Another update:


I just ordered 2 of these kits (for 2 S-Type). I already have the sleeve, but the kit comes with that sleeve. I need the adapter valve body and those 4 tubes.

I found that kit on Aliexpress for AU$35 each, free postage. Specifically for the 6hp26 & 6hp28.
This means, when they arrive, I have the pleasure of conducting the ATF-change for the third time, but I will obviously pump the Lifeguard 6 back in, when I swapped those parts.

 

be sure to compare the height of the rectangle seals.....old to new....there have been cases of the aftermarket ones being too tall....if that happens the valve body will not seat properly...the tubes will more than likely be in very tight...you can use a screwdriver to fulcrum them out enough to grab them with needlenose pliers....measure the old sealing sleeve to the new also just for safety

 

Hi, Scottjh9, thanks, I will compare them. I also have the adapter valve body (= rectangle seals) from the filter kit, which I can't use, as it came without those 4 square rubber gaskets. But if the newly ordered one has an incorrect height, maybe the one without gaskets is correct, and then I could swap the gaskets. Before I ordered, I noticed that there are different parts on offer, but I asked the "legend" in Vienna (Michael), who disassembles his S-Type V8 since years into every little bolt... He advised not to order those parts, where it says 6hp19, as those parts might not be strong enough, also, his "rectangles" had that extra little wing, as I ordered it (you could get the same part without that wing), and he had the straight 4 little hoses (they are also available with a complicated shape), so I also bought the 4 straight tubes.

 

Hello Peter. I was going to PM you but probably best to post for the benefit of others here in Australia.
Had a transmission issue a year or so after I bought my car, circa 2008-9. At that stage I sourced a new plastic pan and plenty of 1 ltr Lifeguard 6 bottles which I provided to the local transmission specialist. To memory it ended up needing a valve body. He changed the valves, the new fluid and pan went in and all was fine.
Fast forward a couple of years later and the RHS plastic radiator tank decided to crack one summers day.
Owning a Triumph Stag, I never drive without looking at the temp gauge every 2 seconds so I let the STR cool down, trickled some fluid in the radiator and drove a couple of miles home with normal temp gauge.
I lost a a bit of transmission fluid in the radiator change over process. For obvious reasons gearbox didn't change too well and I took the car back to the above mentioned specialist for a fluid top up. The ZF did have the annoying 'surge' and he suggested to try another fluid..

All went okay for 13 years but recently its started to give me what feels like a mild 'slip' from take-off to second gear..
Yesterday I got a 'restricted performance' message from cold trying to climb up a hill. It disappeared when things heated up but was still mildly slipping from first to second.

The moral of the story? Probably should have stuck with sourcing some more Lifeguard 6 at the time I did the radiator.
The car would have about 35,000 miles on the clock (c56,000km) when the different transmission fluid went in. Now has 77,000 miles (c125,000km). So whatever fluid's in there has been sloshing around for about 52,000 miles (c80,000km).
I'll find out what he used at the time and get him to drain it all out; not sure if he did a complete drain of the Lifeguard6 not at the time?

Even though it may be impossible from here in Australia, I'll try and price/ source some Ford Mercon SP or Shell Spirax S4 from the USA. Don't think I'm going to need more than 7 litres.

Haven't bought this yet but the below is the cheapest I've managed to find the pan from a fleabay Aust seller:

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/12562945...Cclp%3A2047675

Until I take the car back, I won't be exactly sure what the problem is.

 

Hi JYA,

I found a better price for the pan/filter - this is what I bought - it is still AU$75 INCL. postage:
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/363395988474
And it has the sleeve and the ADAPTER valve body (the square plastic part, HOWEVER, if they still have the same supply problem, you will get the adapter valve body without seals, which is useless. But BMW pan (same as S-Type) and sleeve are OK.

Reading your feed above I was wondering, if that was a full flush done - back then - looks like you do not now yourself. Not doing a full flush is the same as when doing an engine oil change and filling 50% of the old oil, which you got out, back in again and fill it up with new oil. Pointless.

20L Lifeguard here:
https://mjproducts.com.au/shop/zf-li...nge-rover-bmw/

Also: Never mix different kinds of ATF.

You will definitely need more than 7L.
Only yesterday I determined, how much of the 20L canister Lifeguard 6 used for the S-Type: About 13L.
Also, I just did a full flush of ATF on my X308 (XJ8). I am not quite ready to to write my "DIY Guide" about that, but I think I came up with a different general method for a full flush: I needed only 10L. So I assume, it would have been also only 10L for the S-Type...
Brief description of what I did: Drained the ATF via drain plug - about 5L. Plug back on. I removed everything anyway (timing chain swap), so I had both pipes off the radiator. I carefully shot air into both - one after another. A few weeks later, when I finished my timing chains, I opened the ATF drain plug again... It was just as if I never opened it before: About another 5L came out). That was my full flush...

PS: I might have written it before somewhere: When it comes to ATF full flush, I just would not trust a repair-shop, to get it right. They would easily mess it up - accidentally or intentionally to save money and/or time. If I do it myself, I know what has been done and how it has been done and which ATF I really have in there and if the full flush was done properly, and if it has been refilled to the correct level (at 30-40°C with engine running until it flows out.).

 

Peter, a great thread and some great advice from you, Don B and the several of the other regular posters!
The flea bay pan link I attached in my post is a listing for the various Ford Australia vehicles as you probably noticed. It does look like it's offering the same parts as the one you bought but has a fresh set of bolts. Not sure if I've missed something there?

I'll check with transmission shop when he's back from holidays but I doubt he did a full flush the very effective way you did on your X308.
Most repair shops I wouldn't trust as well to get it right. There's plenty of local butchers here in inner Melbourne that would easily f*ck this car up for sure. Most of the work over the years I've done myself.
Transmission work though I do go to this bloke. He did the Borg Warner 35 on my Triumph Stag for around $250 at the time, I do walk there, often watch what he's up to, he's rate's a bit cheaper than the other idiots around here and he does tend to listen, to a point.. There's likely a nice little cocktail of ATF fluids mixing around in this ZF 6 speed box from what he got up to many years ago. I have another mechanic I know very well but he's quite a way away and it may depend on the conversation with this local first whether I go to one or the other; most of them would have plenty of ZF 6 speed knowledge by now.

I thought 7 litres/quarts would probably do me but I may need to buy the 20 litre pack you bought by the sounds of it, all this trouble again and a likely ATF cocktail in my case I'd want to have a full flush. I'll check to see what price this local would charge me for.

 

Yeah, the bolts were of course as well part of my BMW-pan. I showed in my thread that those original bolt were made for way too small torx-keys. I I had to cut my own slots with an angle grinder on most of those old bolts to get them off.
I don't think it matters how you do the full flush, as long as you do one at all. But my new method seems to require less new ATF, as you do not have to keep guessing if what comes out is now old or new.
Also, I should mention: At the X308 I had to remove the radiator anyway, thus, I simply tilted it over a waste-pan to empty the ATF cooling section in the radiator. But there would also be ways without removing it.
(Btw: I just completed my X308 engine repairs).

Yes, I searched long and hard for a 6hp26 ATF, and came up with those 20L canisters of Lifeguard 6. I bought 2.
For the X308 I initially wanted to buy Lifeguard 5, but that is even more expensive. Instead I found a reasonable source for 20L Esso LT 71141 (same as Mobil LT 71141, which was sent to me in the end).

PS: make sure that your 6hp26 has a new or relatively new adapter valve body with new seals. I figure that those like to break, which causes quite some issues. I am fairly sure that mine is not broken, but it could break anytime, which is why I am going to do yet another change (release only and refill of the same ATF) - third one in a row, because I have not replaced my adapter valve body yet...

 

I posted yesterday another method for doing the full flush:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-flush-265900/

Done on a X308, but same should be possible on the S-Type. Before removing both pipes from the radiator, position a waste-oil-pan under the pipes. And then push back the old ATF stuck in the system with air pressure, But note that while it worked very well for me and that I applied this air pressure very subtle. Would be great, if someone could confirm, if or if not it is theoretically possible to cause any damage by applying air pressure that way...

The advantages are obvious: It is easier and you need less new ATF.

 

I have been busy again: swapping the "valve body adapter" (=bridge seal) and those 4 tubes... above the valve body...:

This is the 3rd ATF fluid drain in a row, without actually driving the Jag in between, as the S-Type is not yet registered.
Reason for the 1st full flush: Replace old ATF.
Reason for the 2nd full flush: I have been convinced here in the forum that that multi-vehicle ATF, which I used, if not up for the job. I then did a lot of research myself and agreed - I agreed that the ATF-claim printed on the bucket that it is suitable for 50+ applications turned out to be very obviously incorrect - and up until then I thought that the claims of suitability of automotive products should be believable, as there would surely be a customer protection agency (plus fear of prosecution by the manufacturers) making sure the customer gets truthful information - definitely in regards of ATF, a product that - if unsuitable - could kill your transmission... But no: Apparently the multi-vehicle manufacturers are free to scam their customers, selling products that kill their transmissions... Thus, I had to dump that ATF (another full flush) and finally putting ZF lifeguard 6 in - one of a few elect ATS, which are suitable for the 6hp26 (see above).
Reason for the 3rd ATF drain and refill with the same - just drained - ATF: After doing the 2nd full flush, I read that it is very likely that any old valve body seal (=bridge seal) could break soon, if it is not yet broken already (although I did not have any transmission issues). And a broken bridge seal in it's later stage could have all kinds of troubling effects on the transmission affecting the function.

I bought the kit (bridge seal, 4 tubes and sleeve) on Aliexpress for AU$35.


Thus, this bridge seal and those 4 tubes (short, short, medium length. long) want to be housed in their new home... This meant draining the ATF again (into a very clean (new actually) oil-catchment tub, because I will fill that Lifeguard 6 back in again, when finished. And removing the filter-pan again.


Next: I was apparently lucky last time, when I simply pulled that white "grip" down, that I did not do any damage, BECAUSE the idea is to first push that little latch in, and THEN pull on the "grip". So first, remove that connector above the transmission in an anti-clockwise half-turn. Then pull this white grip (after pushing the little latch in), then remove the sleeve (of that connector, by just pulling (no turning)). I actually tired to avoid doing that AGAIN, as I just replaced all those seals already, Thus I thought there is no need to pull the plug and sleeve again, but with them in place, you will not be able to remove the valve body!


Next remove the ten encircled T40 torx bolts. All 10 are bigger torx compared to those, which you are NOT supposed to touch - thus, you can't really remove the wrong ones... Note that the 3 in the front are the 3 shorter bolts. I removed the bolt in the reverse order of assembly. The assembly order is shown a few pictures below. I left one bolt on each side until the very end, and then I very carefully and mindfully removed the last two, because once they are gone, you have to hold the valve body without dropping it. I prepared a just emptied waste-oil pan underneath to be able to rest the valve-body on the plastic pan. Have a plan what to do, once the valve body rests in your hand!


So now you see this: In red oval: The 4 tubes - from RIGHT to left...: short, short, medium, long! And in the blue oval: the very easy to swap bridge seal - ...and as Don wrote below: Apply a bit of ATF to the bridge-seal seals before installing (I forgot that)....


That kind of dentist's tool on the first picture above was what I intended to use to pull those old tubes out. But that did not work at all - I could tear them apart with it, but could not pull them out. Using instead a small screwdriver as "pull-out-lever" worked perfectly.


With those 4 tubes swapped (just push the new tubes in with your finger) and the bridge seal swapped, it's time to get the valve-body back in. That is really tough! Would be nice to have help there, but if you are strong, you can to it (do not drop the unit!). Obviously, one hand to hold the heavy thing up and the other hand to position (to start with) the first 2 bolts... BUT IMPORTANT, while pushing the unit up and before inserting the bolts, make very sure that that pin of that lever aligns (see picture)! Cause if not, you might end up with an assembled transmission, which does not work properly, or worse: You might brake something! There are 2 types of valve body in various versions of the 6hp26 - obviously, the one above is one version...


...and this is what needs to be aligned on the other version...!


Observe the tightening sequence of those ten T40 bolts (see above). The torque is: Initially 8Nm, followed by 1 more Nm. It turned out that all were already on 9Nm, when I attempted to add that extra Nm. Thus, I suggest, that you do the first round of tightening with 7Nm, and the second with 9Nm...

And then obviously as above in my original thread: pan/filter back on (observe tightening order - you'll find it on the net). The torque is between 8 and 10Nm.

Then refill of Lifeguard 6 (or another of the few suitable ATFs.). Observe correct procedure to get the correct ATF level: Refill until it runs out, start engine, continue filling a bit more ATF, go thru the gears a few times - remain in each gear for a few seconds, get ATF temp up to 30-40°C (not more), engine is still running!, check, if the ATF is dripping out, if not, add a bit more ATF. Put the filler plug back on, while the engine is running. You can do the final tightening of that filler plug later with the engine off and when the exhausts have cooled down a bit - but don't forget.

 

Great update, Peter!

Just a reminder to others who may be doing this job for the first time: there are two different heights of bridge seals or "Mechatronic adapters." Some suppliers have reportedly been careless about supplying the incorrect height seal to some of our members. The seal for the 6HP19 & 21 transmissions (used in many BMWs & Audis) is slightly too tall for the 6HP26, 28 & 32 transmissions. It's also critical that the rectangular rubber seals are installed in the plastic body of the adapter when it is installed (the seals are removable). And the seals are to be lubricated with transmission fluid prior to installation. Here are the details:



Cheers,

Don

 

Thanks Don, I have heard about bridge-seals of various heights before, which is why I checked before installing. I did order the ones for 6hp26 and apparently I got the right ones. I forgot about lubricating my seals before installation, but I figure that there would be plenty of ATF around them now so that they would get lubricated anyway... Anyway, I added the note regarding lubricating them first on my post above.

And yes: One should always make sure that all those seals, which are supposed to be delivered with the parts, are present and accounted for!
The BMW filter/pan kit, which I bought, included the sleeve and the bridge seal, but the seals of the bridge seal were missing...
The seal kit with the 4 tubes and bridge seal also included the sleeve, but the seals on the sleeve were missing...

 

@ Don B
Hi Don B,
I am using this unusual way in an attempt to contact you, hoping you read this, because you replied to this thread here before:
You cannot be contacted via Private Message anymore, because your Private Message Folder is full...

 

Hi Peter,

I deleted some older messages in my inbox and outbox, which should free up some capacity to receive and send private messages.

Cheers,

Don