I have a friend with an Audi that I think uses the same basic trans and on those forums they talk a newer version of the fluid with different friction modifiers for solving the chirp.

Isn't the additive no longer available anyway?