ZF oil change

[pattypape]

Hi Bruce,

In Oct 04, I changed to Transynd, I am not a big fan of synthetics.
Still use dino oil in the 3208 and rear axle.
But hoped that Transynd would tolerate the heat generated by the
retarder better. The procedure is in the ZF Blue Book, nothing
special, just pull the plug , drain, replace the filter and gasket.
In 2004 the Transynd was $35 per gallon & filter # 4139298038 was
$35.
The system holds about 8 Gallon, almost 5 gallon for a change.
I had no leaks and did not want to create any, so I did not drain
the cooler, this holds about another gallon.

Do not know what Transynd cost today (Expensive)
This is the, if it costs more, it must be better theory

I use the retarder all the time , works great, I have no real
experience or data that ensures that this is a good decision.
The plan is to change it again and spend more $ to further dilute
the Dextron.
This is one of those piece of mind personal decisions for me.
We need to take care of the ZF, it is great and the retarder to even
better than great.
One must keep an eye on the temp gage. The retarder heats up the ZF
quickly,

Bill 88 FC Michigan


--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "birdshill123"
wrote:
>
> I am considering changing the oil in my ZF tranny to a synthetic.
> According to the ZF web site this will allow me to go 2 years and
up to
> 75,000 km depending on the brand of oil. Transynd and ZF oil have
the
> longest change interval. I also noticed that with Dexron the
interval
> is every year. However I would think that the synthetic would
handle
> the heat from the "retarder" better than dino oil. Then I opened
up my
> Blue Box and it shows the capacity as 47 quarts!! I realize that
not
> all the oil will drain but that is still a lot of oil. Questions:
Have
> any of you changed to a synthetic? Does ZF have a special
procedure for
> this ( Allison does). Do you think it is worth the expense (
about
> $5.00 a quart or more)? Any tips on changing the oil? BTW : For
any
> Amway, oops I mean Amsoil lovers, this oil is not on the approved
list.
>
> Bruce 1988 FC 35
>