Not sure if anyone else gave you this, but I bought a kit from Klaus here and it worked perfectly.
Genuine ZF Parts

 

Hi everyone.
I have read these posts pretty thoroughly, but still have a question.
I plan on doing a fluid change myself, with new pan and fluid, but not a full flush on my 2004 XJ8.
SO it sounds like I should stick with ZF6 as I will end up 'mixing' some old and new fluid.
Went to the thectsc.com site and their 'all in one' kit has 6 liters of fluid. I thought this would take 10-11 liters?

 

A full flush will take 10 plus Litres where as just a drain and fill around 7 if you are lucky.

It seems some people get more and some less when they drain probably because of the position of the torque converter when draining?

 

Got it. that makes sense. Thanks for responding.

 

I don't see a problem with a simple 7 litre replacement as long as you realise that the next fluid change needs to be earlier because the fluid is a mixture of what was about 70% new fluid and 30% original fluid.

I had the fluid changed at 77,000 so by my reckoning that means the fluid in my transmission was on average 23,000 miles old immediately after the fluid change, and I'll need to change it in 37,000 miles time if I want to do the equivalent of changing 100% renewed fluid after 60,000 miles, or in 52,000 if I want to do it at the equivalent of 75,000.

 

If you are doing the transmission oil change yourself it is not that much more work to do the total flush.

Having gone thru the process of , in my case, jacking the car up on all four corners and leveling off, it was simply a matter of disconnecting the cooler lines and flushing until clean fluid was ejected. Then blow out the cooler and reconnect the lines.

Then going thru the fill check at the correct temperature.

It is however a 2 person job.

 

Save some dosh, do it yourself and feel good that you have conquered your fear of working on your Jag.

 

I just did mine on my XK. We had a good rain and there's is no snow up here so the salt was washed off the roads. That allowed for a nice little test drive.

The fill plug on the XK is a lot closer to the exhaust and catalytic converter than the X350, so that was fun. I ended up using 6.5 liters. At 70k miles, the fluid was only slightly dirty.

This weekend she gets an oil change and coolant, then the differential fluid.

 

Went in for a flush and they were afraid to touch it. Said that it must have been overheated with former owner, and that fluid was cooked. They said that burnt particles were probably coked onto the interior, and if they flushed, they'd probably shake some loose and ruin the tranny (since flushing goes in the opposite direction). So, they said to just let it go.

I plan on just draining the fluid, refilling, running it, draining and refilling it, and then on the third drain putting in a new pan/filter. By my math that gets me to over 90% new fluid. Looks like the Mercon SP has my vote, as I can afford to drain and fill three times. We'll see if it holds together. It shifts fine, but the fluid has 111K miles on it and can't be any good.

 

Even at 111k if the fluid is nearly full I doubt that it is "cooked" especially since it shifts fine.

The fluid will probably be a dark color for sure.

I would carry out your plan.

 

I used him too for my Super V8 but for my XK, I bought the pan, filter, sleeve and fluid off eBay for $180. The cost of the fluid is coming down and the competition is up. Also, the brilliant minds (whom I really appreciate) on this forum have finally discerned and provided data sheets to the forum members, that Mercon SP has the same properties as the liquid gold so demand is coming down as others opt to go for a full flush with Mercon.

 

Agreed. Remember at one point these transmissions were declared sealed for life so 111,000 miles isn't too terribly late.

 

Great info here folks.. thanks! I'm about to do same.. however, went to FCPEuro site just now.. put in 2005 Jag VDP.. and it says 'no results found' ( unless they're sold out? but, I'm thinking it would say out of stock).
Any one have another good source for the Oil pan/filter and fluid? I've been on EBAY, but some look like cheap aftermarket pans.. cheesy plastic.
'
Thanks in advance ! Geo G

 

Disregard.. just found on Jagbits.. $189 for the whole 'Kit' .. says OEM.. looks the real deal..

 

The OEM Pans ARE plastic. Metal pans are over rated, unless you're 4 wheeling in your XJ, you have nothing to fear. That one you bought from Jagbits doesn't include the mechatronic sleeve. You might want to look at buying one and replacing it at the same time. They tend to leak.

You'll also want to consider buying the Torx screws set as well. The replacements are larger and you'll most likely strip out a few old ones.

 

Also you can spray PB blaster or something like it on the top of those torx bolts as they protrude thru the transmission mating surface.
Makes it a lot easier getting the bolts out with a bit less risk of stripping the head.

 

Jackra/Sean.. for the advice. Yes, I was aware of it being plastic, it's just when I zoomed in on the Ebay pic, seemed a low quality ( and I'm more worried about the Filter in that case) and never heard of the company. I think it was made in Taiwan..
Found the Mechatronic sleeve at a local Jag dealer (Huntington, LI) for a reasonable $10..AND, they're Torx bolts were actually less at $1.50/per vs aftermarket stores. Just for #$%! and giggles, I asked the dealer what their Pan/filters were ? $ 290. Lifeguard 6 ? $54/ltr. ! LOL gotta love it...
Long story short.. a 'friend' on the block gets a 30% discount at the dealer thru his business.. and offered it. So getting the pan/filter, Torx (all) and Sleeve for $209 ish. Now to find the Liquid Gold at a decent price..
Best I've seen is $24/ltr. on Amazon.. ANYone have a 55 gal. drum of the stuff laying around ?!? LOL ..
Hey is it necessary to always 're-flash' tranny after a full flush? (doing TC also) Or only if it was misbehaving? Mine shifts fine btw (@75k) just doing as preventative.
Thanks for all the assist... Geo G

 

Gem
Doing a drain/fill on mine now. Good advice was to make sure you can loosen filler plug first, before you commit and drain fluids, as it is steel and hard to loosen. Bent my standard hex key trying to loosen it, so off to the store for some better quality tools. I asked about flashing, and its only for those with shifting problems, so no need. I switched to Motorcraft Mercon SP, but that's another hour of reading if you have that discussion. Have fun.

 

If you're going OEM, you'll want 7 liters handy.

$22 per liter here:
7 Liters Automatic Trans Fluid ZF Lifeguard 6 fits Jaguar Kia Land Rover Range | eBay


Nothing wrong with your approach, however, a Full flush with Mercon replacement would be cheaper by half. It can be DIY. You just need to know which Trans line is outbound. Don B should be able to help out with it.

 

Hi Geo G,

If you're just going to do a drain and fill, then I would recommend you stay with ZF Lifeguard 6 (LG6) rather than using Mercon SP (MSP), just in case there are any differences in additives or friction modifiers (we're not aware of any, but the Material Safety Data Sheets don't disclose some details). I think Sean's recommendation of having 7 quarts on hand is good for a drain and fill.

One of the lowest U.S. prices I've found for genuine ZF LG6 is in a 12-liter case from California Transmission Supply Co. (thectsc.com), but their website is currently only showing it in single liters. You might call or email Klaus there.

Since a drain-and-fill leaves all the old fluid in the torque converter and other parts of the transmission, many owners do at least one drain-and-fill prior to changing the pan/filter so more of the old fluid is replaced. Two drains-and-fills prior to changing the pan/filter is even better, but requires 18-20 quarts of fluid.

Personally, the strategy I've adopted is to start with a complete flush via the cooler lines, then drain and preserve the (new) fluid, change the pan/filter and Mechatronic sleeve, and refill with the fluid you drained. This allows for a complete change of all the fluid in the transmission with 11-12 liters of new fluid.

I recently flushed a friend's '05 XJ8L with Mercon SP and its rough shifting smoothed out somewhat. After clearing the adaptations and reflashing the TCM his gearbox is running great on MSP. So don't be afraid of saving your money and going with MSP! I just don't know if it's prudent to mix LG6 and MSP, so if you go with MSP, I'd recommend the full flush or two drains-and-fills prior to dropping the pan and then refilling with another batch of fresh MSP.

Mercon SP is widely available for less than $10 per quart. Compare prices at your local auto parts stores.

I figured out a way to do the flush via the cooler lines by connecting rubber hoses to the ports on the side of the transmission, which avoids the mess of trying to catch the fluid that is powerfully ejected from the lower cooler line port on the side of the transmission. Photos to come.

Cheers,

Don