[Slick_FThirty]

Hello,

I did my transmission oil change today. Changed both the pan and fluid. I followed the FCP Euro guide on this (https://blog.fcpeuro.com/how-to-serv...p-transmission) and bought the kit from them.

1. When I removed the fill bolt to start the removal procedure, oil was gushing out of the fill port. I was very surprised. Should this not be level with the fill port as per the level checking procedure? Car was cold, aside of running for 10 minutes for repositioning in the garage.

2. In relation to 1., the amount of fluid I put in was about 3.5L roughly. Much less than what came out (very concerning), and kit included 7 litres (yikes). I did the cold fill, went through some gears, turned the engine on and waited for the fluid temperature to increase (about 35 Celsius), shut the car off, and checked the fluid. It was trickling out of the fill hole and did not require any more fluid. Once again, I was surprised.
Should the car have kept running during the top-up?

3. In regards to 1. and 2. I've been worried about the fluid not being enough, and thinking of taking it to my indie just to be sure everything is alright. I feel I followed the steps sufficiently, but I'm having doubts now.
I took it for a brief test drive and it shifted better than before. 3,4,5 were buttery smooth, unlike before.

Are there any other tricks that I missed? I just swapped the pan, pumped the fluid, went through the gears, turned engine on to increase temp, turned car off, checked fluid, pumped some more, and closed the fill port while it was trickling, with the intention that slightly more fluid is a possible safeguard.
Note: the temperature was an estimate. I didn't have an app or device that could specifically read the transmission temperature. It felt warm to my fingers, but definitely not burning. I feel it was in the 30 to 50 Celsius range, and proceeded.

One half of the car was lower on the fill side by 0.5 inches than the other just due to the concrete.

I would have more confidence if the car would monitor the level and notify me if the fluid was running low. Or just a dip stick (why is there no dip stick??) The thought of unnoticed oil leaks, especially due to the under-car coverings is also very concerning.

Thoughts?

[obert]

I believe they give you 7 incase you drain the converter as well.

I just did mine as well and yes it shouldn’t have been gushing out when you pulled the fill plug. Mine was not.

I to followed their DIY and my car took about 5qts.

My car wasn’t completely level so I made sure it was before I did the second fill.

In for other answers as well.

[Slick_FThirty]

Originally Posted by obert

I just did mine as well and yes it shouldn't have been gushing out when you pulled the fill plug. Mine was not.

Wonder how that happened to mine. Took ownership of the car (2013 328i) last year at 60k km, so I really doubt someone would have changed it. Or maybe they topped it up wrong. Or somethings wrong with the car?


How did you shift through the gears? I was confused about going between 1 to 3, 1 to 4, and 1 to 8.
My car would only allow 1 and 2. I then realized that holding the gear shifter down, as opposed to releasing immediately kept the gear there, instead of going back to M2(?). So I just did that for the procedure.

[obert]

Originally Posted by Slick_FThirty

Wonder how that happened to mine. Took ownership of the car (2013 328i) last year at 60k km, so I really doubt someone would have changed it. Or maybe they topped it up wrong. Or somethings wrong with the car?


How did you shift through the gears? I was confused about going between 1 to 3, 1 to 4, and 1 to 8.
My car would only allow 1 and 2. I then realized that holding the gear shifter down, as opposed to releasing immediately kept the gear there, instead of going back to M2(?). So I just did that for the procedure.

I quickly shift through them all just as you did and in reverse as well.

I will check mine when I do my next oil change.

[Slick_FThirty]

Originally Posted by obert

I quickly shift through them all just as you did and in reverse as well.

I will check mine when I do my next oil change.

Glad to hear I did something right. I put it in drive and reverse at least 20 times, probably more.

I wouldn't have a problem checking it, but the fact it has to be lifted off the ground and level is very cumbersome, at least with what I have available. Hence, why the dipstick was invented probably a century ago.

[montr]

I have not done a transmission oil change on the 8 speed ZF but I have done it on my E90 6 speed ZF. The oil level MUST be flush with the side plug while engine running and car is level.

To do this, my car was jack up and secure, a ramp for the front wheels and 2 jack stands in the back. I used a funnel and attached a long clear hose. I was able to fill the transmission from the top of engine bay while engine running. When the level was right, car still running, I went under the car, disconnected the filling hose and installed the plug.

If the engine is off, oil level will appears to be too high.

[Slick_FThirty]

What could an overfilled transmission cause?

[Slick_FThirty]

Originally Posted by montr

I have not done a transmission oil change on the 8 speed ZF but I have done it on my E90 6 speed ZF. The oil level MUST be flush with the side plug while engine running and car is level.

To do this, my car was jack up and secure, a ramp for the front wheels and 2 jack stands in the back. I used a funnel and attached a long clear hose. I was able to fill the transmission from the top of engine bay while engine running. When the level was right, car still running, I went under the car, disconnected the filling hose and installed the plug.

If the engine is off, oil level will appears to be too high.

I have read this about some transmissions as you mentioned. Also, some DIY videos specified this for the ZF8HP. After seeing the fluid level being the same, I started to think about this.

However, I have not found this specifically stated in some of the more official sources, including the FCP Euro guide. If it would be a profound requirement, I would imagine they would state this.

[Jimmert]

I think montr already made the right comment. The oil level in the oil pan should only be flush with the engine RUNNING. That’s why it originally came out gushing through the fill hole. When the engine is running, oil is sucked from the reservoir to the torque converter that leads to an ‘normal’ filled oil pan. Once you shutdown the engine, oil seeps back to the reservoir that makes it look like it was overfilled (and it can exit through the fill hole). This is absolutely normal.

In all manuals it says clearly that the final top-up is with a running engine, else you underfill your transmission, like in your case.

[Slick_FThirty]

Originally Posted by Jimmert

I think montr already made the right comment. The oil level in the oil pan should only be flush with the engine RUNNING. That's why it originally came out gushing through the fill hole. When the engine is running, oil is sucked from the reservoir to the torque converter which leads to an 'normal' filled oil pan. Once you shutdown the engine, oil seeps back to the reservoir that makes it look like it was overfilled (and it can exit throught the fill hole). This is absolutely normal.

In all manuals it says clearly that the final top-up is with a running engine, else you underfill your transmission, like in your case.

Thank you. Embarrassing on my part, but it so happens that the documentation I was looking at did not mention this. I favoured the document over the YouTube videos.

Fortunately, I haven't driven it much. It was about 3km and 5 minutes, low speeds 50kph. Do you think this caused any problems? Shifted very well.

[obert]

Thanks for all the comments. I will be double checking mine this weekend.

[Slick_FThirty]

Originally Posted by obert

Thanks for all the comments. I will be double checking mine this weekend.

Did you fill with the engine running? Did you drive yours?

[Slick_FThirty]

FCP Euro post wasn't clear on this. It just says the following:

""Just like before, continue adding more transmission fluid until it begins to overflow. ""

Just like before means filling the fluid with the car off until it overflows. The initial fill was done with the car off.

Will need to verify my sources next time.

[gzN26]

You will almost never use the full 7 Qts of fluid unless you are doing a flush (which isn’t recommended). It should just be a drain and fill...some oil will stay behind and that is normal. That’s why you only use a few bottles. Every car is different and people change trans pan/oil at different intervals. Requiring either more or less oil. I recently did the same service but took it to an indie and they only used 5 out of the 7 it came with. Sent the other 2 bottles back to FCP and got a store credit.

As long as you followed everything to a T, you should be okay.

Hope this helps.

[Jimmert]

Originally Posted by Slick_FThirty

Thank you. Embarrassing on my part, but it so happens that the documentation I was looking at did not mention this. I favoured the document over the YouTube videos.

Fortunately, I haven't driven it much. It was about 3km and 5 minutes, low speeds 50kph. Do you think this caused any problems? Shifted very well.

In step 8 of the FCPeuro manual, it also doesn’t say you should turn off your engine(nor it explicitely says to keep it running, that’s true, but it was already on). 8g talkes about the all important tc filling step, but that only holds if you keep it on.

I don’t believe you already damaged your transmission. With too little oil it wont shift and with a small delta there will be longterm effects. Just finish what you’ve started and have a lesson learned. You’re not the first, when I wanted to do ‘just’ an oil level check on my 6HP, it also came gushing out (forgot to turn on engine) and I had to fill it again (2L).

[Slick_FThirty]

Originally Posted by gzN26

You will almost never use the full 7 Qts of fluid unless you are doing a flush (which isn't recommended). It should just be a drain and fill...some oil will stay behind and that is normal. That's why you only use a few bottles. Every car is different and people change trans pan/oil at different intervals. Requiring either more or less oil. I recently did the same service but took it to an indie and they only used 5 out of the 7 it came with. Sent the other 2 bottles back to FCP and got a store credit.

As long as you followed everything to a T, you should be okay.

Hope this helps.

Thanks. I have around 3 litres in there now, which I guess isn't terribly far off. Not like it's dry.
Only drove it 3-4km. Hopefully it will be okay.

One indie said it should be fine to drive it to his shop, as long as it is low speeds. The other one said I should have it towed because it is a risk. Opposite opinions lol.
Thoughts?

Guess I won't be sleeping for the next few weeks.

[Slick_FThirty]

Originally Posted by Jimmert

In step 8 of the FCPeuro manual, it also doesn't say you should turn off your engine(nor it explicitely says to keep it running, that's true, but it was already on). 8g talkes about the all important tc filling step, but that only holds if you keep it on.

I don't believe you already damaged your transmission. With too little oil it wont shift and with a small delta there will be longterm effects. Just finish what you've started and have a lesson learned. You're not the first, when I wanted to do 'just' an oil level check on my 6HP, it also came gushing out (forgot to turn on engine) and I had to fill it again (2L).

Thanks. I see what you mean. I just feel that since it makes such a big difference to have the engine on, they should explicitly state that. In all the posts I've read where it was mentioned, running the engine was only casually and briefly mentioned. I didn't realize it's significance.
It just seemed like a preference. Some people left it on, others left it off type thing.

[Slick_FThirty]

Any links to the proper procedure?

[obert]

Originally Posted by Slick_FThirty

Did you fill with the engine running? Did you drive yours?

Off as well

Should have known better but just like you I followed the video and didn’t think twice about them not mentioning to turn if off.

I am a little worried but my car shifts fine and it’s not that low. I will put more in it this weekend.

[Slick_FThirty]

Originally Posted by obert

Off as well

Should have known better but just like you I followed the video and didn't think twice about them not mentioning to turn if off.

I am a little worried but my car shifts fine and it's not that low. I will put more in it this weekend.

Concerning to think about all the people who may have made this mistake. Leaving the car on is just not obvious after reading through the post and watching the video, but is so important. I don't understand how this could not be included, and by saying ""just as before"" they are suggesting to top it off while the car is off.

Their YouTube video has a lot of views and so does their blog post.

[Jimmert]

Originally Posted by Slick_FThirty

Any links to the proper procedure?

Website: https://aftermarket.zf.com/us/en/aft...on-oil-change/

PDF manual

[Slick_FThirty]

How do you run it through the gears?

Just foot on the brake pedal and let the engine run at idle speed, and put it into manual mode, and with the gear lever, just flick and hold the next gear? Do I need to do anything with the gas pedal?

When I switch gears, it always goes back to gear 2, so when I switch to gear 3 for example, I need to hold the lever and not let go, and then quickly flick again to switch to 4 and again not let go. Is this the right approach?

I know I need to rev it at 2,000 rpm, 30 seconds at idle/park, correct?