How much should a transmission service cost? I assume this includes the pan gasket/seal, filter, sleeve, and fluid.

I just got a quote for $1000 from an independent shop and I think this is ludicrous!

 

Any ideas??

 

I would try to get in touch with ZF themselves to see what they would charge. Have a look at these threads from other forums.

Gearbox service at ZF Dortmund, Germany

And

My visit at ZF Dortmund for Gearbox maintenance.(very, very long!) HUGH RESULT!!

Maybe ZF Services in the US can offer something similar?

A "service kit" which includes new pan/filter, new bolts, gasket, sleeve and 6 litres of Shell ATF M13754.4 would be around $350 plus shipping from the UK. Not sure about finding the kits in the US. The genuine ZF Lifeguard fluid is pretty expensive.

You'd be looking at at least 4 hours labour, so $1000 is maybe a little steep all up...

EDIT

Some good info in this thread too https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ics-faq-30991/

 

Is a new pan/filter really necessary? Why not just drain and refill?

 

What's the point of changing the fluid at all if you're just going to run it through a dirty filter?

 

Pan-filter-fluid service should be around $550 out the door. 1.5-2 hours labor; the rest parts cost.

 

Do you think a dealer could do it for that price? I don't know why this indie Jag shop is so expensive!

 

Sounds expensive..

Question, why the fluid change? What symptoms does your transmission have?

 

Alan,


You haven't stated how many miles on your car. If less than 60 k you can get by with a flush only using 12 qts of ZF fluid. If you are a bit adventurous you can use 12 qts of Mobil 1 synthetic transmission fluid.


1.Drain out 4 qts of fluid and replace with 4 qts of your chosen fluid.


2.Bring car up to temp and run through the gears a few times.


3. Repeat steps 2 & 3.

4. Repeat step 1, bring transmission up to temp, 140 degrees F if I recall, and allow overflow to drain out the fill hole. Job done.


There are a number of indies around the country who will do this. Mine charged me $150, if I recall from 3 years ago and results were outstanding. I supplied the Mobil !. He would have used the approved ZF had I requested it.


There are those who counsel against all or part of the above but there are those, such as myself, who have had good results.

 

tarhealcracker,

When you say run through the gears, can you give me a few more details? Do you put it in sport on the shifter, select each gear, then rev slightly to engage and spin the wheels?

Thanks.

 

I have 60k miles currently, which is why I'm starting to think I should take action on maintaining the life of this transmission!

The only transmission issue I have is sometimes the transmission goes into some sort of limp mode when I am using the paddle shifters. The downshifts will be lazy and the throttle won't blip. I thought this went away when I replaced a bad axle, but apparently it has come back occasionally, but only when the car is cold. (Maybe the warm weather when I replaced the axle was masking the problem?)

 

Your issue does not sound like something that a fluid service will help.


Could be software connected. I would try for a re flash of the transmission software but It's way out of my depth. Has the dealer had a look at it?

 

Yes the dealer has looked at it and I had them reflash it (TCM adaptations), which seemed to help for a while, but I'm not really all that sure since it happens intermittently and only once in a while.

Either way, I'm not doing the transmission service to fix that issue--I'm just told that the ZF really needs servicing at 60k miles or else it will explode into a million pieces.

 

CT,
The idea is to mix in the fresh fluid - so you come up to temp, shift thru the gears and sport mode is an easy way to do that. The objective is to refresh the additive package in between major filter/fluid/sleeve service. Some say the Mobil1 synthetic trans fluid is a superior product but I can't attest to that.


On my old 05 XJR it worked well at the 50k mark.

 

That was a great read, thank you for sharing it.

 

Fantastic read! OK, where do we get this complete service done in Eastern Canada/ Eastern US?

 

ZF Friedrichshafen AG | ZF Locations USA

 

I thought some ZF transmissions are ok with non-ZF fluid and other models are not. On my XJ, the consensus was to only us ZF fluid (which I did), but on my XK we used Red Line.

 

I had the same request of my local shop and they contacted Jaguar to be sure of required parts, etc. My quote was $750 which included new pan, etc. just like stated. Jaguar told them to make sure that service was really required as nothing is scheduled until 100K miles. I'm at 40K with no issues and plan on waiting.

 

That's too much. How did that break down (parts and labor)?