Metal sump change at 79000km

[Ean Austral]

Gday All,

Done the metal sump change on the gearbox today with 79,000km on the clock.

Quite easy job, no crossmembers removed, no engine jacking. Was surprised at the colour of the oil, but also how bad it smelt...not a burnt smell, just an old used type of smell.

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/4751/img1171iw.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/7/img1171iw.jpg/)
Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

A steady 3.5 hrs to complete, and cant say the car drives any better yet, but am sure its better for it..

Got 5ltr out and 5ltrs back in so will likely just do another change in 10,000kms or so.

Cheers Ean

[101RRS]

Good to see it was relatively easy - I will hold off with the oil sump change until my 96,000km service but will be doing a basic oil change (just drain and refill) soon at 60,000km and maybe around 80,000km to refresh the oil. I will do a mega flush with the sump change.

Is there any reason you did not do a mega flush when you did your sump change?? By changing 5 litres you have only changed about half the oil in the system? Given the kms you have now I would suggest it might be worth while doing a mega flush when you next change the oil.

Certainly your evidence and the evidence of others who have done early oil changes there is no way that these gearboxes are going to last the required 240,000km service interval.

Cheers

Garry

[Mike_S]

I've not driven my car yet but according to the service chap, the difference he noticed in the gearchange after they changed the oil is staggering, which considering he's only done about 300 miles in my car is quite good if he noticed it that much. It had covered 72k miles (about 116,000 kms) so seems to have been a worthwhile job. They've refitted another plastic pan after not being able to get the metal one in time, but have now secured a contract with ZF directly to get hold of the parts thanks to posts on here with all the part numbers.

To get the old one off on my V8 had them removing the crossmember and one exhaust to get enough working space....

[Ean Austral]

Gday Garry,

I could see the only way I could do the mega flush was to remove 1 of the cooler pipes and pump some oil out then just keep topping it up till clean oil came thru...

I did buy a 20 ltr drum of oil from ZF so will do another change at 90,000kms..

I have sent a oil sample away for testing so be interested to see the results.If they come back not good, I will do a mega flush next time.

Hope that makes sense.

Cheers Ean

[Ean Austral]

I've not driven my car yet but according to the service chap, the difference he noticed in the gearchange after they changed the oil is staggering, which considering he's only done about 300 miles in my car is quite good if he noticed it that much. It had covered 72k miles (about 116,000 kms) so seems to have been a worthwhile job. They've refitted another plastic pan after not being able to get the metal one in time, but have now secured a contract with ZF directly to get hold of the parts thanks to posts on here with all the part numbers.

To get the old one off on my V8 had them removing the crossmember and one exhaust to get enough working space....

I will ask the boss when I get home if she noticed any difference, as she is the main driver...The difference was that I never really noticed the car having any gear change issue's before I changed it, but changed the oil and pan because I dont see how oil can last as long as L/R-ZF seemed to think possible..

Considering the new oil is about the same colour as cooking oil, and the stuff that came out looks like coke, then I would say it works alot harder than they think.

The ZF gearbox on our trawler has a 1000hr oil change interval and that oil comes out the same colour as what it goes in (and it only holds 22ltrs) ...but would think it runs far cooler than a cars gearbox..

Be interested to see what the oil sample results come back like..

Cheers Ean

[101RRS]

Gday Garry,

I could see the only way I could do the mega flush was to remove 1 of the cooler pipes and pump some oil out then just keep topping it up till clean oil came thru...

I have sent a oil sample away for testing so be interested to see the results.If they come back not good, I will do a mega flush next time.

I think I will get mine tested as well.

Hope that makes sense.

Cheers Ean

Thanks for that - I have heard of the pipes being removed but mostly the method used is to drain the sump and refill, run drain and refill a few times - the dirty oil is slowly diluted by the new clean stuff and a mega flush can use up to 20 litres to get all the old oil out of the box and torque converter, so is not a cheap exercise.

Good idea to get your oil tested - I would get the oil tested again before your next change and base how much you oil you change on the results.

Cheers

Garry

[Mike_S]

My chap didn't undo any pipes to drain it, just left it draining overnight. I think he said it needed about 7 litres then to fill it, was certainly more than he'd had delivered anyway so had to get another couple of litres from LR. I'll check that with him, perhaps get him to post on this thread.

[Ean Austral]

My chap didn't undo any pipes to drain it, just left it draining overnight. I think he said it needed about 7 litres then to fill it, was certainly more than he'd had delivered anyway so had to get another couple of litres from LR. I'll check that with him, perhaps get him to post on this thread.

When you pull the drain plug, you get about 3.5-4.0 ltrs out, but the plug is actually at the high end of the sump, so when you drop the pan off you get about another 1ltr or so, then if you let it drip you may get another .5ltr, but would say the rest would be in the torque converter.

When i asked the boss how the car was, she commented that it was alot smoother and went well....make of that what you will.

I will most likely drop the oil and refill the sump after a 100ks or so, as I still have plenty of oil left, so may as well get it as clean as possible.


Cheers Ean

[smwilk]

I had mine changed at 88,000 and there has been no change in performance. If anything that knock coming out of slow corners is worse and it plays up a bit when cold. Overall it's still very smooth

[~Rich~]

I had my sump changed to the metal one at 90,000 k, now at 142k my mechanic is saying they are recommending that the Auto Fluid be changed every 40,000k !!! He did say 50 - 60 last time.

At least somewhat cheaper now I have the metal sump plate.

[smwilk]

I was advised by the auto tran shop who changed my pan and fluid to change the ATF every 20000?

[discotwinturbo]

I was advised by the auto tran shop who changed my pan and fluid to change the ATF every 20000?

The more regular the service the better is has to be....but cost would be a big factor. I will change mine at 60k. That's what I have always stuck with due to very heavy towing and lots of outback touring.

[Ean Austral]

I think if you were to change the oil every 50000ks then you would only need to use about 5ltrs ,as dont think you would require the mega flush.

I will just keep changing mine, as I would assume that by the time I do another 50-60,000ks the oil in the drum would be RS anyway, so may as well just keep dropping it and refilling it.

Cheers Ean

[KOOS BEST]

I am in the process of changing my sump this coming week.

Just a thought, if you drain the tranny and start the engine momentarily for few seconds so that Torque Converter(TC) runs wont you get more oil out from the TC and the cooler?

Won't it pump out more oil out say in 3 - 5 seconds ,surely it cant do any damage ? OR can it.

[Ean Austral]

Gday All,

Changed the oil again today at 79500km and the oil came out the colour similar to tea.. considering the new oil is about the same colour as cooking oil, think will do another change at 80,000 and that should do it till about 130,000ks.

Changed the transfer oil at the same time, and altho it never smelt as bad as the gearbox oil did when i first changed it , it was pretty dirty, so think will do it more regularly than the service sched recommends.

Now can start on the other jobs, like rear brake pads.

Cheers Ean

[groveraus]

"Ean Austral", you commented that you had a 20 litre drum of oil, where did you get it and how much did you pay for it?

Did you also get the metal sump at the same time and how much was it?

I am towing a 3000kg caravan and advice tells me to change the oil 40000km's so this could be an expensive habit if I rely on the price I get from the mechanic.

Thanks.

[Ean Austral]

"Ean Austral", you commented that you had a 20 litre drum of oil, where did you get it and how much did you pay for it?

Did you also get the metal sump at the same time and how much was it?

I am towing a 3000kg caravan and advice tells me to change the oil 40000km's so this could be an expensive habit if I rely on the price I get from the mechanic.

Thanks.

I purchased the whole lot direct from ZF in sydney.

Got the steel pan, filter and oil, from memory it was a bit over $500.

HTH

Cheers Ean