This is a Great article, but my wife's X350 is leaking a small amount ever stop in garage over night. I assume it is either front seal to torque converter or somewhere I haven't located.
I need to top off fluid before any damage occurs.
Since these are sealed, where is fill plug and how do I tell when it is full or how low it is right now.
I am working a 3 week shut down so don't have time right now but don't want her to hurt tranny.
Thanks for any help

 

Could be the sleeve leaking

C2C39599 part # 6

 

Hi dwdooley,

I have moved your post to start your own thread since your topic is not directly related to instructions for flushing your transmission fluid.

Have you raised the vehicle and inspected the transmission oil pan to see if the gasket is leaking? The electrical connector sleeve that wingrider mentioned is another common leak point. Thus far, the transmission input shaft seals have not been common leak points on the ZF 6HP26.

The fill plug is on the right side of the transmission and requires an 8 mm hex or Allen wrench. On many cars there is very little room to fit a standard L-shaped Allen wrench. A workaround is to grind a standard wrench shorter so that it looks like this:




The only fluids you should put into your 6HP26 are ZF Lifeguard 6 (or the Jaguar-branded version), or Ford Motorcraft Mercon SP (available at Advance Auto and other parts stores).

I am attaching instructions for checking and setting the correct fluid level (this document was also attached to the fluid flush post you replied to initially):

Cheers,

Don

 

Thanks, appreciate the knowledge and help.

 

Just a word of caution. Do not undo the fill plug with the engine off or you will have a LOT of transmission fluid all over the garage floor.

 

Be sure you can remove the fill/level plug BEFORE you drain the fluid. (they can be TIGHT and strip the hex)
Empty gearboxes don't work well.

 

The most common leak is the sleeve mentioned by wingrider and the tans oil pan gasket at the transmission itself. A more common leak is the transmission lines going to the cooler looking down at the radiator.

Me, I would take a peak before doing anything. What are your miles and when was the transmission serviced last? If your leak is at the transmission and you have not changed the filter/pan (one piece design) and fluid then I would change these as well as the sleeve mentioned, the four tube seals and the square bridge all at the same time. You will have to drop the valve body, but it is not a difficult job. There are write ups.

Depending on what service has been done with respect to above paragraph, and where the leak is coming from, you can mix and match what you are going to do. But again, if you are approaching or past 100k miles and have not done anything, do it all.

In addition, if the lines are leaking, you can repair these, again there are write ups on the forum.

The smart approach is to get under the hood and car and see what is the source of the leak and factor in what services you have performed to date. All of above is pretty easy to do, not fun because you are on your back, unless you have a lift, but not technically challenging.

If it is the torque converter seal, the transmission needs to be dropped. At this point a careful examination of the rear main seal would be warranted.