...Back on topic... haha

A well respected indy here in Queensland told me when I asked about doing the gearbox in an upcoming service said they had experienced problems using any fluid besides the Jaguar one and would only do it with the factory supplied ATF. I don't know if that's superstition as ZF made the gearbox in the first place, but considering other minor changes they make to OEM supplier equivalents (like disc pad thickness compared to Jurid who make them) it's possible.

@Peter Ucinski - I hope you are making positive progress - I have a couple of little niggles with my car at the mo, so I can only imagine how you must be feeling with this.

 

I feel for you Peter. You try to maintain your car by changing the fluids and it causes a problem--most likely from the mechanic not following specific ZF/Jaguar procedure. To update my last post I removed 6.5 litres my draining and removing the filter/pan. I then replaced the pan and pumped in 2.5 litres through the fill hole until it started to leak back out. The difference in 6.5 and 2.5 is because the engine was started. I had a small leak in the pan seal so I removed the pan and carefully mated it to the transmission casing by cleaning, drying it, and torquing it in 2 steps following the recommended torque pattern. I used Don's fluid change procedure: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...sh-diy-217150/

Don has used this procedure many times with no negative affects using Ford Motorcraft Mercon SP.

Although, it has beaten to death on this form it is assumed, Ford Motorcraft Mercon SP and Shell Spirax S4 ATF MSP are identical to ZF Lifeguard 6, I used only Jaguar branded transmission fluid. In retrospect I believe the Jaguar transmission fluid is simply ZF Fluid 6 re-branded. Some say Jaguar adds modifiers to the fluid. After changing the pan and exchanging about 13 litres of old fluid with new fluid I added an extra litre for the check fill level procedure. I purged the cooler and lines by replacing the fluid through the IN/OUT lines (about 1.5 litres). I pumped in 4 litres through the transmission IN port so I would have equal amounts of fluid removed and put in. I then cycled about 13 litres of fluid through the IN/OUT transmission port to expel as much old fluid as possible. Please note the exchange of fluid is not 1:1. New fluid going in is scattered through the transmission and torque converter mixing with old before it is picked up by the circulation line to the cooler and out port--a complete flush is not possible with the torque converter and transmission in the car. I did not want to mix different brand fluids. I noticed no difference in transmission behavior. My car only has 14K miles on it, but it is 6 years old and time to change the fluid.

 

Thank you guys ! this is very helpful, Did you have to do TCM adaptation after fluid change/flush?

 

I also used Mercon SP with zero problems.

 

@NBCat, you have linked twice to the same pdf.

 

No, it is not part of the procedure. The only time a reset needs to be done is if there is a problem that needs to be fixed. The TCM will adapt on its own. However, depending on what the diagnosis is here, you may have to do one.

 

UPDATE:

Just picked up the car from Transmission shop.... yes, it had to be rebuild.... and it costed $3500, apparently bushing were worn out and solenoids were leaking... once new fluid was introduced the pressure was raised and broke worn out parts.... I found the link below before car mechanic told me what happened with transmission...

Everything about your ZF 6HP26, 6HP19, 6HP28 transmission issues | BAVLOGIC, LLC

My preventative maintenance costed me $4500.... not happy about it but what can you do?

hopefully this will not happen to any XKR owners here.

Thanks for all your help!

 

Sorry to hear of the situation @Peter Ucinski . But if the parts were that worn it was going to happen sooner or later. Thank you for sharing the solution. Your thoughts were accurate on preventative maintenance.

 

Very unusual for this to happen at 67,000 miles I think.

 

Nothing lasts forever but I have found if you do this type of service it usually ends up with more problems then it's worth. Maybe the lesson here is if it ain't broke then don't fix it. Interesting observation here is that in all of the 55 years of driving I have never changed transmission fluid regardless of whether it were a manual gearbox or auto box. I also have never had a failure even with cars over 100K miles. This activity seals my existing strategy .Good luck with the rebuilt.

 

Thanks for taking the time to report back and update us. As others have said, there's a pretty good chance you'd have needed to do that work sooner or later anyway, so that may bring a crumb of comfort. I am in the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" camp myself and while I believe in preventative maintenance, I don;t usually do things not mandated by the manufacturer. Your beautiful Jaguar is back where it should be, so enjoy!

 

You two track with my philosophy also, if the OP had asked about whether to change it before he took it in I would have been against the grain also as KenBowen says and Jagtoes advises. I had a BMW for years and they share the ZF tranny with our X150, but in a much bigger sampling (550/650/750). I had my previous BMW in for leaking pan replacement and figured I would have a full tranny fluid flush. They refused a revenue generating service, the advisor who I knew for years said they had way too many cars come back with transmission failures after fluid flush so they won't do them. Especially on vehicles with over 50,000 miles. It is reported that the sudden viscosity change stresses the internal components.

I feel for you, glad you have it all buttoned up now and can enjoy that beast.

 

I have had two transmission fluid changes on my 2010 175,000 mile XKR with no ill effects, and, yes, I was warned by my indie that there is a possibility of issues after doing so. Now, I do notice that the shifts are a bit harder in sport mode than 100,000 miles ago, but still very good and solid. However, in the morning at first start, if I don't let the car warm up long enough, it is very notchy for a couple of minutes until warm. And about 2 months ago, I had a very unnerving experience with the tranny. I was driving along the 101 freeway, had to decelerate quickly and was manually downshifting with the paddles, and all of a sudden the car went into neutral and refused to go into gear. I was in the second to fast lane and coasting, managed to get to the right lane, and after about half a mile of coasting, the transmission went back into 2nd gear but would not upshift. I got off at the next exit, pulled into a parking lot, shut the car off, locked the doors, then unlocked and restarted the car, and presto the problem was gone, everything back to normal, and I've probably driven 3000 miles since with no issues. It tells me that something's coming but right now everything's okay. To tell the truth, I've never had an autobox be trouble free or last to 175,000 miles, so I can't complain if it eventually goes bad. On my Chrysler cars, Eagle Vision, several Dodge Grand Caravans, I never had a transmission make it past 60,000 miles without being rebuilt. My Buick Enclave has had five rebuilds, it's such a piece of junk.
Peter, glad you got yours fixed and hopefully you'll have years of trouble free driving.

 

How did they do this if they changed the pan/filter? The fluid has to be drained to remove the pan. Did they drain the old fluid, change the pan, put the old fluid back in, and then do the flush?

 

The filter in the pan holds some fluid.

Also if the fluid level was incorrect originally, may have caused premature failure at 67,000, it will be incorrect with the flush and fill.

 

Peter, I may have missed it, but was it the same place that did the original fluid change the same people that diagnosed the issue and put it right with a BIG ticket price?

If so I'd have asked for a sample of the oil that came out and stood there and watched whilst they did it.

Then sent it away for analysis by someone like blackstone labs, with a sample of LG6 as a comparison, simple reason is that if some grease monkey had inadvertently used the wrong fluid it could have caused the same damage you discribed.

Just the conspiracy theorist in me..sorry if offends anyone

 

no two different shops, transmission shop was recommended by mechanic that used to work on my Porsche Boxster long time ago....

 

I recently had the trans fluid drained and filled on my '11 XKR and noticed smoother shifts, especially at lower speeds. I ended up going to the dealer to get this done since the indie mechanic near me didn't feel comfortable doing it. It was expensive but worth it for a complicated job like this. I haven't had any issues with the transmission thus far, but it's only been a couple weeks since the trans fluid was changed. Just wanted to share my experience in case anyone was on the fence about doing this.

 

My drain and fill was also faultless. I didn't so much notice any improvement as there was really nothing WRONG, per se, but the removed fluid did appear a bit toasty.
I've had enough transmissions fail in my lifetime that I'll change fluid before a fail occurs, not after.

 

Yep, talk of not changing fluid in the transmission, aka proper service, is just silly. Yes ZF screwed up with sealed for life when they first came off the production line but they rectified it since. I've always changed my fluid at recommended intervals and never had issue on any vehicle. (ok, I didn't do it on my 64 chevy impala SS when I was 16). I will say that I haven't done a full flush, just a pan/ filter / sleeve replace and fill as recommended by ZF but Geez, yes follow the service recommendations.