I know Jaguar advises generally that the transmission is sealed for life but some of us experience shift chirps as the miles get up.

I had not seen the attached but found a few points interesting.

1. ZF themselves reccomend changing at 50-80k miles (80-120k kms) and not more than 8 years.
   
2. The level of the transmission to be at is the sealing face of the oil pan.
   (I always wondered as I do not have a lift and have to use drive on ramps)
   
3. Low oil is real bad due to damage, high oil will leak out and can cause a mess or ignite (= real mess but not damage)
   
4. While oil level is checked at 40C transmission should then be driven and heated to 75C and then rechecked.

Something to file or take action on I guess and seald for life is 8 years or 80k miles...

 

I have always maintained that the ZF 6 speed should have a drain and refill at 60K miles. Their own internal service bulletins state this. To not do this is to say that you will be getting rid of the car soon after 60K since they rarely run over 100K trouble-free if the oil is not serviced. I changed the XJ8 at 60K, the XKR at 50K due to the heavier use.

 

I don't think they do. They may have done in the past but haven't done for quite some time (I recall from reading jag's TOPIx). Quite possibly many franchises (dealers are franchises) have failed to notice.

I'd change oil, filter & sleeve.

 

My XJ8 only has 49.000 km but goes towards its 10 years, so beyond the 8y recommendation of ZF.
I think I will gratify her with a drain/refill soon.
Does anybody know why this limit of 8y, is it due to oxidation of the oil?

 

My dealer told me to wait till the plastic pan leaks. He says they ALL start to leak!?! I didn't wait, though.

 

My plastic pan seal started to leak so they flushed the fluid and added new when they replaced the pan. My car's transmission is much smoother shifting now with the new fluid. The original fluid had 115k on it.

 

Is it the seal or the pan itself that is condemned to leak?
If it's the pan, isn't there a benefit therefore to go straight to the upgraded steel pan when first changed? (saving for possible future changes)

 

Well, Brent's pan didn't leak till 115k miles. Mine had 60k and 8 years and still did not leak. So, if you plan to change your fluid, it doesn't sound like the plastic is a problem. If you don't plan to change it, then maybe it will be a benefit.

 

No leak on mine after 63,000 miles and 10 years.

 

It is the pan seal that leaked on mine, not the plastic pan itself that failed.

The loss of fluid I think was causing the rough shifts, as I heard the ZF is fussy about having the proper level of fluid in it. To replace the seal meant removing the pan, so a good opportunity to flush the fluid, since the pan was off anyway.

 

what does a new pan cost? Is it just a plastic basin, or does it have complex bits inside?

 

Ah - you have to change the pan because the filter is an integral part of it; it's not much as change the pan as change the filter.

 

What should I do if I have a 05 with 9,000 miles on it? Should I change it?

 

My 2008 X358 and 2009 XF have the same engine and ZF trans and as they both have about 60,000 miles, I had both trans serviced in the last few months. I purchased the parts from CTSC.com and had the dealer do the work. The pan/filter, ZF fluid, sleeve and replacement pan bolts were somewhere close to $375 to $400 and slightly less than that in labor. The service did eliminate a slight issue in the X358. I'm good for the next 60,000 miles - peace of mind.

 

"What should I do if I have a 05 with 9,000 miles on it? Should I change it?"

ZF recommend change after 8 years-mine was fine after 10 years when I changed it.

 

Is it OK to just remove the plug and drain and replace the fluid without changing the pan? I really don't want to mess with the pan bolts and I haven't heard about anyone saying the pan magnet or filter was bad when they changed theirs. Any comments?

 

The magnets collect all the steel filings that wear off the friction plates. Simply draining the fluid is better than nothing, but still leaves all that metal in the pan.n at 60k my magnets had a good amount of steel "fir" on them. If cost is an issue, you can always just replace the filter and pan o-ring gasket, keeping the original pan. The fluid cost is, by far, the most expensive part of the change, so I'd do it right, but that's me.

 

John...I agree with changing the oil and filter, but I think you are confusing the earlier ZF 5HP24 which has seperate metal pan and filter with the ZF 6HP26 which is fitted to these cars.
These have the filter combined into the sump (plastic) and is replaced as a unit.
It's really false economy to just try and 'cheap skate' your way through
ownership of these cars....it will turn around and bite you in the end ;o))

 

I changed my plastic pan last month, and it looked like the filter could be separated. I also saw the filter offered separately, but that may be for the metal pan, so I may be wrong. I did not personally consider not changing the whole pan assembly, as it seemed pretty reasonably priced.

 

The ZF 6HP26 oil is quite costly so it probably makes sense to change pan+filter (& electrical sleeve!) all at once. But I think you COULD just change the oil. Better than no change at all (unless you get the refill level wrong).