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      02-19-2020, 08:35 AM   #1
stone7
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ZF 8hp ATF changed out.... great results

My F series N63TU hooked up to a ZH 8HP transmission was starting to show her age with cold starts and rough shifts in the morning. Only about 55k miles but the car is 7 years old so I thought about changing out the ATF. Changed out the original ZF 8 oil for Liqui Moly 1800 ATF and could not be happier with the results so far. Car shifts much better on cold starts. Warm performance is the sign; cannot really tell a difference there.

Picked up 4 ramps and a long arm floor jack to get the car up to work on her. Easy enough to drain, took out the drain plug, unbolted all the T40 bolts. Had to run out and get an 8mm allen key wrench because my 8mm hex driver bit would not fit between the body and the ZF 8HP tranny. Original "lifetime fill" ATF did not smell too bad but was fairly blackened. Draining the original oil is the easy part. Refilling is the hard part.

I pulled off the old pan, removed old gasket bits, and installed a new ZF pan. The refill job is messy and not my favorite to do. The first cold fill is easy enough but I wish I had used a fluid pump to get the liquid back into the pan. The Liqui Moly 1800 comes with a tube where you can fill the tranny but it is a difficult angle and not all of the ATF will come out of the bottle with the included tube.

Finishing up the fill requires the car to be running and I had to row through the gears P->R->P->R 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 etc. and then go back down under and fill the ATF while the ATF oil was between 40-50C. (Used a thermal gun to get an idea of temperature) Filling the ATF while the car is running and exhaust pipes are hot is not a fun job.

When I first started the car back up, I was a little nervous because the tranny made some strange noises. These noises went away after I drove the car and raced through the gears a few times after she was warm. Cold starts are no issue for the tranny now. Very happy with the results. Will drain and fill again shortly to get as much of the original ZF 8 fluid out and as much Liqui Moly 1800 in.

Given that the ZF 8HP is used in so many cars these days, we see differing OEM recommendations for maintenance. BMW claims lifetime fill. Other manufacturers using the same transmission are recommending 60k ATF changes. Some high performance models use the 8HP and dump the ATF after 30k. Given the performance improvement I see, I support the ATF change at 60k.
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      02-20-2020, 07:23 PM   #2
Sedoy
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Thanks for the info, did you use ISTA to reprogram?
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      02-20-2020, 11:21 PM   #3
stone7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sedoy View Post
Thanks for the info, did you use ISTA to reprogram?
Based on my research, ZF 8HP does not need reprogramming after an ATF change. I am happy with the end result so I think this information was accurate.

If I need to drive the car like I stole it, I am switching to Sport+ mode anyways.
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