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Took my (8litres) of ZFLifeguard 6, new mechatronic sleeve, replacement bolts and ZF sump and filter to (recommended) garage for change/renewal yesterday. 2009 ZF6HP28 (5.0litre) automatic gearbox transmission.

All went well and I got to have a look around under car hoist as job was being finished. (Old fluid was brown and smelly, old sump bolts were corroded.)

However the mechatronic sleeve was not renewed "not necessary and difficult to access".
And, what kept me awake last night, after the event, was the realisation that (only?) 5 litres out of the 8 litres were used up. Is there a chance that the process of filling up, running the engine through the gears, filling up a bit more was not fully carried out?
Can a further "top-up" be attempted whilst the transmission fluid is new?

Grateful for advice.
Thanks

Apologies for post going in 3X; I hope a moderator sees my error and can remove two of them.

I spoke with another (recommended) garage this morning who checked his Jaguar XK schedule that declared between 5 and 6l for a service.

For the sleeve, he was of the opinion is that yes they are difficult to access and remove and unless there is an obvious leak, to leave well alone; (his view).

I'll be monitoring the situation....

As requested I have deleted 2 of these duplicated threads and left this one

Tks david

2 pics:

small bottle of fresh ZFLifeguard6 fluid and sample of fluid drained from my vehicle
previous bolts from ZF sump and filter

pics]

Old fluid is always retained and does not drain out from the torque convertor.
So although the complete capacity (from dry) is always quoted, all of that doesn't drain during an ATF and filter change
The amount of ATF you've changed, plus change of filter, plus cleaning of the pan (does this ZF gearbox have magnets?) would've removed most contaminants and given your box a chance of extra life

Ian,

As alluded to, there is a considerable amount of fluid contained in the torque converter, oil cooler and oil cooler pipes.

Many owners choose to have a flushing gearbox service rather than just change contained within the sump. A typical way is to disconnect the return pipe from the cooler to the box and then cycle fluid through the box, torque converter, cooler and pipes. This would typically require approx. 11 litres of fluid.

The problem with the XK8 is not having a dipstick tube by which you could easily do a drain and refill multiple times to dilute the dirty fluid, plus the fact that the fluid is more expensive than an older Dexron-type fluid. On my XJS, I did this procedure five times.

Notwithstanding all of that, you'll have usefully extended the gearbox life just by regularly changing the sump fluid. Do it again in 30k and consider a more comprehensive flush then.

Cheers

Paul

Richard/Paul,
Tks for your comments, appreciated.

(Yes sump pan, (which was renewed-see pic) has two magnets)). There was a small amount of very fine "dust" around each of the two magnets on the sump pan that came off.

I had been aware of the 'flushing' versus 'drain and filter replace' choices; pros and cons to each I suppose it is fair to say.