Gearbox service

[jonjeffryes]

I've booked the car into James Rawlinson; my local Jaguar indie; for a Gearbox service. I bought the service kit from Eurocarparts @ just under £170 for a genuine ZF brand. Hopefully smooth changes and long life are on he way!

[ptjs1]

Jon,

Hope it all goes well. Do you know which fluid they will be using? There are a number of suitable fluids on the market nowadays. I moved to a Millers fluid at my last change on the recommendation of some other owners. Coincidentally, or otherwise, it seemed to immediately cure a very slight vibration that I had under load at about 52 mph which was potentially being diagnosed as a torque converter problem.

Cheers

Paul

[J44EAG]

As you know, I had my X350R gearbox fluid changed last September at 78k miles as a precautionary measure by Tom Lenthall.

Tom favours ZF Lifeguard fluid as it is a genuine OE product and in the event of a customer "come back" can say he filled with the fluid originally fitted by the gearbox manufacturer. Alternatives products are available to the same specification. The choice is with the end user.

The now publicized and recommended service interval for the gearbox is apparently now set as every 60k miles by ZF. Some 7 litres of oil are replaced after a drain down and a replacement coupling and new ZF filter are bolted on to the bottom of the gearbox. A road going SDD generated computer software reflash is recommended to restore and update gear change operation and ensure the gear changes occur within set operational perimeters. Cheaper Chinese copies of the genuine ZF filter should be avoided. I understand they have a tendency to buckle along the mounting points and leak as a result.

Note well. These gearboxes must NEVER be filled with ATF Dex II or similar. Failure is guaranteed using this type of oil.

Hope the oil service goes well for you, John.

Mike

[jonjeffryes]

Thanks Guys,

The kit is complete from ZF including pan/filter & fluid to original ZF/Jaguar spec'. Hopefully it will cure my occasional harsh 1st gear down-shift.

James is also going to cure the brake judder which has been an issue since I bought the car so this, combined with a potential £4k spend on the Porsche, is not going to be a cheap week!

[greyhair]

Well My X358 is now 10 and a bit years old been mine for the last 9. I have thought about getting the gearbox oil changed over the last couple of years and have now had it done with ZF oil and kit , the good news was that there were no debris on the magnets and the old fluid was ok.
Now has 126,000 on the clock and over 100k of that has been our use. Avg fuel for the last 1700 miles is 42 mpg according to the trip.
Work was carried out by Chris the Jag specialist at Doncaster who has all required jaguar software . Changes have always been smooth and quiet but it does seem quieter and more smooth now. Just hope that she will run for another 10 years and continue to be as good as the last 9!

[J44EAG]

An excellent appraisal. Thanks for that.

Decent high spec oil and regular 60K or sooner gearbox oil changes really are the key to longevity. Clapped out oil in all mechanical units is death to components. When I went to Tom Lenthall to have the gearbox oil change done, I also had the diff oil removed and replaced. It took five minutes and I`m glad I had that done. A couple of pints of 75w140 and ten minutes work had that actioned ahead of the 90K mile service. What price early preventative maintenance.....rather cheaper than new components.

Mike K

[ptjs1]

greyhair,

Well done for having the work undertaken. If this is your first change, I'd really suggest that you do it again in 20k miles, not another 9 years. It will still have a large mount if 120k oil inside it and could do with more frequent flushes to really keep it in tip-top condition.

Cheers

Paul

[robv12]

good advice from Paul

My 358 was done 18 months ago, but 12k miles in it was almost un-driveable again, cattle gridding, harsh changes when it wanted, I was looking for a new box, undaunted I bought another kit from Bristol Transmissions, took it to a local JEC member who runs a garage with the right kit to do the change and flush, DM conversions in Dunbar. Job done, another 20K miles in and its as smooth as silk, 203K covered now

for info anyone who is close by, contact details are

D M Conversions

8 Spott Road Ind Estate, Dunbar, East Lothian, EH42 1RS

01368 862604

[naki]

Why on earth don't they put dip sticks on autoboxes anymore? its so much easier to monitor the oil colour/ condition when you can quickly check it. Not to mention the oil level!

[J44EAG]

Not much point in having a dipstick on these cars, Naki.

Oil level is set and dictated by gearbox oil temperature read off an OBD IDS/SDD diagnostic tool after an oil service...namely sump/filter change and refill to basic level, temp check and final fine top up once the oil has expanded fully at that set temperature.

If the servicing guy is switched on, he then takes the car for a run in set up mode and coaxes the gears into operating parameters at various speeds. This can take five concerted minutes of careful effort and driving. Electronics are all on these modern gearboxes and they are a far cry from the mechanical units found on cars made even just ten years earlier. ATF is OE ZF spec Lifeguard fluid only. If the car had a dipstick, sooner or later someone would add Dex11 or something totally inappropriate!

The service interval is now set at each and every 60k mile interval. Ignore at your peril!! That means fitting a new sump filter unit and draining out and replacing around 7.5 litres of fluid. That means there is still some old fluid left in the torque converter, cooler and pipes. So that even then is only a partial oil change. ZF consider that good enough until the next 60k service interval comes around.

A complete oil change is possible but one needs to find a top grade gearbox service outlet with full flush gear to do the work. I`ve previously had that done by Simon Parks guys at Bristol Transmissions.

Mike

[Manbearpig]

Id like to do this change in the Spring, is it correct its not DIY and needs something doing via the OBD port?

[J44EAG]

The job can be done DIY but remember these electronically controlled cars are sophisticated and were designed from the outset to be Main Dealer or Independent operator maintained with the appropriate high level tools required to do a first time correct fix or maintenance.

The vast majority of owners do not possess dealer level OBD diagnostic tools or would even conside buying them. A few of the more enthusiastic self maintenance guys may buy dealer level kit or as many of us do here, buy more basic and rather cheaper diagnostic tools as produced by Foxwell, iCarsoft, Gendon and so on. Indeed I have an iCarsoft 930i unit and also use an Android phone with Torque Pro app and an ELM327 bluetooth chip, both of which enable the ability to do low level diagnostics but not for instance put the electronic handbrake into service mode, raise or lower air suspension or adjust other parameters. Eventually, I aime to buy one of the internet advertised Panasonic Toughbook laptops with dedicated genuine JLM IDS/SDD software. That would give me dealer level diagnostics and possibilities for installing update reflash patches to onboard software.

When my own 350R went to Tom Lenthall soon after I acquired the car, my first action was to have him immediately change the gearbox old sump/filter and also the vast majority of the genuine ZF Lifeguard transmission fluid. The procedure needs the car leveled on a ramp with full access to the sump and electrical connector component. Knowing how complex and expensive these ZF electronically controlled units are and that OBD high level software is used to certain gearbox oil temperature, I was happy to pay Tom around £350 to let him take full responsibility for the job and ensure that any software reflashes required together with final electronic gear set up were carried out in an accepted and correct technical manner. I was not interested in saving a couple of hundred quid by doing the job myself or having to deal with issues as a result of my own potential lack of competence. Such work is in my opinion, best left to well trained, experienced and competent people. In addition a proper invoice would always be visible to a future buyer of my car and enable me to justifiably upsell my car on the basis of a decent and full service history. This is what I would expect to see if I were considering buying this type of car. I might walk away from any prospective purchase if vital invoices for professional work of this nature were missing from a vehicles documentation history.

My best advice then must be to steer you towards a professional carried out gearbox oil change rather than attempt it yourself.

Hope that helps.

Mike

[Manbearpig]

It does, ta.

[naki]

Cheers Mike.
My head is still stuck in the older cars as a whole, where everything is much simpler. So, getting used to these very complex electronics is not easy.
All good advice anyhow, especially on the ZF fluid.

[Norbertflyer]

Just had mine done by a local indy, using the kit from Berkshire Jag. I didn't believe the hype over getting the box oil changed, until I had it done on my 121k mile V6. Transformed the way the gearbox changes and moves from drive to neutral, etc. No more jumping into drive and no hesitation between the gears. Highly recommended procedure. Old oil was black, but not glue thick.

Richard