Keeping your ZF cool

[prydey]

I wonder if Ford's blurb in the owner's manual "sealed for life" was a factor in any of these failures...

interestingly, my dealer told me ford recommend servicing at 150000km. i've mentioned it before in years gone by, and was given the 'sealed for life' speech. back then the car was probably still under warranty. i wonder if they revert to a km value once the car gets to a certain age.

either way, by km and year, my car is long overdue (160000km) although there are no signs that anything is wrong.

[defective]

Even though the risk of a milkshake is there, I'd still rather that than buy one with the 5 speed auto. No wonder ford dropped them quick.

[prydey]

Repco had 25% off storewide this weekend. ZF life guard 6 = $27.75/L - bargain!

If i wasn't getting a new heat exchanger as well, that would put the trans service from Ford at under $500, which is pretty good for dealer service price.

[dash gt]

Theres a dealer service campaign on all 5.4 FG's fitted with ZF's.

This includes XR8 Sedan, XR8 ute, 5.4 FPV variants.

[defective]

Theres a dealer service campaign on all 5.4 FG's fitted with ZF's.

This includes XR8 Sedan, XR8 ute, 5.4 FPV variants.

V8 still used the cooler inside the radiator didn't it?

[prydey]

V8 still used the cooler inside the radiator didn't it?

yes.

[4Vman]

I See Rob you're still surveying the market.

I found this comment on the cooler bypass interesting;

They don't do it because it has a negative affect on the transmission. My tuner has first hand experience of the effects of oil/air cooler only. And that is premature wear and irregular shift patterns.

With the amount of ZF falcons and territory's on the road the % of failures is minuscule.

Obviously it's nice to keep temps less than 100c , so if you have a high performance car or tow, an oil/air cooler in series with a factory heat exchanger is ideal

Another factor is changing the coolant with the correct type at the recommended intervals.

[prydey]

my car is done. trans serviced with LG6 fluid and new exchanger fitted for peace of mind.

[olfella]

I think as long as you are happy about what you have done then thats all thats needed.
I did it to my BA as it did seem common back then, but left my BF, FG and FGII OEM. Mate bought my FG and it still has no issues. The FGII (2013 Ecoboost) has the exchanger located on the gearbox.
To many opinions/guesses out there about sand, vibration, temp, electrolysis even incompatibility of components with the oil but nothing concrete. Also, the problem was not unique to Ford. In the early days nissan, mercedes and others suffered milkshakes, but not now.

So until someone actually pulls apart a failed unit and can tell my why it failed, then I am happy leaving things as they are.