Hi guys,

I've been thinking about replenishing the transmission fluid on my 09 XF. The car has 104k km on it and is under warranty until 134k km. As we all know, there is no maintenance requirement for the 6 speed ZF boxes found in the 09 MY, but realistically how long can the transmission oil be effective for?

My worry is that if I change the fluid and ever have to make a warranty claim on the transmission, it might be denied due to an unscheduled maintenance (ie fluid change).

Any experience with changing the trans fluid and subsequently having to make a warranty claim for transmission issues?

 

If you want to play it safe, how about paying the dealer to change the fluid? It will cost double, but at least you won't get any grief.

 

nasa25, as long as you use the recommended fluid for the tranny, you can change the fluid every month and the dealership can't say anything. If you are worrying about they denying the claim because you were maintaining the car better than it should have, tell them that you will see them in court and see what they say at that point. I think you would have a very easy case and make the dealership look silly. But again, this is assuming you have installed the correct fluid. If you look in the owners manual, it will say what fluid should be installed. As long as you can prove you installed that fluid, then everything is on your side.

 

I don't think your extended warranty company would have an issue. They would want to see records only if something is a required maintenance item ie oil changes. The dealers have no input as to coverage with extended warranty companies as most are insurance companies. The claim is called in & usually an independent adjuster inspects the car & then they report back. Don't be so quick to blame the dealers ( the agents for the company sending you to England) for something they would have no control over.

 

JgaXkr is correct. I have an issue with the cooling system for my supercharger and it only throws a code when I use the car vigorously for an extended amount of time. Since I cleared the code when it last happened, the dealership's hands were tied as the adjuster from the warranty company would need to see it to approve the repair. Still haven't gone out to get it to throw the code again, but it will be soon :-)

Just make sure you get a receipt from whoever does it and use the approved fluid and you'll be fine.

 

Thanks for the input guys. I think I'll go ahead and get the fluid changed.

 

I had both my vehicles (2008 XJ and 2009 XF) handled by the dealer but they allowed me to provide the parts. I'm not connected in any way to this outfit, but CTSC provides original ZF fluid and parts at about half the price a dealer would charge. The savings on the fluid alone was worth my buying the stuff online.

 

I have handled thousands of extended warranties and can tell you that the ONLY way to void a warranty on a particular component is:

Improper servicing of that component. If it looks like a monkey installed it, the inspector may deny the claim.

Incorrect fluid. If you have fluid changed, use the factory fluid. Unless it's changed by a monkey (see previous line) no one will know there's an issue.

An extended warranty company cannot decline a claim for non-related service issues. For example: if you change your trans fluid and the engine throws a rod, one has nothing to do with the other.

Manufacturers and extended warranty companies alike will only decline coverage on the specific item that was compromised, or something that could fail as a result of the repair. For example: If you put a non-specified coolant in the engine and the vehicle blows a head gasket. They may fight you on coverage. If you put two different size tires on the rear and diff takes a dump, they may fight you. However, if you put ultra high performance wipers on, and the tranny falls out, they have no recourse.

 

I was in the process of ordering up a kit from ctsc and then realized that they do not ship to Canada. Looks like I'll need to procure the parts and fluids seperately now. I was pretty impressed by the full range of products and the wealth of information on that site

 

Another vote for CTSC. Best prices on ZF stuff I could find and they keep it in stock too.

I provided the parts and fluid and had a factory tech do it on his personal time.
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This might be a big ask but I'm wondering if any of our established forum members might be willing to help me out. CTSC won't ship to me in Canada (near Toronto).

I'm wondering if anyone would be willing to forward on the CTSC kit to Toronto for me. I'd be willing to compensate for the time and effort involved, obviously as well as the shipping costs. Please PM me if you might be willing to help a fellow enthusiast out. Thanks.