So gentlemen, those who reflushed their ATF - could you please share your experiences with us? For example which ATF you used and what was the result, did it prevent your transmission `whooping` and worked out well ?

 

Hmmm, wish I knew what this "whooping" thing is all about. Maybe if my car was whooping, I would know what it was.

 

You'll know it if you hear it. If you don't, all is well.

 

If you always have your sound system cranked up, chances are you'll never hear it. Turn the music off and drive around for a few miles at varying speeds with varying acceleration. If you have the squawk, you'll hear it then....

 

I just had my fluid changed today. Before the fluid change, I could very easily reproduce the squawk, and also felt some jerkiness when shifting down from 2nd to 1st, and sometimes from 1st to 2nd, 2nd to 3rd. Aftethe fluid change, The gearbox feels much smoother, without any squawks/barks/whoops o jerkiness.

I paid 380 EUR including labor, new filter/pan, new pan bolts, new filler plug and 8l of ZF Lifeguard 6 ATF.

Job done in Friedrichshafen, right next to where they build these boxes, by Jens Winkler at AGC.

A curious fact about this little german town of 59 000 people is that about 20-25% of its working inhabitants are employed by ZF. Kids there must literally grow up playing with automatic gearboxes.

 

Lifeguard 6.

I started getting the squak after about 40k miles, and the lurch at about 42k miles. I had the filter and fluid replaced at 44k miles and no more squak or lurch.

The fluid looked fine from what my mechanic said, but replacing it fixed my issues.

 

I changed the fluid at 50K miles with a kit from the CTSC which uses ZF fluid. The noise disappeared and the car shifts better. Money well spent. The sticking E clutch that causes the noise can't be good for the car in the long run even though th eparty line is that it doesn't hurt anything, The loudness of the noise means its sticking pretty good. The original fill fluid must have had a defective friction modifier that the refill fixes.

 

The original friction modifiers are not defective, they just wear out over time, heat, and miles. Fresh ATF almost always does the trick....

 

The 'bark' is most noticeable accelerating on a slip road with a high wall on the side (right in my case) to reflect it back.
I used Shell ATF and it disappeared. 85K miles.

 

Xenophobe, I had my transmission serviced yesterday. I was having the problem shifting from 1st to 2nd. There was only a slight improvement. Mechanic said I might get more improvement after driving a couple hundred miles.

Did you see the change immediately after service?

 

Yes, it was immediate but I didn't have any shifting issues... The squawk was random and not very bad, but my after-full-stop lurch was getting worse... it felt like I was getting rear bumper tapped at at least 5mph...

 

Thanks. I had that strange gear jerk/lurch too a while back. Scared the heck outta me. Haven't had it in a long time though. Getting banged from the rear is exactly what it felt like. I actually looked in my rear view mirror to see what happened.

Hope I eventually see a change in the gear shifting.

 

can this change be done by an idiot (how easy is it) and are there any instuctions and special tools ,thankyou

 

Sorry for the massive bump in thread but I have a simular problem on my S-type 2.7D, the whoop noise on my car can be heard from the rear end, is this the same thing?

 

If your particular car runs the ZF 6HP26 transmission, then yes, you are probably hearing the infamous ZF squawk....

 

2005 6 speed box so i'm 90% sure its the ZF box, fixed with an oil change then?

 

Transmission fluid change. I drained about half capacity without replacing pan/filter, replaced with new atf and it seems to have gone away. Others have reported similar experiences.

Mine would make a "woop" whenever I got on the accelerator firmly (like to pass).

I will probably do similar after several thousand miles and repeat until I feel as though I have replaced the vast majority of the original fluid, the replace the filter/pan.

I researched and contemplated which replacement fluid to use as I cannot get the Lifeguard 6 where I live for less than $22 or $23 a quart.

Valvoline assured me in several email communications that their Dex/Merc Maxlife ATF meets the specs and is a direct replacement for the factory fluid, I ultimately used Motorcraft Mercon SP, however, as that is what Ford uses in their vehicles with the ZF 6HP26 tranny, so it has a proven track record, and I was able to get it nearly as inexpensively as the Valvoline (about $7.50 qt).

 

Thanks for the reply, how quickly should I have this done? Planning on doing it in a months time as long as its not causing any damage?

 

As has been discussed in several threads, the whoop noise is nothing more than a nuisance, according to ZF, therefore, waiting should not be an issue.

 

Been told to get the oil change straight away and some say its ok to wait a while, what I don't understand it how can changing the oil make this noise go away, it literally comes from the rear of the car no way near the gearbox centre front. What's back there that can go Whoop? It sound similar to a pad sticking on and releasing under load.