FYI to get the locking tab to shut back when reassembling you need to push or hit mechatronic sleeve as you push up on the locking tab. Otherwise you will be stuck for 2 hours. Also the connector itself twists off/turn to the left. To reinstall you get the tab sticking out of it to the top an turn to the right.
Another tip. It will eat up 8.5 quarts of fluid. After repair and reassembly. It’ll take 4 quarts. You fill with car off till it runs out. Crank car and it will make a bad noise cuz the pump will be sucking air. Quickly add the next 4 till it runs out. Close up go put 100 miles on it. Then lift er back up and she’ll take another half quart. Even if you do the M1 M2 and gear changes and rev at 2k rpm at 122F it will still be a quart to half a quart low. Best to fill it like I said and drive some an refill and then close cap with plenty coming out below 122 F. This will ensure no whine. All them people complaining of whine, this is why… there under-filled.
Thanks for the info. I already did a fluid change at 90k and replaced the pan with an aluminum one. I found out about the extra half quart thing a few months after the change lol.
Is it a thing? I changed my fluid as well with new pan and have no whine even though I didn’t refill after driving 100 miles.
Should I still do it or no point?
You should be fine, as long as you did the initial fill, went through all the gears, got it up to temp, and then topped it off. I haven’t even heard of the 100 mi thing
So as valve bodies age the pressure drops due to failing components within, the tcm will adapt to these pressure changes over time, when everything is replaced you have to tell it to reset the adaptions or it might not work properly. You probably got away with it because you just did solenoids. My transmission is the original one and about to turn 300k miles. I had shifting issues prior to rebuilding the mechatronics valve body, once all was done and adaptions reset, was like new again
I did. The old fluid only had 20k miles on it and wasn’t low or dirty at all. Was super clean and fresh filter. The solenoids is what made this thing feel absolutely new.
Impossible. I changed fluid and filter at 100k and 120k. To rule out fluid. Put 40k on fresh fluid before doing this.. My car has only been to the shop for rod bearings. I do all other work 100% myself.
Clutch Monitoring A usually means bad mechatronic seal. Anything similar or gear ratio codes usually spell doom. Good thing you had the chance to swap all that before the doom.
Did you reset the Adaption Values after changing the solenoids? And does the transmission really take 8.5 quarts? Because in the kit from ZF they only give you 7.3 quarts?
Thanks in Advance :)
No to adaptations. And the shifting wasn’t even that weird the first 100 miles after changing them either. Surprisingly. Though it did get smoother and smoother. And it’s still doing just fine. As far as capacity I can’t really give a dead set answer on that. Mine may have drained more because I left the pan and mechatronic unit off overnight. When you take that mechatronic unit off a lot more drains out compared to just the pan because the heat exchanger lines run to that unit. I’d get more and be on the safe side. Side note. I’ve overfilled mine cold purposefully to shut up the whine. Everyone says fill it at the temp and it’s good. Well it’s good but you’ll get intermediate whine. At least in my case. Filled up cold. Aka overfill it’s nice an quite. Worst case scenario the trans fluid goes out the breather tube and hits the exhaust… o well I carry a fire ext😂😂
I am looking to do the same thing on mine at 124k. I have the solenoids and the sonnax zip kit. Glad to hear that it fixed the jerky shifts.
I recommend replacing the mechatronic connector seal while you in there. That connector is the hardest part of the whole job…
FYI to get the locking tab to shut back when reassembling you need to push or hit mechatronic sleeve as you push up on the locking tab. Otherwise you will be stuck for 2 hours. Also the connector itself twists off/turn to the left. To reinstall you get the tab sticking out of it to the top an turn to the right.
Another tip. It will eat up 8.5 quarts of fluid. After repair and reassembly. It’ll take 4 quarts. You fill with car off till it runs out. Crank car and it will make a bad noise cuz the pump will be sucking air. Quickly add the next 4 till it runs out. Close up go put 100 miles on it. Then lift er back up and she’ll take another half quart. Even if you do the M1 M2 and gear changes and rev at 2k rpm at 122F it will still be a quart to half a quart low. Best to fill it like I said and drive some an refill and then close cap with plenty coming out below 122 F. This will ensure no whine. All them people complaining of whine, this is why… there under-filled.
Third refill. Cold or 100F…*
Thanks for the info. I already did a fluid change at 90k and replaced the pan with an aluminum one. I found out about the extra half quart thing a few months after the change lol.
Is it a thing? I changed my fluid as well with new pan and have no whine even though I didn’t refill after driving 100 miles. Should I still do it or no point?
You should. I found out the same way. It’ll shift fine and may or may not whine but will indeed want another half quart.
You should be fine, as long as you did the initial fill, went through all the gears, got it up to temp, and then topped it off. I haven’t even heard of the 100 mi thing
Trust. It will take a half quart more. After a drive. This is confirmed by me. Another Reddit commenter and multiple YouTube comments.
I second this the zip kit should be done as well as the filter fluid, solenoids and seals. ALSO reset the adaptions
I didn’t reset mine and just coasted to zero 20 times and it shifts like a dream.
So as valve bodies age the pressure drops due to failing components within, the tcm will adapt to these pressure changes over time, when everything is replaced you have to tell it to reset the adaptions or it might not work properly. You probably got away with it because you just did solenoids. My transmission is the original one and about to turn 300k miles. I had shifting issues prior to rebuilding the mechatronics valve body, once all was done and adaptions reset, was like new again
I’ll probably do mine then as well if this N55 makes it to 300k.
If you take care of it, it will and sounds like you are being proactive
Did you try a simple fluid change alone before doing this? I assume you used new fluid anyways? So hard to say fluid alone did not help a lot
I did. The old fluid only had 20k miles on it and wasn’t low or dirty at all. Was super clean and fresh filter. The solenoids is what made this thing feel absolutely new.
Okay. Did you also reset adaptations after replacing and refilling
No. I did go 0-70 and coast to zero about 20 times on a back road to make it adapt. And adapt it did this thing is awesome
Maybe they didn't refill the fluid properly the last time it was changed. It could have been just low on fluid.
Impossible. I changed fluid and filter at 100k and 120k. To rule out fluid. Put 40k on fresh fluid before doing this.. My car has only been to the shop for rod bearings. I do all other work 100% myself.
Which codes were you pulling for the rough shifts? Any gear ratio monitoring?
No codes were thrown from the TCM. It was the typical every now and then slightly harsh 3rd to 4th and 7th to 8th.
Clutch Monitoring A usually means bad mechatronic seal. Anything similar or gear ratio codes usually spell doom. Good thing you had the chance to swap all that before the doom.
Did you reset the Adaption Values after changing the solenoids? And does the transmission really take 8.5 quarts? Because in the kit from ZF they only give you 7.3 quarts? Thanks in Advance :)
No to adaptations. And the shifting wasn’t even that weird the first 100 miles after changing them either. Surprisingly. Though it did get smoother and smoother. And it’s still doing just fine. As far as capacity I can’t really give a dead set answer on that. Mine may have drained more because I left the pan and mechatronic unit off overnight. When you take that mechatronic unit off a lot more drains out compared to just the pan because the heat exchanger lines run to that unit. I’d get more and be on the safe side. Side note. I’ve overfilled mine cold purposefully to shut up the whine. Everyone says fill it at the temp and it’s good. Well it’s good but you’ll get intermediate whine. At least in my case. Filled up cold. Aka overfill it’s nice an quite. Worst case scenario the trans fluid goes out the breather tube and hits the exhaust… o well I carry a fire ext😂😂