Dear all,

recently I've done a first transmission fluid change for my 5HP24 after 240.000km on my 2001 X308 3.2L with original ZF LifeGuardFluid 5 transmission fluid, e.g. https://www.autodoc.de/zf-getriebe/12040337

Now the 5HP24 transmission is whining on cold start for the first couple of gear switches. From this I think either fluid level is low or the leftover old trans fluid has mixed with the new fluid and it does not play so well.
Therefore I'd like to do another transmission fluid change.

Now I'm wondering if there is a good replacement for ZF LifeGuardFluid 5 which comes in larger quantities than 1L, e.g. in 5L bottles.

Do you know of any good drop-in transmission fluid options for 5HP24, especially in EU market?

Thank you very much!

 

It is possible that the whining you have when cold is due to low fluid level which, as the fluid warms-up, gets higher and the whining stops. Perhaps you should first double-check the fluid level before thinking of replacing it again.

 

it won't get much cheaper then yours but ravenol atf 5/4hp runs for about 9eur/l
however, me to i doubt it is old fluid remnants issue, did you use proper procedure and refilled on running engine? if not you are certainly low on fluid.

 

Thanks for your input. To be on safe side I'll redo the drain & fill. I did everything with engine running etc. but you never know. I suspect the car might not have been perfectly level.

 

Refilled my trans but the trans whine is still there. Wondering if I'm just not filling her with enough fluid.

 

if you changed the filter you have a bad filter, get a better quality filter. trust me

 

Hey bfx308, new member Jagman34 here. I just joined today but I am glad I saw your post. I think I might be able to provide some helpful info. I am in the USA and have a 2001 XJ8. I got it dirt cheap because it had a bad transmission. I had the transmission rebuilt and the transmission mechanic explained the unique characteristics of the 5hp24 transmissions. He said american transmissions use a high volume high pressure valve body. As the valve body gets older it will begin to wear and begin to bypass fluid. He said this is not necessarily a problem for a high pressure high volume system. It has enough pressure and volume to compensate. He then said the ZF 5hp24 uses a low pressure low volume valve body system. The benefits to this system is very quick, crisp, smooth shifts. The down side is if the valve body begins to wear it will begin to allow fluid to flow in a way it is not supposed to and the transmission will break itself very quickly. If the whine you are hearing is coming from the transmission it could be and indicator of a bigger problem, and I would advise you to consider having a transmission specialist examine it. This could help you avoid a bigger repair in the future, that is if there is a problem to be found.

As to your fluid question, I recommend Pentosin ATF1 fluid. This is what I use. In the USA this fluid sells for about $20 per liter, which is much cheaper than the dealer price of $64 per litter for "jaguar" fluid.

Another problem is that in the Jaguar owners manual, it says that the transmission is a "sealed for life unit" that does not "normally" require service. I wonder how many times this has caused people to neglect to change their fluid? To help me monitor the transmission fluid level and condition I installed a 5HP24 dipstick kit made by meurosport.com. Meurosport also provides a link (which is not working now) to a ZF 5HP24 technical document from ZF that states that the fluid should be changed every 80,000 km to 120,000 km ( 49,709 miles to 74,564 miles).

I hope this helps.