I have noticed that some of you had brown stinky fluid. Some said that thier fluid was slightly discolored. I had pretty clear fluid after 113,000 miles. My point is, does the brown fluid indicate that, that transmission has had a hard life.

 

Saw that about dip stick, just curious since price is so low....

JAGUAR XK8 DIPSTICK C2C22741 on eBay (end time 19-Feb-11 12:47:34 GMT)

 

here's the message I sent the seller, he does'nt sell to NA.



Is-this really a XK8 dipstick? Is-it for the 5 speed (I have a 1997)?
I live in Canada, can you ship? If it really fits a XK8, I know a lot off people looking for that part. If you say yes to all, I would Buy It Now...

 

This on for the bowny points...

 

Guy in UK wont ship NA

 

Yes, I'd like to see it after you post the girls. It might make a good sticky...

 

I am here in Richmond and told my wife, Cynthia, I needed to go on line to post some pictures on the "Girls on Cars" thread. (I also told her you made this recommendation.) If you are in Richmond, I am the guy with the bandages on his head and the limp.

As Elmer Fudd said, "Be very-we careful."

 

As excellent as Rev's video is, I think I will try an additive first to try and cure my 'bark'. Where can these be sourced and which is the best brand of additive to use?

 

For the 6-speed ZF, it is Jaguar part number C2C37157. It is called ZF Lifeguard Fluid One.

 

Great. Thanks. I didn't realise it was a Jaguar 'part'.

Edit: Googling the part number came up with this. Hmm, sounds a lot more complicated than I first thought (gearbox ECU reflash, etc.). I think I will take the car to an independent Jaguar specialist in England some time over the summer and get them to look at the few annoying mechanical faults I have, carry out the 6 year service and refurb my wheels at the same time (I bought 3 new chrome trims yesterday on eBay).

Thanks again for your help.

 

I don't know what a "gearbox ECU reflash" is, but you don't need it when you just add the additive. I did it on my car when it had about 80K miles. I didn't "reflash" anything and the sound went away.

I bought the additive at the Jag dealer for about $45.

 

Any tips on the process to remove existing tran oil and replacing with the ZF Lifeguard Fluid One--is it just sucking out a predetermined amount of oil and replacing with the addditive?

 

Here's what I would do:

1. Jack up the car so you can access the drain plug on the transmission
2. Take a VERY CLEAN bucket of some kind to catch the fluid as it comes out and place it under the drain plug.
3. Unscrew the plug (do this with a cold engine) and drain out a little more than a liter of fluid. This is going to be messy. Keep the plug right there because you don't want to drain all of the fluid. As soon as you think a liter or so has drained out, stick the plug back in to stop the draining.
4. Pour the drained fluid into a one liter measuring cup. Anything more than one liter needs to be saved to be put back into the transmission
5. Go to the engine bay and unscrew the transmission cooler line. I'll try to post a picture here in a few minutes.
6. A little bit of fluid is going to drain out when you uscrew the oil cooler line, so have some rags on the floor. The amount that drains out will be very minor, maybe a couple of tablespoons, and it won't have much impact on the fluid level, but you can always put in just a tad bit more when you refill it to make up for what got spilled.
7. Using a funnel, pour the additive into the hose that you just disconnected.
8. Pour the excess fluid (minus the 1 liter) that you just drained into the hose to refill the fluid to the correct level. Put in a couple of extra tablespoons if you're worried about the amount that drained out when you disconnected the hose.
9. Reconnect the hose.
10. Enjoy your whoopless transmission.

This will work if you're confident that the transmission level is still good after all of these miles. If you've never noticed any leaks on the driveway or garage floor, it should be. You're simply going to drain one liter of fluid and replace it with one liter of additive.

Here are two pics that show the transmission cooler hose. I guess in the pictures it's not really a hose, it's a hard line, but it connects to a flexible hose so you can easily unscrew it and lift it up to pour fluid down the hose.

Here's a broad view so you have an idea where it's located in the engine bay:



And here's a closeup:

 

How hard is it to add the additive? Do you need to get under the car and undo that female hex bolt for which you had to use the cheat bar on the video (love the countdown to the swear words, BTW ). Isn't there somewhere on the top of the engine that gives you access to the gearbox fluids, like with ordinary engine oil?

ECU reflash: from what they were saying on the other forum, if the gearbox doesn't 'know' you have put additive in and/or changed the transmission fluid, then there's little point in doing it. The gearbox will just work to the old parameters and there won't be much change.

 

Read the post I made at 12:24. You were probably typing as I was editing the post and adding pictures. The drain plug is on the bottom of the transmission pan, and I didn't need a cheater bar for that one. It's easy to get to. The fill plug is the one that had me cussing. But by filling it through the cooler hose you avoid having to access the hard to reach plug on the side of the transmission next to the exhaust pipe.

I've never heard that an ECU reflash is necessary. I put the additive in my car and it got rid of the sound without an ECU reflash.

 

Thanks, Sam

I was hoping I could suck the correct amount (1 liter) of trans fluid from the transmission fill hole and replace the same way---I'm guessing I can't reach fluid in the pan from the fill hole with a tube on the end of a syringe?

 

Hmmm... I've never tried it. I suppose that it might be possible. You'll need to use a giant elephant syringe. Your standard heroin syringe won't work. The problem I see is threading the hose down through the hard tube with two bends and then into the pan of the transmission. If you do that and it works make sure you let everyone here know. That would be soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much simpler than draining fluid from the drain plug on the pan.

 

I put this ZF additive in my 05 XKR, due to barking only from 3 to 4th shift. Additive was hard to get as my local dealer said Jag doesn't make it anymore, although my independent Jag mechanic was able to find it for about $55...Happy to say it worked instantly. Jag label on bottle with German lettering, as I gather the stuff is made in deutcheland.

 

Reverand Sam:
What additive did you use?

I just changed the trans fluid at 70,000 miles. Used Pentosin ATF1 long-life synthetic. I now have an occasional metalic buzz sound between 1st to 2nd shift and occasionally on the 2nd to 3rd shift.

Ooops --- sorry I just was looking back on the previous comments and I see ZF Lifeguard mentioned. Soooo if that is not available is there another suggestion??

Thanks
Tom

2000 XK8 Convertible

 

If the additive is red and nasty, stinking stuff you might check into a Ford dealer. They sell 'Friction Modifier' under the Motorcraft brand. We used it for a number of maladies in trannys and power steering, including the 5speed auto's found in Lincoln LS and Explorer/Mountaineer (Not 5HP24 but rather 5R55/S/E.)