One of the many problems that I discovered when I bought our '09 XF last year (the jerk used car dealer said that it was fine when I drove it off the lot), was that the transmission slipped occasionally. Although it never happened to me, my wife said that it did to her a few times. She described driving normally in the 30mph range when the engine suddenly went up to around 6000 rpm for a few seconds, then went back to normal and smelled hot. A tranny repair shop that would work on Jags (not easy to find) said that the tranny was two liters low on fluid. They topped it off and it's been working fine since.

My question: Why wasn't there a warning light or notification that the fluid was so low?

Since there's no way to check the tranny fluid under the hood, I'd think such a notification would be mandatory.

Is there an easy way to check the fluid under the car?

P.S.The Jag dealer said that the new Jags don't even had an oil dipstick under the hood anymore.

 

That's less to do with Jaguar and more to do with the ZF gearbox which Jaguar sourced and installed and shared by a number of other makes. None of them have dipsticks any more as they are supposedly considered "sealed for life" - there's much conjecture about whose life that is. I cannot say why there isn't a fluid low sensor but that's a question for ZF who make the gearbox, not Jaguar. The first symptoms of gearbox problems usually result in "top up or replace the fluid and see what happens" - it's the cheapest route. ZF rate their fluid at 75K miles if I recall correctly - at that mileage I had it swapped out in my Land Rover and I plan to do that with any other ZF boxes I have at that point. The usual reason for loss of fluid is a leak somewhere. I recall some of the 6 speed boxes could be prone to a known leak past a seal...you may want to get someone to check the level in a while...

 

Pick up a new pan/filter, electrical sleeve, and some fluid. I had a cold shift issue. After the drain, new pan, and fill the transmission has been flawless. The root cause was a crack in trans filter neck (integrated into the pan). There is a specific procedure for drain/filling. I did not use the Lifegaurd fluid. I went with Motorcraft Mercon SP since that is what Ford uses in their ZF transmissions. I did a lot of research on it and came to the conclusion the Lifegaurd fluid is the same fluid made by Ford. I haven't had any issues so I'm happy. The Lifegaurd fluid is what we are supposed to use so use whatever you feel comfortable using.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-fluid-136746/

 

@Blackcoog - Can you advise on the procedure you followed to do the change?

Thanks

- TIm

 

Jaguar 6HP26 - 6HP28 Transmission fluid level procedures: Genuine ZF Parts

 

Did mine in early 2015
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-fluid-136746/
Might as well service the diff while you're under there?

 

Did you do a full flush (should be around 10L) or just a drain and refill (which should be around 6L)? I'm planning on getting this done in the next little while (I have 90k miles on my 09 right now).

 

If you drop the Valvebody out you can get close to a full flush. I added ~9.5L when I did mine. Just have to let it sit and drip for a while. I left mine overnight.

I wouldn't blame ZF, they want you to change the oil (60k? 75k? saw it somewhere, can't recall ... )
Jaguar are the ones who put the "lifetime" label on it and no requirement.

 

Thanks. When you changed your fluid out did you bother to swap the pan screws as well? Not sure if it's even worth it....

 

I got my oil change kit from Genuine ZF Parts and it came with new bolts. You should really change out the pan as well, since that's where the filter is located.

 

Yup thanks. I have a ZF pan/filter and sealing sleeve but didn't consider changing the bolts really. But now I will.