If you tow with a Land Rover

[Steve509926]

Originally Posted by Easedalenovice

Preventative maintenance is in the most part an invention so that garages and other such institutions keep the money rolling in on a regular basis.

Slightly different piece of kit, but I think the thinking behind it will be exactly the same.
When I worked at Leyland Vehicles the recommendation/preventative maintenance for ZF auto and semi auto boxes was to drop the oil, flush the box and cooling system, change the filter, every 30k. I realise the box on a bus works much harder than on a car/pick up, but I don't see why you wouldn't want to do the same.

Such preventative maintenance is wise and will save a fortune in the long run.

I think in this video Dennis you made an error by not explaining it was a temporary fix whilst waiting for your Disco to go into the garage.

[Fenlander]

>>Arnt you the bloke that bought a perfectly good Yam 15 2 stroke and proceed to replace virtually everything. It ended up like Triggers Broom.

I think you are getting mixed up... or going back to your old ways. I did buy a 16yr old Yamaha 15hp 2-stroke believed good but with no documented history then gave it a full by the book service plus checking the waterways were clean all with reference to the OE manual. It was nice to have the reassurance taking my valued family to sea with a single engine outfit that the motor was fully checked over.

As you say you will do it your way... just take a chance.

[Fenlander]

>>Oil changes on modern boxes should be done before the performance deteriorates imho.

Yep just paid a specialist to do the full fluid change and g.box service on Mrs F's Mercedes auto. Well worth it as a properly reconditioned auto box to OE spec is damn expensive.

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by Fenlander

>>Oil changes on modern boxes should be done before the performance deteriorates imho.

Yep just paid a specialist to do the full fluid change and g.box service on Mrs F's Mercedes auto. Well worth it as a properly reconditioned auto box to OE spec is damn expensive.

Exactly, I had my VW DSG box serviced by the VW dealer. £140 for a flush & oil change. It’s about the price of a tank of diesel. A new box is £3k+. It’s a no brainer

[User name]

Your fluid looked long past it's use-by date in that video, tbh. You would probably see an improvement to judder from a fluid flush alone, without any additives. I know ZF used to claim life-long oil in many of their slushboxes but in reality, you'd want to be changing it by 50K miles.

[beamishken]

Originally Posted by User name

Your fluid looked long past it's use-by date in that video, tbh. You would probably see an improvement to judder from a fluid flush alone, without any additives. I know ZF used to claim life-long oil in many of their slushboxes but in reality, you'd want to be changing it by 50K miles.

Afaik zf recommends oil & filter changes at 60k however the manufacturer's say 'sealed for life' which presumably means life of the warranty but it helps their case when fleet buying bean counters compare the service costs of vehicles over a specific period. Which is usually 3 or 5 years after that they dont care if it costs a few £k's to repair a gearbox cos its not their problem. Once a gearbox gets to the point of exhibiting symptoms then its days are numbered oil change may help but it wont fix it. Prevention is the only way to maintain an autobox, a fix it when it breaks attitude is just plain finacial suicide

[User name]

Originally Posted by beamishken

Afaik zf recommends oil & filter changes at 60k however the manufacturer's say 'sealed for life' which presumably means life of the warranty but it helps their case when fleet buying bean counters compare the service costs of vehicles over a specific period. Which is usually 3 or 5 years after that they dont care if it costs a few £k's to repair a gearbox cos its not their problem. Once a gearbox gets to the point of exhibiting symptoms then its days are numbered oil change may help but it wont fix it. Prevention is the only way to maintain an autobox, a fix it when it breaks attitude is just plain finacial suicide

It depends on the gearbox but there are some that are supposed to be rated with lifetime fluid. It is garbage of course. I've seen plenty of failures on relatively new cars with 60/70k and fluid that is not fit for purpose. I used to repair them for BMW but the ZF boxes are used in loads of other makes too of course. The manufacturer would insist on fluid samples from failed boxes before accepting any warranty so they were actively checking for incorrect fluid/additives etc.

[mick]

Oil out of my D4

[paulbrown22]

Originally Posted by beamishken

I've got the same zf8hp in my amarok & change the oil was the first thing I did when I bought it. Imho if changing the oil makes a difference to how the car drives its been left too long & damage is already done. Oil changes on modern boxes should be done before the performance deteriorates imho.

Snap, despite no apparent issues in my many years of ownership I ignored the "sealed for life" thing from LR and had the ZF6HP in my 5.0 Supercharged L322 Range Rover flushed and filter changed at 70k as per the ZF guidance. Maybe it cost £300 but there's nothing I yet want to replace it with so I want it to remain perfect for as long as possible, and is now on nearly 100k.

Different people make different choices though!

[beamishken]

Originally Posted by paulbrown22

Snap, despite no apparent issues in my many years of ownership I ignored the "sealed for life" thing from LR and had the ZF6HP in my 5.0 Supercharged L322 Range Rover flushed and filter changed at 70k as per the ZF guidance. Maybe it cost £300 but there's nothing I yet want to replace it with so I want it to remain perfect for as long as possible, and is now on nearly 100k.



Different people make different choices though!

Its only the vehicle manufacturers who claim sealed for life, ZF who make the boxes reccomend service at 60 as you say & offer vehicle specific service kits to do the job. Presumably the vehicle manufacturers know the box won't crap out until its over 100k which is their intended' 'lifetime' & out of warranty.

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by paulbrown22

Snap, despite no apparent issues in my many years of ownership I ignored the "sealed for life" thing from LR and had the ZF6HP in my 5.0 Supercharged L322 Range Rover flushed and filter changed at 70k as per the ZF guidance. Maybe it cost £300 but there's nothing I yet want to replace it with so I want it to remain perfect for as long as possible, and is now on nearly 100k.



Different people make different choices though!

Yup! My current pikey mobile has “extended servicing” I.e. 2 years or 20k miles between oil changes. This is completely against everything I hold dear. So I let my local independent do an intermediate oil change using OEM filter & oil. The last one cost me £90, and I got the spare 3litres of oil to go. It’s peanuts in the big scheme 🤷*♂️

[beamishken]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

Yup! My current pikey mobile has “extended servicing” I.e. 2 years or 20k miles between oil changes. This is completely against everything I hold dear. So I let my local independent do an intermediate oil change using OEM filter & oil. The last one cost me £90, and I got the spare 3litres of oil to go. It’s peanuts in the big scheme [emoji1745]*[emoji3603]

Good plan! recommended service intervals are far too long nowadays all aimed at the fleet buying bean counters. Extra intermediat oil changes are cheap insurance if you plan on keeping the car for a long time