I've read so much about trasmission flushing ones transmission (pro's and con's) that it got me to thinking about my 05/ XK8 which is coming up on 81K's that I decided on doing a little checking.

Dropping the pan and refilling does one of two things. It drains probably about 5 or 6 quarts (maybe) and gives one the chance of seeing the bottom half of the valve body and burning the hell of of your arm when trying to refill.

On the other hand, flushing always has the possibility of churning up the slug in the TM and putting it back into the TM where it isn't susposed to be. Very slight possibility, but a possibility.

I talked to a couple of garages at major (new) car
dealers and they said that if the flushing was done once, that could happen but, the machine doesn't just do it once, it does it a number of times to insure all the bad crap is flushed out and new oil is left in. Those of you in the know may know a different answer. My question then is---what about the filter? If the pan is dropped first and a new filter installed, then during the flush doesn't it collect some of the bad stuff?

I got one price from a Cadillac dealer for $178.00. Doesn't sound to bad to me, but being in a hurry, forgot to ask if it could be done on my Jaguar, or did that include the oil? The second price was from the Ford dealer, who said the flush couldn't be done on my car (maybe they didn't have the machine), but, a new filter was $228 and this and that which was required plus the 10 quarts of oil at $49.50 a quart brought the total just a few pieces of change short of a thousand dollar bill. Laying under my desk from the shock, I didn't heard anything about larbor and didn't ask.

The final question I had and still don't have an answer to is if you do it yourself and accept the burns etc., how do you know what kind of oil to use since I have no idea what kind is in there----was it changed before or is it the original oil and what kind is that. Some oils don't mix with other oils.

Questions, questions, what shall we do??

Any recommendations other then just don't mess with it.

Chuck
05/XK8 Conv.

 

If you want to use the OEM ZF Lifeguard oil there are fluid change kits you can buy:
Oil change kit for 6HP26/28/32

There are also discussions about lower cost oils that meet the same spec linked in the DIY sticky.

 

Performed the drain-and-fill procedure on my wife's XK8 right at a year ago at about 67,000 miles. Used Klaus' kit referenced above. He is an excellent resource....

I will not risk a flush because there are too many potential issues if you do so, especially dragging debris through the system and creating serious problems that you didn't have before. Yes, the drain-and-fill procedure on these ZF units is indeed idiotic due to the design. But in the long run, I continue to believe that it is much safer for your ZF's preservation....