Hi all,

I've owned my 2004 XKR for 2 years now (92,000 miles on the clock) and it's always had the squeal / whoosh when going from 3rd to 4th. Recently the noise has got worse so I decided to bite the bullet and flush and change the oil.

I found a offer from a Landrover dealer which included 9 litres of ZF Lifeguard 6, a new metal sump and filter (which I didn't bother to fit) for £180 and got 7 litres of cheaper Ravenol 6HP26 for flushing from fleabay. As you can only get about 3 1/2 to 4 litres out with each drain, I carried out 4 drains and refills to flush by dilution. The old oil came out black and smelt really bad however the new oil smelt just as bad.

Interestingly, after the 4th drain and about 12 litres later, the fluid was still coming out black but due to the cost, I was reluctant to buy any more. Maybe I'll drain and flush some more in a year or two.

The outcome is smoother shifts, especially from neutral to reverse or drive, no whoosh noise from 3rd to 4th and as an added bonus, the car no longer kicks / lurches when coming to a standstill.

If you have a high mileage car with the original fluid, I highly recommend changing it. It's a messy and quite expensive job, and I found it quite tricky to get the fill plug back in but it's cheaper than a replacement gearbox.

I would just like to say thanks to Rev Sam for his YouTube video showing just how to do this (including the sump renewal as well).

 

I am doing this to mine but this is one repair I will just pay to have done. My trans is behaving pretty good 98% of the time but I know this change is coming being at 104k now.

 

I think that's a wise move. Despite being "sealed for life", the fluid / oil must breakdown with time and wear. It's a shame you can't drain all the fluid in one go as doing it by dilution is not ideal.

 

I have a 2003 XKR with 66k miles on her. I have changed that transmission fluids twice. I like doing preventive maintenance. it will keep the tranny is tip
top shape.

 

Skeena,

Did your fluid come out black on the first change? What was it like on the 2nd change?

 

My 2005 S-Type (nearing 94,000 miles) and my wife's 2006 XK8 (nearing 102,000 miles) have both had two fresh ATF services on their ZF 6HP26 units. They're both now running Mercon SP with no issues. Fingers crossed that both vehicles stay that way....

 

Huge improvement in shift quality after servicing with MERCON SP. Almost all irregularities have disappeared or been reduced to insignificance.


"Sealed for Life" just means that Jaguar intended to just let your transmission fail (probably because of degraded fluid) and then sell you a new transmission (or new car).

 

I asked the Jag tech. He said it was tough to see they use a special tool to drain the fluids. But he said it looked fairly clear. But i do notice a difference very time i do a tranny flush. Before the flush the down shift 2nd to first was a bit rough. After the flush it super smooth. It was surprisingly cheap to do the tranny flush at a jag tech. I did however did not replace the pan/filter.

 

Poking around the net for information on a fluid change for my Kia Borrego at 100k miles with the same ZF 6HP26 as the '03 - '06 XK8/R I found this YouTube change procedure directly from ZF.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...487A&FORM=VIRE

Additional information in the video is the recommendation for fluid change between 50 and 75k miles under 'extreme' driving conditions. 'Extreme' is not defined. Under 'normal' use the 'lifetime' or vehicle manufacturer recommendation is retained.

Now for the question: When searching for a filter I find two versions. The entire plastic pan with the integrated filter for about $150 and a separate filter for about $40. Advance and NAPA sell the separate filter, AutoZone and Orilley sell the complete unit.

Has anyone replaced the filter within the plastic pan?

 

Rick (joycesjag) and I changed the 6HP26 plastic pan with the integrated filter on my wife's 2006 XK8 back in July 2013. I do not remember seeing that the interior filter was removable. I think it is molded into the inside of the pan. If you can get your hands on a new pan in one of the stores, go do that and have a good look. Maybe the 5HP24 plastic pan does indeed have a removable filter....

Let us know what you discover....

 

Not that I have seen or have one, but I believe a metal pan is an option for this transmission. I would assume that for a metal pan, only the filter would be replaced during maintenance. For a plastic pan, the whole thing gets replaced.

 

More information than you probably want . . . .

Results from my further explorations:

Ford builds the ZF 6HP26 and a couple variations under license from ZF for use in F150 trucks, Mustangs and a couple Lincoln products. The Ford versions are known as the 6R60 and the 6R80 which is in the trucks. The Ford versions require a Shell spec transmission fluid, Shell M-1375.4, which the Mercon SP fluid meets. This information appears to be accurate.

Information on the web is that Ford recommends fluid change at 30k miles and filter change at 150k miles. I have not found a Ford document to confirm the above but it is generally circulated in the Mustang and Explorer forums. [edit] further research indicates that the 30k mile interval does not apply to the 6R60 but only to transmissions with a dip stick/fill tube [edit]. Ford does sell filters alone, FT160 and FT171, that look remarkably like the filter in the pan assembly that we are familiar with. Price of the filters is less than $20. [edit] The referenced filters, while used on the 6R60/80 are for use in transmissions with metal pans used in certain applications requiring additional fluid capacity [edit].

With all that information in hand and uncertainty about the filter or filter/pan from the local auto parts stores I made the decision to just have the local Ford store drain and fill with the Mercon SP. The fact that the dealer transmission specialist had not changed the fluid in a Ford version of the ZF is a significant piece of information in itself.

Assuming that I have not royally screwed up the fluid, labor and tax only came to $108 to replace the 6 quarts that drained out. What came out was serious black.

The transmission shifts as perfectly as it did before the change. The plan is to put a couple thousand miles on the 60% change and drain and refill again.

At my stage of life I am not going to put a car on jack stands for the $55 labor cost of today's work.

 

At least the Ford dealer didn't outright refuse to change the fluid like
Jaguar dealers have been known to do.

$108 all in certainly beats anything seen from some so called Jaguar Specialists.

Now, I'll just sit back until the "your head is going to explode unless you
do what Jaguar told you to do" crowd to arrive, followed closely by their
relatives, the "must use ZF golden elixir" crowd.

 

LMAO! "an unwise man and his money are soon parted"

 

Additional information:

Both Ford's on line service information and my son's F150 truck owner's manual specify 150k mile transmission fluid replacement for the 6R60 version of the ZF 6HP26. There is no 'severe' or 'extreme' service modification to that interval.

Coupled with the official ZF statement above of fluid change at 50k to 75k mile under 'extreme' service conditions sorta brackets the best information of appropriate service.

I am going to drain/fill another 6 quarts in a month and drive it another 100k miles. I'll let you know how that works out in about 5 years.

Done.

 

And a wise man does not hesitate to spend money well

 

Thanks for the video. I have yet to change the filter and fluid on this car, but when I do I will probably avoid NAPA. Though they have good oil filters (usually made by Dana), I've had spotty results with their transmission filters, especially when sold with kits. They always came with the wrong gasket. Can't say anything about the filter performance but I did not get the warm & fuzzy from them with respect to transmission parts. Just not something I want to risk on a transmission this temperamental.