Thread: Disco 4 Automatic Transmission FAQ - 8 Speed

Originally Posted by LRD414

What did you have done and how much did it cost Rick?

Cheers,
Scott

What I gather was a standard service:

• Removed transmission sump for internal inspection
• No signs of excessive wear or contamination
• Replaced sump/filter as required
• Refilled with fluid and adjust to correct level
• Completed final road test and visual inspection

*PARTS used:

• PAN - OIL ZF 8 SPEED
• OIL - LIFEGUARD 8

Total cost was $800 which I was happy with.

Also, there may be a steel pan on the horizon.

cheers,
Paul

Thanks for the detail.

Originally Posted by RickO

Also, there may be a steel pan on the horizon.

Did they indicate who's developing the steel pan, aftermarket or ZF?

Scott

It sounded as though it was something A&B were working on themselves.

Hi all. Have had our D4 (MY13) for 4 years and 60,000km’s. Been thinking of a fluid change on the transmission, but wondering if I should let sleeping dogs lie or at least wait till 75,000km’s. The km’s have been reasonably easy (town/hwy) and it still feels as smooth as the day we got it.

Also, any good places to consider taking it on the Gold Coast or is the dealer fine for this? Thanks in advance!

came across this "how to" on ZF website.. surprised its not been shared before?

Change - ZF Friedrichshafen AG

and another, great explanation of the box, the technology, and its capabilities..

ZFs 8-Speed Automatic Transmission | Tech Dept. | Features | Car and Driver

Penrite now have a LG8 equivalent trans fluid ‘ATF BMV’.

”ATF BMV may be used in ZF 6, 8 and 9 speed automatic transmissions where Lifeguard 6, 8 & 9 is recommended in vehicles”

ATF BMV (Full Syn) | Penrite Oil

Just to add to the knowledge base.
Did an fluid change on my D4, @106000 km, it had been previously changed at 49500 km so this oil has done about 57000km. Followed the Robbie's guide that is elsewhere in this thread, with no problems. My only deviation was that I replaced the fill plug finger tight while the oil heated to the 70 deg mark and I drained it a second time immediately after and repeated the process. For the final level check (post cool down) I added only 150ml. The oil came out quite black but no unusual odour compared to the new oil. The oil came out quite black after the first change at 49500 km as well, I have kept a sample of them all.
First drop resulted in 2900 g or about 3.6 L (or 3.42 L depending on the density value used, see below)
Second drop yielded 3627 g (I left it to drain overnight) which is 4.5 L (or 4.2L), so quite a difference so the next time I do it I will leave it to drain longer.

Out of interest and as a means of ensuring I know how much oil is coming out and going in I recorded the mass of all 9 x 1 litre bottles individually, also the mass of the empty bottle hence calculated the net mass of the oil for each bottle. The gross mass varied from 850 g to 900 g, the bottles from 78 g to 87 g (some of this variation can be attributed to additional
stickers and very small amounts of residual oil in the bottle) and so the net also varied from 768 g to 822 g.
One of the reasons I did this was to calculate the density of the oil, which I calculated to be 800g/L. I checked the MSDS for the oil and found it stated it to be 848kg/m^3, which is 848g/L.
On this basis of the MSDS quoted oil density not one of the bottles actually had a litre of oil in it. Quite a few did however if my calculated value is used.
I want to add that the measurements were taken using a digital kitchen scale, not a scientific NATA calibrated instrument so there are likely to be some errors. I did a cross check with another set of digital kitchen scales (different brand) and found they gave the same reading within 2g for 8 different objects so I concluded that they are not grossly in error. In the end, the important thing is to keep track of how much oil come out so that you can measure how much goes back in and avoid any underfill.

Peter