Let's talk Transmission Maintenance...

[Westlotorn]

My tranny fluid was nasty looking at 100,000 miles. I'm very happy I changed it, I will change it again after a few thousand miles to clean it up some more.
I used the Ford Mercon fluid, car shifts very nice no complaints. My son putMercon in his at 145,000 and it still shifts great at 175,000.

[Aquamania]

Originally Posted by Aquamania

When I bought my X5, it had 74,000 miles on it. As a precaution that I do with ALL cars I buy used, I changed the oil and tranny fluids. I also put on a new tranny pan and filter. I am going in tomorrow to have the diff's done front and rear. I do NOT believe in "Lifetime Fluids". Good preventive maintenance will keep your vehicle on the road longer!!! I keep my cars for a long time and I planning on keeping this one until 300,000 miles. I hope...

Well just to add on here, my transmission is still going strong. No issues. ZF pan with Pentosin ATF-1 fluids. I will change this again in another 20,000 miles.

[Alpinerunner]

Originally Posted by Alpinerunner

Going to tackle this soon with ZF Lifegaurd 6 and a ZF pan/filter. Few questions:
1) I understand you need to do the final top up with the fluid at a specific temp. What is that temp?
2) Bavarian Autosport has a "sealing sleeve" part #24 34 7 588 725 that they say is a common source of trans fluid leaks and is easy to change when doing the fluid/filter. Has anyone done this or experienced this leak?
3) What is the programming required after fluid change? Is this for service interval (CBS) or something else?

The ZF kit came with surprisingly good instructions. I figured I would need to find a factory bulletin or something. Anyway, it specifies 40C or 104F as the temp to reach before doing the final top off.
Still curious if the sealing sleeve is something I should worry about. Hoping to tackle this tomorrow.

[Ozer]

Originally Posted by Alpinerunner

Still curious if the sealing sleeve is something I should worry about. Hoping to tackle this tomorrow.

I didnt do anything else besides what came in the kit. You talking about a spiral looking tube i see on some kits? If so, i didnt change that.

[basilray]

Originally Posted by Alpinerunner

The ZF kit came with surprisingly good instructions. I figured I would need to find a factory bulletin or something. Anyway, it specifies 40C or 104F as the temp to reach before doing the final top off.
Still curious if the sealing sleeve is something I should worry about. Hoping to tackle this tomorrow.

It's suggested that you do the sealing sleeve to prevent possible leaks that can develop from the sleeve over time. I did my pan and fluid at ~109k with my Indy at his home garage. After dropping the pan, he didn't feel we needed to do the sleeve at the time.

I'll re-assess next time I drop the pan, but likely won't be doing that until I hit like 160k or so. Probably going to do a drain and fill at 135ish.

[Jarhed1964]

Doing mine now. Serious PITA leveling the transmission. Old fluid is dark but not completely black. Hoping the slamming into 1st gear was just bad fluid.

Going back under to pull the pan now....

[Alpinerunner]

Originally Posted by Jarhed1964

Doing mine now. Serious PITA leveling the transmission. Old fluid is dark but not completely black. Hoping the slamming into 1st gear was just bad fluid.

Going back under to pull the pan now....

How so? I don't think it needs to be a science. I just put a 4' level on the running board when it was on the ground and made sure it was similar when raised up.
You just can't have the front of the car jacked up and the rear on the ground.
Also, curious as to how many miles on the car with the 1-2 hard shift.

[Jarhed1964]

Originally Posted by Alpinerunner

How so? I don't think it needs to be a science. I just put a 4' level on the running board when it was on the ground and made sure it was similar when raised up.
You just can't have the front of the car jacked up and the rear on the ground.
Also, curious as to how many miles on the car with the 1-2 hard shift.

The running board level does NOT mean the transmission is level. I measured on the trans bolts to be certain that the transmission itself is level. Add to that my 2.5ton jack only goes up so far. The front wheels are on ramps, slight downgrade to the front on my driveway, then had to jack the front, set the stands, then jack a little more from another point to set the stands again.

Changing out the Mechatronics Sealing sleeve is a freakin nightmare. OMFG.

The car has 101400 miles on her now.

Going back now to put the valve body back in. Not certain I want to change the sleeve ever again, but the rest of it doesn't seem too bad. I'm just praying that the mechatronics plug is aligned properly so the pins just slip right in.

[Alpinerunner]

Originally Posted by Jarhed1964

The running board level does NOT mean the transmission is level. I measured on the trans bolts to be certain that the transmission itself is level. Add to that my 2.5ton jack only goes up so far. The front wheels are on ramps, slight downgrade to the front on my driveway, then had to jack the front, set the stands, then jack a little more from another point to set the stands again.

Changing out the Mechatronics Sealing sleeve is a freakin nightmare. OMFG.

The car has 101400 miles on her now.

Going back now to put the valve body back in. Not certain I want to change the sleeve ever again, but the rest of it doesn't seem too bad. I'm just praying that the mechatronics plug is aligned properly so the pins just slip right in.

Right, but if you note the angle of the running board when the CAR is on level ground, and replicate that when jacked up, that will mean the pan at proper orientation. They don't mean the transmission needs to be level itself (if it's even at a different angle than the car... I'm pretty sure it's very close).
There is no way they want you to fill and go through the top up procedure with the transmission in a different position than its normal operating position with the car on level ground. When the dealership does it on a lift, I highly doubt they then also tweak the chassis so that the trans pan is different. That's all I'm trying to say, don't kill yourself over the pan level itself.

Good heads up on the sealing sleeve. It was pretty cheap and since the car only has 85k on it and no leaks I'm going to skip it.

[Jarhed1964]

Originally Posted by Alpinerunner

Right, but if you note the angle of the running board when the CAR is on level ground, and replicate that when jacked up, that will mean the pan at proper orientation. They don't mean the transmission needs to be level itself (if it's even at a different angle than the car... I'm pretty sure it's very close).
There is no way they want you to fill and go through the top up procedure with the transmission in a different position than its normal operating position with the car on level ground. When the dealership does it on a lift, I highly doubt they then also tweak the chassis so that the trans pan is different. That's all I'm trying to say, don't kill yourself over the pan level itself.

Good heads up on the sealing sleeve. It was pretty cheap and since the car only has 85k on it and no leaks I'm going to skip it.

The trans is supposed to be level. The ground is RARELY level unless you have a good level garage floor (I do not). The ZF instructions are explicit in the direction to have the car level. The dealership, or transmission shop, has a lift that IS level, and will adjust if need be (my Trans guy in Cali showed me that little trick with his lift and a digital level he had). If you do not level the trans, you are going to get either too much or too little fluid in there when you refill. There is a thread somewhere here on Xoutpost where a user loosened the fill hole before draining and it came running out of the fill hole. He leveled the car using the running board.

I think you may want to read the ZF instructions carefully when you get your kit. It was the same on my E39 with the GM trans.