[Chriztofor]

Originally Posted by acthad

Hi,
So I ordered the trans oil change kit from thecstsc.com for my n52/ZF 6 Spd Auto

I am not sure how much fluid I had to begin with since I had a leaking trans pan.

So I drained about 3.5-5.5 quarts cold, changed the pan/filter. Then when cold I was only able to add 2.8 qts back in. But I realized later the car was not level.

I could not get the car perfectly level with mismatched jack stands, so I jacked up the rear an inch to compensate and level the car out during the fill process.

So I closed the drain plug, warmed up the car, shifted through the gears until I got a transmission malfunction warning light. I got the same metallic tapping sound that others had mentioned during this time from the trans. I warmed up the car about 10 mins, the pan was still cold, but it took me a few minutes to undo the fill plug with the allen wrench.

I was worried it would be too hot to work on, but it never got hot since it is cold in Chicago now ~45 degrees F ambient in my garage. I just kept pumping until all 6 bottles of my ZF Lifeguard6 were empty. So 6 Liters in all.

I shut the motor off to try to combine some of the leftover clean oil from the bottom of the bottles. When I started it back up to fill another .3 Liter, the trans malfunction indicator and metallic tapping sound went away, whew! Next I shifted through the gears again, then pumped the .3 liter I had left.

Put 6 Liters in and it still did not overflow out the fill hole. So I must have been pretty low with my leak. Per a previous post it can hold up to 9.5 Liters? So I cannot overfill it right? Should I buy 3-4 more liters? Since the torque converter can hold ~ 1 liter etc?

I was tempted to use the old oil to top it off, but it was pretty dark since the leak may have sucked in dirt when under vacuum. I had jerky performance on the 2-3 gear changed, and sport mode would give me whiplash sometimes. I wonder if those traits will go away after this service.

Or should I just see how it drives, then decide whether to buy more oil?

Thanks in Advance!

When your trans is warm I would open the fill plug and top off. Keep in mind, you are at the correct fluid level when oil comes out the fill plug, so technically if oil doesn't come out, it was low and you are not really topping off. NOTE: Don't open the fill plug when the trans is cold; it will gush out.