2014 Carbon Pro Transmission Fluid Change??????

[oldmanskier]

I have a 2014 CP with a PCM 5.7 Excab engine.

The transmission is a ZF/ZFE 45A made in Italy. Boat has 350 hours on it.

ZF manual says change after first 25 hours and every 300 hours after that.

As a winter time project I was going to change the transmission fluid.

To drain fluid I will use a manual oil suction extractor with a new clean hose.

ZF Manual mentions that filter element should be replaced on transmission fluid change.

 

Questions:

ZF Manual gives details but no illustrations on changing element.

Anyone changed one of these filter elements on a CP with this type of transmission?

 

Manual says fill with ATF oil for Automatic gear boxes.

It gave an extensive list of fluids to use in the ZF manual. It covers the world.

The ones I saw for the “US” was:

Chevron ATF F-30108, CITGO ATF DEXRON III F-30167

Anyone recommend a particular Transmission fluid for my boat?

Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Oldmanskier

 

[dbutcher]

You must be the only one who ever changes transmission oil in a Carbon Pro. At least no one has responded. I don't have a CP, but I have changed the oil and filter in a ZF transmission. It was a ZF63 if memory serves. The filter was almost hidden. I would not have known it was there if I hadn't read the manual. My manual read similarly if not identically to yours. I used one of the U.S. ATFs recommended in the manual, and it worked fine. I've always believed that you should have the oil at normal operating temperature when you pump it out. Warm oil flows out easier. Any dirt in it will be in suspension (instead of settled to the bottom) and therefore more likely to get pumped out. For that reason, consider making it a spring instead of winter project. There are generic filters for ZF transmissions that are considerably cheaper than ZF filters, but I don't know if the quality is equal.

[bishop8950]

The advice I have been given is when your boat gets full time slalom course duty (lots of stopping and starting) you should change the trans fluid every 100hrs and we do. We are doing fluid only and not the filter. We do it when the boat is hot and it only takes a few minutes. Its also only 2qts of fluid so its super cheap. We do have a Carbon Pro but I would do the same in any boat we run as hard as ours. 600hrs per season.

[dbutcher]

@bishop8950 Is there a reason you don't change the filter? It seems like that's where the dirt and/or contamination would be.

[bishop8950]

I did not know there was a filter and the experts never mentioned it. I was just following instructions

[oldjeep]

My .02

Only thing that would ever wind up in the filter is clutch material or dirt that you added with your fluid - trans is a sealed system. Make sure you are working clean when checking/replacing fluid and you shouldn't ever have to change a trans filter unless your clutches are eating themselves - in which case the trans is going to need to come apart anyways.

[oldmanskier]

Having no replies for a few days had me wondering what was wrong with my post.

Taking boat to lake tomorrow to run up and down lake to let gas stabilizer get into system. I will then drain all water and put in RV antifreeze for winter storage in my garage. Probably wait till spring for Transmission oil Change.

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions.

Oldmanskier

 

[dancin4]

I looked up the element and ZF3312199031 cost is $52.00 on E-bay.

The manual shows the driver's side has a 6MM Allen(hex) wrench to remove cap.

Since I paid for the 25 hour service and the 100 hour alignment it will be interesting to if it was changed. Oil changed in trans every 100 hours...comes out clean.

There is no place that comes up for a cross reference so far...?

[dbutcher]

merequipment.com has generic filters for ZF transmissions. I know nothing about them.

[oldmanskier]

I have been trying to find the below Transmission fluid for my 2014 Carbon Pro with a ZF/ZFE 45A transmission made in Italy.

Manual says fill with ATF oil for Automatic gear boxes.

It gave an extensive list of fluids to use in the ZF manual. It covers the world.

The ones I saw for the “US” was:

Chevron ATF F-30108, CITGO ATF DEXRON III F-30167

I have not been able to find the Chevron or CITGO listed any where on the web for sale.

Anyone know where to find these particular Transmission fluid brands or know of anything comparable to the Chevron or CITGO listed above?

Thanks for any information you might have.

Oldmanskier

[gregy]

I'd say get a good quality name brand with a Dexron III rating.

[robscholl-OF]

I have a 2014 CP w/5.7 and a 2015 CP w/6.0 One has 300 hours and the other 600 hours. I use Royal Purple Dex3 rated synthetic trans fluid and have never had and issue and my transmissions are quieter and work great. OF

[dancin4]

Oldmanskier, I see on page 61 of the manual also list Valvoline USA list multipurpose ATF as an acceptable trans fluid. For our Toyota made cars we use the 100% synthetic trans oil since some of the "world" oils don't last in the 2.4L auto transmission and AZ carries gallons for around $25.

dbutcher...I looked at that website but cannot get a cross ref to what I need...but not sure I have the correct numbers...it brought up a spin on filter (maybe for the engine?)

 

 

 

[oldjeep]

Dextron doesn't license dex3 any more so you can either buy what is normally called dex/merc on the label and make sure they say it is meets the dex 3 standard or use Dextron 4 . I just use Valvoline dex/merc in everything.

 

[dbutcher]

@dancin I don't know how to make a short link, but this is not intended to be a link you can click on. Try merequipment.com/products/filter-kit-generic5.aspx

 

You may need to know the model number of your transmission - like ZF45 or something.

[oldmanskier]

Thanks for all the information.

It appears the Valvoline DEX/MERC oldjeep detailed or Royal Purple Dex3 rated synthetic robscholl-OF suggested or Valvoline multipurpose ATF dancin suggested may be the easiest to find.

I will take a look at these. Thanks again for all the information.

Hope to do the transmission fluid change in the next week or so.

oldmanskier.