I just sent a email to Valvoline about what kind of fluid our cars take and the sent me this. "The Valvoline MaxLife Dex Merc ATF is a direct replacement fluid from Valvoline for your Jaguar XJR."

Just curious if anyone is using it?

 

get the merc fluid from the dealer or online....

 

Not yet. Just waiting to get some other things done first.

The "Valvoline MaxLife Dex Merc ATF" was listed as a replacement fill in a Mercedes 722.6 training document. This was posted on one of the big Mercedes boards, complete with .pdf copy of the document in question. (Mercedes 722.6 = Jaguar W5A580 = Chrysler NAG1)

It is also highly prized on some the BMW boards with a lot of hoarding going on when they can find it cheap.

The Chrysler NAG1 calls for ATF4+, so that might be worth looking at as well. But, it is more expensive than the Valvoline Maxlife.

 

The shop that rebuilt my transmission used it. I argued a bit, but they showed me the Valvoline spec documentation and warrantied the transmission for 3 years / 100K miles so I decided it was on them if they were wrong! I don't have enough mileage as it was only about 2500 miles ago, but time will tell.

 

Thanks i'm going to go with it. Exactly what I was looking for!

 

Does it shift any differently than you remember before the tranny went bad?

 

Here is a picture of a bottle for the 722.9 series with MB 236.12 spec:


The newer MB 236.14 spec for the 722.9 transmissions seems just like the 236.12 backward compatible.


So these are strong hints to say the least that the newer oils (so Spec 236.12 and 236.14) can be used in our 722.6 series (spec 236.10).

I am going to do a 60K flush in a couple of weeks, and will go for the Mobil ATF 134 this time. So far I have only used the Shell one (MB spec 236.10 as it was cheap enough at the Mercedes dealer, compared to jaguars price), but I can get the Mobil ATF 134 at significant lower prices again.

Here are the oils which meet the 236.14 oil specs:
http://bevo.mercedes-benz.com/bevolisten/236.14_en.html

 

If one agrees that the transmission is a 722.6, it's more than a hint, it's been blessed by Mercedes themselves. Mind you, one should note that Mercedes North America no longer says "sealed for life". The first service comes at 40-60K miles depending on model. There is a message in there somewhere.

However, be aware that the Mercedes boards speculate that the newer fluids are thinner to meet requirements of the 6/7 speed units.

The Shell is available for under $5/quart at Ryder Logistics via online order. That's a North American market offering though.

 

The oil for spec 236.12 and .14 have indeed a different viscousity (at 100c 6.2 instead of 7.4), but it's not to say that this could be a problem on gearboxes that originaly required 236.10.


The main reason for me make the understatement of strong hints, was indeed because of this. I know this discussion has cone on for several years, and this is why I didn;t go for a 236.12 spec a couple of years back. But as there is no (at least that I can find) evidence that it could cuase an issue, I am more then willing now to swap.


Here is another document from MB that shows a 236.14 spec can be used in the 722.6xx series we have (to be precise 722.650).:

 

The word "blessing" was used in the context of observations made on the big Mercedes boards that when a dealer parts department is asked for ATF, it is the 236.12/14 that is pulled out. The older fluid is not stocked.

 

One could stock less different oils for other reasons than what is best for the gearbox, but I guess if other reasons previaled, it will probably only have a marginal effect, or we would have already heard more. The documents shown (also of course from the big mercedes boards), are pretty clear indeed and I don't think you can go very wrong with the 236.14 oils, will know more myself in a couple of weeks.

 

As always ... a pioneer for the cause

Have you seen the "blue top" solenoid modification for the 722.6? Makes for crisper shifting.

 

Do you mean the ones that IPT and Level 10 offer? If so, than I have seriously thought about that, as it will help to get quicker shifts. But I do like the GT qualities of our cars, of which smooth shifting is a big part of it imho, and not knowing how much that could be affected means that this mod will be of the list for now.

 

The users are of a profile who want hard shifts to accomodate modified engines. Here is one thread that might give you some insignt:

SRT Tranny Shift Enhancements

or,

Transmission solinoids solved all my problems! - MBWorld.org Forums

 

Thanks for the links, and the parts seem not so expensive (about $180 apiece) and the swap isn’t that hard either, maybe something that I could try out as you can quickly revert again. So this is probably all that IPT and Level 10 are swapping.

 

I'm not sure why you would want to use a different fluid when you can get the MB fluid at such a reasonable price.


The new MB fluid is backward compatible -- many like the older fluid as they say it provides better shifting in the 5 speed. I can't say from personal experience - but some have installed the new fluid and then removed it to see if it was indeed the fluid -- and they say the older fluid provides better shifts in the 5 speed?

You can still find the older fluid -- I have three cars with the same transmission -- so I bought a case of it when they changed the specification.

 

The MB fluid would still be about 12 euros for me per liter, whereas I can get the Mobil 134 at 8 Euros, so worth it to try for me.

On top of that the 236.14 spec oil might even be better for the cars with some extra oomphf, but that's just a guess.

 

As to the fluid ...I don't know what the difference is -- the original 5 speed was the go to high output transmission long past the development of the later 6 speed boxes. I don't think they use the 7 speed in the AMG's -- but I have not looked at it in a while.

I think I paid about 15.00 USD for the fluid. Since it ends up being a partial change I like to have the same fluid in the box -- so for me it is a small difference.

 

The gearbox for the AMG is different, lots of extra stronger components, and more important a different shifting strategy. For our cars it is very expensive to make shifts shorter/firmer via the TCU. My reasoning was that if the oil has an effect for a quicker firmer shift, it will lessen slippage, and thus prolong the life of the clutches.

 

I'm not sure how much difference they had back then -- Porsche used basically the same box in the 996tt. The 5 speed was the only box that the AMG's used. The XJR's had one of the higher outputs in its day. I do remember discussions regarding how many felt the transmission was going to be overbuilt for the V6 MB 320's