Gearbox Oil Change - Temperature?

[Steamyrotter]

It did...
In neutral pressure should be around 50-55psi
Reverse is greater than 100 psi

Other gears it will fluctuate depending upon loading etc.

If the general pressure altered under similar circumstances I could see if any particular gear could have an issue.

Either way it shouldn't have dropped below 40psi.
It did it once when my oil cooler pipe burst, and having the display allowed me to get to a safe place to stop before I lost pressure.

Every now and then I used to compare to the chart in the rebuild manual to get a feel of the state of play.

My intention was to change gearbox fluid at every 3rd engine oil change which unfortunately I never reached..

[fenj66]

i changed mine in the hope of curing the lurch.
it didn't work and afterwards the up change from 1st to 2nd became terrible when cold. so im of the opinion the change made mine worse for the reasons given in reply no.1.  i wish i had drained my old oil into a clean container and saved it, because if i had i would have drained out the new stuff and put the old oil back in !!  :'(

but, many others have had complete success with the oil change.
my advice would be, if your happy with the gearbox now, just leave it alone and save the money towards any possible serious issues in the future.

[grumpywurzel]

Guys... The "Lurch" effects some cars more than other, I lived with it for about 18 months before it got worse, to a point where the box had to be rebuilt. All other gear changes were fine initially but then I would get a stutter on hard acceleration when the car dropped into 5th (from 6th). Ended up getting "Trans error".

I was told from the guy who rebuilt the box that there is a software upgrade that has been available to remove the lurch, some have had it applied and it has made no difference to the behaviour of the box. Maybe the patch had been applied too late? Who knows....

Fenj66, that's odd as the lurch only appeared when the oil had warmed up? Was perfect when cold!

JamieB, yep the cheaper quotes will be using different/cheaper oil, totally up to you mate. After spending in excess of 2.5K to have the box rebuilt, incl new solenoids and all gearbox updates I wasn't going to skimp on using sub-standard oil

[Greydog]

Regarding torque for the sump bolts, first the ZF manual I have actually recommends Transmission fluid changes between 80000 and 100000 Km (around 60000 miles). It also states 4.5Kn + 25deg, not very much however if a previous "mechanic" just applied gorilla tight techniques then there can be failures sheared heads and trans leaks.
My fluid change was carried out by a ZF specialist who checked the valve block at the same tome more expensive than some would pay but it gives me peace of mind.
I don't understand why the car companies (BMW are not alone here) say sealed for life when the box manufacturer says service them

[Smeeagain]

[quote="Greydog"]
I don't understand why the car companies (BMW are not alone here) say sealed for life when the box manufacturer says service them
[/quote]

Because they want you to buy a new(er) car from them. Simple economics. If they have you believe the gearbox is good for 100k or 200k (and some are) you'd wait longer before trading in, selling on etc - either that or you would simply maintain it and keep the vehicle as many do and so they lose out on a sale.

They are creating demand through perceived obsolescence that isn't really there are such

Smee

[fenj66]

[quote="grumpywurzel"]


Fenj66, that's odd as the lurch only appeared when the oil had warmed up? Was perfect when cold!


[/quote]

no sorry, i probably didn't say that well, it was terrible when cold -until it warmed up and then was fine..

[the shreksta]

i am seriously considering getting my box serviced, its a 2004 3.0d sport with 110k on the clock.

has anybody used these guys before?

http://www.drivertransmissions.co.uk/

i love my x5 and i plan on keeping it as long as i can, my local garage changed the transfer box oil and front and rear diff oils but they said they wouldnt touch the box.

thx guys

[chelsea]

just a little something that is mostly overlooked.............

the gearbox oil needs changing twice within 50 miles as the torque converter cannot be drained and holds approx/up to 3 litres of oil at standstill, meaning that when you change the oil,you are only removing half of it...ish.

[Steamyrotter]

[quote="chelsea"]
just a little something that is mostly overlooked.............

the gearbox oil needs changing twice within 50 miles as the torque converter cannot be drained and holds approx/up to 3 litres of oil at standstill, meaning that when you change the oil,you are only removing half of it...ish.
[/quote]

This is true.

There are companies that change it by tapping into the cooler pipework and change it on the fly..
Seems a bit risky to me, but they must know what they are doing!!!

[Greydog]

The Volvo T5/6 boxes fluid could be done at the cooler, run the engine fluid goes into a container marked with litre graduations then stop engine top up and repeat until all is nice and clean red stuff. A useful way of doing a change as it could be done with the car on the ground the downside is the old filter and sludge magnets are still in there. If you change fluid regularly not an issue but if it's really black then not so good to leave a filter full of sludge behind.