Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Hey Guys,

I've got a '93 Rangie with a ZF auto. The last two times I've "changed" my Transmission fluid, I've only managed to drain about 4 - 4.5 litres of old fluid out. The book says the fluid capacity is a bit over 9 litres. First time, I thought that maybe the oil leaks were a bit worse than they looked, filled it up with the recommended amount and then had way too much fluid according to the dipstick and had to drain about 4 litres out again.

I'm thinking that either the book is wrong (unlikely) or that about half my fluid is getting trapped somewhere in the gear box.

Is there another step in the procedure of draining the gear box that I'm missing, or is something about to cost me a whole lot of money? Box changes fine, no searching, smooth changes, no clunking.

Thanks in advance for any advice,

Adam.

A*D*A*M wrote:Hey Guys,

I've got a '93 Rangie with a ZF auto. The last two times I've "changed" my Transmission fluid, I've only managed to drain about 4 - 4.5 litres of old fluid out. The book says the fluid capacity is a bit over 9 litres. First time, I thought that maybe the oil leaks were a bit worse than they looked, filled it up with the recommended amount and then had way too much fluid according to the dipstick and had to drain about 4 litres out again.

I'm thinking that either the book is wrong (unlikely) or that about half my fluid is getting trapped somewhere in the gear box.

Is there another step in the procedure of draining the gear box that I'm missing, or is something about to cost me a whole lot of money? Box changes fine, no searching, smooth changes, no clunking.

Thanks in advance for any advice,

Adam.

U will only ever get about 5l out of a ZF unless you drain the torque converter, oil cooler etc... so don't stress...

I just hope you did put 9l in when you did the service

If you do it yourself, no, you can't get it all out. So, you can do two changes back to back and get more of the old stuff out. Or, spend a little money and have a shop suck it all out . It's only about $50 here in the US including regular ATF.

Great,
Thanks for that guys. Maybe worth paying someone to change all the fluid every now and again.

Yeah, first time I did it I did put 9 litres in. I checked it before I drove it anywhere though, way too far up the dipstick. Just let the fluid out until it was where it was meant to be.

Thanks again,
Adam.