I have a 2014 XJL RWD Portfolio SC 3.0v6 with an 8 speed transmission (58k miles). Vin:SAJWA2GZ7EV608++
I believe the tranny fluid (Can we still say that?), has never been changed and I want to confirm things before embarking on my drain and fill project.
My personal history with transmissions have encouraged me to do a simple drain & fill every 30-40k miles vs an entire system “flush”. Even though this one is a little overdue. Any thoughts there? I don’t see any signs of obvious issues but, I can only confirm NP for the last 20k miles. Thanks for so much for the assist.
Questions:
(Relevant??) Do I need to know what series of ZF 8speed installed?
Pan/filter PN:
Fluid type:
Est. #Quarts: drain and fill.
Est. #Quarts: flushed system (recommend? Not?
Pitfalls/comments:

 

Quietgiant, your car should have the "8HP70" ZF transmission. If you look on like e-bay, there are people selling complete kits (new pan, 8-9 bottles of ZF fluid, and a new collar along with the new bolts for the pan). That should be just about everything you would need, except...... You knew it was coming. You are going to need 2 specialty tools more than likely. The first being a ratcheting 1/2" drive wrench that is very flat. You have to remove the fill plug from the side of the tranny and that is lodged up above the exhaust. Which leads to tool 2 you are going to need which is some sort of pump with a metal line on the end so you can slide it by the exhaust and fill the tranny as the engine runs. So, this also means that you are going to need to be able to get the car up high enough that you can keep yourself safely away from the exhaust as you do this. Draining is easy. Undo the bolts, let the fluid drain out. Remove the pan and where the spout goes up in to the tranny, there is a collar there that you need to replace. If you don't, you run the risk of developing a leak there and this will cause the car to possibly shift funny or in my case, the car would not release the gear as I was coming to a stop, essentially killing the engine because the tranny tried to bring the engine to 0 RPM (now, to be fair, this was on the 6HP tranny, but these are similar trannies). Once the new collar is in, then you can install the pan (bolts get torqued to like 15 ft-lbs (I would need to verify the exact value)). From there, you remove the fill plug and add in about 4-5 quarts of fluid. Then you start the car, add some more fluid. Shift the tranny through P/R/N/D and back to P. Add more fluid, shift the tranny, add more fluid. repeat until the fluid remains at the bottom edge of the fill hole. Put the fill plug back in (caution, exhaust is going to be hot).

Some may recommend disconnecting the tranny line at the front of the car to help drain the fluid that is there and provide a second vent path. That is up to you. Just remake the fitting before you start the car. Else it gets really messy, really fast.

The fluid should be the ZF8 fluid labeled "Lifeguard". I am sure there are other fluids out there that are acceptable (which I would be interested in), but I know that one is one that is good.

 

Thank you Thermo. Your detail and effort is truly appreciated. Sounds like Lots of fun.

( Bet the engineers are still laughing… )