Hey guys, buying an 04 XJR believe its a late build date, April 04.
Car has 95k on it and I have no idea if the transmission has ever had its fluid changed. I read on here it is a good idea to change it but I have talked to my transmission guy who said he rebuilds 1-2 ZF trannys a week after people have changed the oil. I was advsd that changing it could cause things to loosen up that are held in place by the old fluid and create more of a problem. He suggested that I don't touch it until there is an issue.

Any advice?

Thanks

 

Jeff,

This is a very controversial topic. There is lots of information on this site regarding trans fluid changes. It'll be good for you to do a little searching. Both factory Tech certified guys and DIYers have weighed in.

I am in the camp that believes in changing fluid/filter. Regarding the comment from the trans guy who claims he has rebuilt too many of these after fluid changes, often other trans problems occur and the first DIY reaction is to change the fluid, which doesn't fix a hard failure. So the trans guy gets these and makes a false assumption the failure is related to the fluid change. I am an indy with my own shop and an ASE certified master tech (sorry for the shameless plug, but to establsih some baseline only). I have at least a dozen 6HP26s out on the street right now with fluid changes I've done (both with and without the specified Lifeguard 6 fluid) and most of these cars have 20,000 miles on them now and more with no transmission failures. Frankly I can say, I can't name one ZF hard failure even remotely related to fluid except in the cases where a trans was overfilled or run dry.

My recommendation is to change the fluid, but it must be done correctly.

Best,

 

Hey steve11 we have the B&G fluid exchange unit that we use to flush trans fluid here at the Volvo dealership. I thought about using it change the fluid on my '04 XJ8. Have you heard any pro's or con's about using it for Jag's? I agree with your assement of the trans shop statement and the failure of trans after a flush.

 

Jeff,
Just my 2 cents worth, unless there was an issue I would not.
However if I were to it would have to be someone like steve11 doing the job.

 

Well,
I have a completely loaded '04 XJR.
With 140,000 km on it.

I've had changed the transmission fluid, twice now.
and in another 10,000 I will have it done again.

FYI, I'm in Ottawa, Canada and the car enjoys the -40 weather too!

G.

 

I flushed out my transmission with Moble 1 ATF using the approved procedure with good results.

Do you guys reckon that adding a qt of the Jag transmission additive makes any sense?

 

Transmission filter kit touted on this site is suppose to be really good. My mechanic was impressed with the S Type he did recently.

I plan on doing it this winter when I have some other service done.

 

thanks for the feedback guys. I am still torn but after talking with a friend who recently changed the fluid in his BMW ZF31 transmission only to have an issue after putting in fresh fluid properly, at 110k, I am going to ride it out and see how long the thing lasts.

 

I would at least do a pan drop and refill. Thats safer than a full flush if youre worried about it as its about half the fluid changeout. Then do another in a year or 2

 

Hi Steve

I have a 04 XJ with 98000 Km's. It really bothers me to be driving this with 7 year old fluid in it however my dealer says he has no seals or parts to change it. Can I ask you where your shop is? I am in London Ontario.

Thanks

Andrew T

 

and what they cant order a new pan(which is the filter) and thats all they need besides tranny oil. maybe the should close the doors........morons

 

I know this is a two year old thread. But I just have to comment and agree with Brutal (I used to live in London Ontario). Jag dealer in London Ontario is made up of complete morons if the best they could come up with is: "we don't have seals or parts to change it (transmission fluid)".

Andrew T. how is your 04 XJ keeping through the southwester Ontario climate ?

 

Lifetime transfluid for jaguar means 100k under normal conditions and 60k under harsh conditions - most likely you are under normal. I replaced my fluid at 52k and the fluid smelled and looked as new -no kidding. I replaced it with redline d4 (redline recommend this fluid) since the zf fluid was 35/quart then - it is now 17 - I was never happy with the trans shifts with d4- fluid was replaced again at 60k - complete replacement pan filter fluid and flush. I understand your concern but given the quality of the zf fluid and zf actually believe in this fluid until 100k you are right on target for replacing the fluid - dont go cheap with maintenance when a new/rebuild trans is 4k without labor - just my advice. If you do do a replacement - remember the electrical sleeve. I believe most sleeves leaks within 100k anyway so maybe your fluid has already been changed or it will happen soon. A typical fluid flush is nothing more than the trans pump pulling the new fluid from one cooler lines and returns the old fluid in the other line when new fluid comes out out here the process is turned off -no additional pressure is involved. Do note that even when pan is dropped and refilled and a flush is performed after - not all fluid is replaced because off the internal distribution of fluid in the trans maybe around 90% - just FYI.

 

I should have updated this a while ago.

Last spring I called California Transmission Specialties and ordered the Pan, ZF Fluid, new pan screws and another gasket they suggest replacing. I took it all to the jag dealer and they did the change, the process is the same as the 5 speed which they do regularly. I have put on 17,000 kilometers since the change and no problems. I tow my Airstream a considerable amount with this car and it has towed since new.

The climate does not bother it as I put it away for the winter. Its kind of like getting a new car every year.

Though this is a VP it has the 20" rims from the R class on it. I kept wearing out the rear tires, likely due to driving habbits so I now have 245/40 20's on the front and 265/35 20's on the rear. This combination works much better, If I shut the stability control off the handling is almost neutral and the rear tires are lasting as long as the fronts. The 245's on the front seem to give more steering precision than I got with the 265's there.

Love the car to an irrational degree.

Andrew T

 

All of this confuses me. I asked the Okc dealer when I should have my transmission serviced. He said that its a sealed unit and should never be changed, but they can check it with a diagnostic computer. If it needed anything, it was a very controlled process and would have to be heated to 140 degrees(I think) to add fluid.

 

They told me the same thing that it was a sealed unit with lifetime fluid. When I asked who or what's lifetime noone could answer the question. When they change the fluid in a 5 speed they use the same process to set the final level where the fluid is heated to a specific temperature.

I just have always felt that fluid changes were about the cheapest insurance you could get. The CTSC - ZF Parts Supplies all the parts and fluid and they also had a PDF of the proceedure that I took to the dealer. The web site has the information and they were quite helpful on the phone. I beleive the owner of the company used to work for ZF.

I hope this helps.

Andrew T

 

www.thectsc.com For some reason the web address did not copy properly.

 

If you ask Jag - lifetime, if you ask ZF - new fluid is recommended each 100k under normal conditions and 60k under severe conditions. I personally believe ZF.

 

Jaguar don't make the gearbox, ZF do, so a correct belief, I think

 

I did not (yet) read the ZF literature - are you gentlemen talking miles or kilometers ?