ZF Transmission servicing
Recovery Vehicle
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 887
Likes: 192
From: Boston, USA
I've had ZF transmissions on my last 5 cars. jLR always said they are sealed for life so I've never done an oil change on them. Ran several to 100-150k miles with no issues
I do think in principle it's a good idea to change at some point. But am struggling to believe lack of oil change leads to destroyed transmission. Maybe underfilled, oil leaks, mechanical issues etc. If they were that sensitive then we would see a lot more failures in JLR, bmw and the many other premium marques that use them. By all all accounts they seem to be one of the most reliable parts of cars.
In fact when I tried to get the dealer to change it on my 12 year old XF they suggested not to as they have seen issues of gears slipping on old transmissions with new fluids. Not sure of the mechanics of that, but thought it was interesting...
Sorry to hear the issues you are having.
I do think in principle it's a good idea to change at some point. But am struggling to believe lack of oil change leads to destroyed transmission. Maybe underfilled, oil leaks, mechanical issues etc. If they were that sensitive then we would see a lot more failures in JLR, bmw and the many other premium marques that use them. By all all accounts they seem to be one of the most reliable parts of cars.
In fact when I tried to get the dealer to change it on my 12 year old XF they suggested not to as they have seen issues of gears slipping on old transmissions with new fluids. Not sure of the mechanics of that, but thought it was interesting...
Sorry to hear the issues you are having.
Overlanding
Joined: Jun 2022
Posts: 18
Likes: 11
I've had ZF transmissions on my last 5 cars. jLR always said they are sealed for life so I've never done an oil change on them. Ran several to 100-150k miles with no issues
I do think in principle it's a good idea to change at some point. But am struggling to believe lack of oil change leads to destroyed transmission. Maybe underfilled, oil leaks, mechanical issues etc. If they were that sensitive then we would see a lot more failures in JLR, bmw and the many other premium marques that use them. By all all accounts they seem to be one of the most reliable parts of cars.
In fact when I tried to get the dealer to change it on my 12 year old XF they suggested not to as they have seen issues of gears slipping on old transmissions with new fluids. Not sure of the mechanics of that, but thought it was interesting...
Sorry to hear the issues you are having.
I do think in principle it's a good idea to change at some point. But am struggling to believe lack of oil change leads to destroyed transmission. Maybe underfilled, oil leaks, mechanical issues etc. If they were that sensitive then we would see a lot more failures in JLR, bmw and the many other premium marques that use them. By all all accounts they seem to be one of the most reliable parts of cars.
In fact when I tried to get the dealer to change it on my 12 year old XF they suggested not to as they have seen issues of gears slipping on old transmissions with new fluids. Not sure of the mechanics of that, but thought it was interesting...
Sorry to hear the issues you are having.
I'm not sure on the mechanics and/or quantity of this happening, the interval of the oil change is what the transmission workshops all said. In fact in contrary to the price-tag thats the only thing were all workshops were on the same page. Also on the service book LR wants to have the transmission oil changed but at +200.000kms I think.
But again, these were no LR guys, they are independet transmission specialized workshops for various brands.
Doesn't matter, I plan to drive this car to it's end, so If I now have the transmission done mid-life it won't be the limiting factor by the end of it's life time. They take the transmission itself apart, renew all worn out parts, have the transmission, the mechatronics and the electronics checked on some kind special of test stands and then assemble it again.
they says its as good as new afterwards and give 1 year of guarantee.
In fact I would have preferred my regular workshop to just disassemble the faulty transmission and replace it with a used one. Couldn't even get them to check the 60 pages before they refused to do it :-D
In case someone is interested I attached the manual to do so. It has german cross references, sorry..
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