Transmission Fluid
 

Hi Team

Time to change the transmission fluid again, Did this 100000km ago. The fluid that I purchased then was Mopar 8&9 Speed ATF (MOPAR 68218925GA), and worked great, very smooth through the gears.

I see on Rockauto the fluid number is MOPAR 68218925AB, and the country flags are USA and Canada.
Is there a difference between the two fluids:
MOPAR 68218925GA and MOPAR 68218925AB?

Cheers

Eddie
JGC MY14 Overland 3.0 Diesel

Did some cross referencing and doesn't appear to be............. you want an oil that specifies ZF Lifegard 6/8, thats a must some oils saying okay forJeep are for other boxes so don't use.

Why not just use Penrite ATF BMV or Nulon Full Synthetic Multi-Vehicle Low Viscosity Automatic Transmission Fluid (LVSYNATF) , both are Lifegard 6/8 fluids and easier to source, possibly cheaper and they both certainly work well, my box gets changed every 40K km and hasn't missed a beat using either of them, its had 3 changes so far ... 2 by myself and 1 by tranny shop... I don't believe 100K km changes are a great idea at all for any auto.

Agree drover...more so when towing regularly. It really is a testament to the ZF gearbox that very rarely fails even when severely neglected...as most are.

The BMV has been in use by many for quite a while and remember your only changing half at a time so whatever you choose will be fine but stick to same perhaps. Changing more regularly just makes sense given we don’t really know the quality of the filters in OEM and aftermarket pans going on. If you DIY then you realise the rear solenoids are quite high hence the fluid level setting is critical to get cover on them. I did mine at 72k and 110k (Mainly as had to replace pan leaking at the plastic thread) and it just looks new after towing most of its life). So after two changes I am 75% BMV and the rest old original lifeguard mix.

If you DiY, having the vehicle level is a must and if the full level isn't checked correctly you could be 500ml lower than required, fill box till it dribbles out, replace bung, engine running, wheel up off ground ideally put into rev for 2 sec then into 2nd for the same, run up to 2K rpm then into park and check oil level should just drip out, so let it drain or top up............. when I had the shop do it last time I lifted it off the ground, turned and burned then checked the level. slight drip so was happy, they will get my business again....

Most tranny repairers will shake their heads at these 100K service intervals, the oil may be good for that long but hell it seems to have the same amount of crud in the pan at 40K like the old boxes, cheap insurance to stay under 40K I reckon.. $600 at a Tranny Shop in Toowoomba last time when the sump plug broke, they were good 30 yrs ago and still good, will use them again as I hate tranny changes.

ive had the oil and pan done when i bought my current jeep with only 60k on it.
As mentioned you only get about 4.5 litres out of the 8 litres in there.
Ive always bought the Zf fluid, lifegard8 as I was always concerned about mixing other fluids which might not be good for the auto.
Ive read where Zf say not to mix fluids but it seem alot of people do and the auto’s still seem to run ok.
As Drover says, both the Penrite BVM and Nulon stuff seem to work fine and alot cheaper than the Lifeguard8.

The same sort of warning was given with the W5A580 boxes, must use some Shell stuff on fear of heavenly intervention, trouble was the stuff wasn't here and using the Mopar needed a Mortage, I used Penrite and then some stuff I got from MB Spares in Canberra .......... its the specs that count not the brand name...

Well thought I would ring a couple of well known auto transmission shops in Ballina yesterday re getting a fluid change on the ZF 8speed Had a ZF pan so
only labour and fluid needed.Asked price and product used.One shop stated
$400.00 and uses either Valvoline Maxlife,or Penrite.The other shop $500.00
and either Lubeguard or Lifeguard 8 ,will not have Penrite atf in the shop but uses all of Penrites other products,says enough auto shops including himself have had problems with the Penrite! Rang Richard at JeepsRUs in Coffs .will only use Lifeguard 8:and over twice the price but pretty sure does a double flush.
Geez might have to go to yoga and get my hands dirty!
What prices have others paid?

Thought I would mention this again.!If you think major retail oil retailers get
oil specs,etc right you are wrong! Oil companies like Penrite ,Castrol ,etc in most cases try and get oil specs from vehicle manufacturers .According to a guy I knew at Penrite some would give them the oil and fluid specs many wouldnt including FCA ! They would then go to one of acouple of companies worldwide whose main business was to analyse products re specs etc.and advise companies like Penrite.
I have on three occasions told Penrite their product catalogues were wrong!
Jeep WH transfer cases did not use atf, WK diesels after 2016 do not use 5w40!plus incorrect coolant in the early WKs ie hoat,not oat!
Also advised Nulon and Castrol re correct oil! In all cases these companies took ages to change catalogues or some still havnt! Note well disclaimers on these oil
companies catalogues,says it all really!

I don't rely on oil company catalogues or even the oil brand recommended by vehicle manufactuers, my go to is the actual oil spec, ie: 5W40 C3, LifeGard 8, that sort of thing, and with the ZF box well ZF themselves give you the spec, Lifegard 6/8 so thats what I go by, to date I have used Penrite and Nulon they state they are compat with Lifegard 6-8 and they have worked very well, my only shop service for the box last year cost $600, Nulon oil and a new pan, think they slugged around $250 for the pan, Gilroys of Toowoomba use the Nulon in all their services and I haven't heard of Beamers, Landies or Grands falling apart, though they did say the biggest killer is the 100K km intervals and not just with ZF boxes ........ If anyone says they gave the 8 speed a good flush then be suss as the box is not to be flushed, it won't like it it seems....

As we know it is really only the oil sitting in the torque converter that doesn't drop out when the pan is dropped...so, a flush is supposed to freshen that oil as well rather than leave it to mix old with the new.

All tranny shops will tell you they "flushed" the transmission when they change the oil...I really don't know what that entails.

I know an expert so I will him and get the lowdown...

It is pretty well known that Lifeguard 8 is Shell ML12108 atf.Not available in Australia.

OK...this is from the transmission guru...35 years rebuilding diffs and gearboxes. Has his own tranny shop and did the service on mine while in Perth.
He flushes all auto transmissions when he services them...if carried out correctly is never a problem.
Obviously to just drop the pan and replace the oil in the pan is never going to be a proper job...which is often the way it is done.

"to flush....remove one of the cooler lines , then start the vehicle while pumping oil into the transmission and flush through about 11 litres , replace the line and top up the oil.

The oil to use is ZF Lifeguard 8 which can be purchased from Motospec by the litre or 20 litre....it’s relatively expensive at $595.00 + gst...($32.75 a litre) He noted too that many people get on forums and recommend Penrite or some equivalent replacement................not the same !"

There you go...you are on the right track as usual drover...

That fits in with the one auto trans shop in Ballinas advice !They will only use Lifeguard 8 in the 8 speed even though using Penrite products elsewhere.Although ZF themselves state do not flush these boxes! Penrite also state do not mix Lifeguard and their product!Plus Do NOT mix .
Just removing all fluid on a way mentioned above should be ok.

Isn't the 'official' ZF procedure for these boxes essentially drop what you can, refill, run it through the gears, drop again, and then refill?

I'm partial to ZF's reputation for knowing what they're doing, so put Lifeguard in mine. I don't believe my mechanic did the above procedure (based on the amount of oil I got back), but I'll just get it done again in 30k or so by a ZF specialist...

Its a pain, only ever got 4 lts or so out, once got 6 when I let it dribble and gurgle for half an hour or so, fit new pan, pump in new oil till it runs out, replace bung, fire up and run it thru the gears including R, with engine running check level, usually pour in another litre, bung in and then run engine in 2nd @ 2000rpm for about 30 secs I think it is, check level again it's fulll when it just dribbles out the hole...... Its something like that, I have a cheat sheet on shed wall that I follow......... I use big wheel chocks, and foot on brake while giving it revs and moving selector, probably need the wheels to turn but eh!!!!, if the vehicle had some decent lift points I could have it on stands...

I think the most important bit is quickly checking the level soon as you slip it into park and the engine must be running, shut down the engine and then pop the bung you will get a face full of oil....

So, did it a week ago, and all went well. Crappy job as you all are aware of. Took just over 4.5qrts. I purchased Mopar ZF 8/9 oil from dealer.
Also drained and replaced the transfer case oil. Easy job to do.

Thanks for all your help and support!!!

Cheers

Eddie