**

 

Well, it appears your fluid DID last the lifetime of the transmission....

(Hint: Each post YOU make has a little icon of 3 dots on the top right .... if you click on this, you will see an option to "Edit"...you can correct your own posts!)

A couple of things. You say you dont have the money for a new car or a trans. If you trans dies, is the plan to walk?!? Not to be a smart ask, but this might not be a situation where 'oh it wont be perfect but its fine for my use". Just saying, you may be asking us "what is the cheapest way to rebuild this trans"

The classic death of an AT is as follows:

• Dont change fluid
• Fluid begins to fail. Gets thinnner, loses lubricating properties, leads to sloppy shifting- not really noticeable, but slight
• This slippage leads to wear- clutches, parts- and crap begins to load the fluid... sludge/debris is distributed throughout the trans. It is in the passageways of the mechatronics (aka 'valve body'). It can lead to sloppy solediud actuation or pressure variations in the system.- further leading to accelerated damage

This all goes on without much notice.

Then something changes- and an owner finds god. They change fluid. (you used the wrong fluid, but this is the least of your worries). Unfortunately, you now have 'good fluid' but a trans that has sludge, fouling, worn parts. (and NO way to know exactly what the issue IS.... It would be nice for you if someone here could say "oh, yeah, its the 1-2 shift whooohaaa- just channge that and do another fluid change and it will be fine?. Given how far along this likely is, I dont think a ZF engineer could tell you what precisely is wrong or what will recover it.)

Now...what does this mean?
"So I dropped the pan, pulled the mechatronic seals/sleeves, replaced it all. "

You replaced the pan and the entire mechatronics? or something else?
You replace the filter? (Integrated into the pan)

Replacing the fluid wont cost much, but I wouldnt hold out much hope.

 

Quick comment.. you mentioned you got ~8L out and 6L in. That seems odd. When you checked the fill level was the engine running? The engine needs to be running or you will under fill the transmission. Are you using a diagnostic tool to read the internal transmission temperature so you know when to install the overflow plug?

 

Thank you both for replies.... robinasu I think you've hit the nail on the head.. I went back last night and re-watched few videos and how to.. and I realized that I did not do the final fill while running. So I am guessing I might be low. Drove in to work today (I do 120km each way every day), no issues, mind you I was extra gentle on it.
I'll be adding more oil while warmed up and running tomorrow. Hopefully that will resolve some of the issues.

I used a laser thermometer to check the pan temp. Got it up to 40*C. I also used the Foxwell to do the reset/adaptations.

* I had replaced the seals and sleeve only on the mechatronic, and replaced the pan with the integrated filter.

 

Good catch, did not pick that up from the first post.

Let us know how it goes....

 

When under-filled the control circuit pump will lose prime as the fluid sloshes around due to bumps, hard turns, etc. When this happens the transmission will misbehave and the lubrication circuits will be interrupted, so best to add the fluid ASAP. Let us know how the transmission performs when the fluid level is correct - it's an interesting data point considering the mileage and fluid change history.

 

Will do thank you. And I think you're right, bcz the slip/malfunction happened while driving up a hill. So I'm guessing the already low level of oil combined with most of it sitting in the one pocket of the tranny caused it to loose pressure.....?

 

Sounds likely in your situation. I did the same thing filling mine and it’s been fine since setting the level correctly.

 

lets hope.

My only concern would be that you had some tranny issues BEFORE you had the low fill event. Time will tell

 

Hopefully it was old fluid to start. After 300k miles I could imagine some fluid lost to vaporization. Probably mainly old fluid. In this situation, if it was me, I would get the level right, run a couple thousand, drain and refill (no filter change) a couple times with a 2000 in between, and go from there. This assumes it's not acting too weird. After that, maybe it's worth rolling the dice replacing the solenoids and using a sonnax zip kit if it's shifting hard or flaring a little.

I would not reset the adaptions again until you understand the risks. Some on the forums have done that on higher mileage gearboxes and it got to a bad state.

 

So turns out it WAS underfilled. I warmed it up, leveled it, and kept it running this time, and I was able to add another 1.7L - so my total out is almost 8, and total in is 7.7L
The tranny is acting a LOT better now. It is still bit finicky going from 1st to 2nd... very slight jerk... 2nd to 3rd is almost not noticeable.. and the rest is fine and smooth.
I plan on doing another drain and fill in about a month.

Took me few days to get it running, I decided to replace my valve cover gasket, as I have been loosing about 1L of engine oil every 2 weeks. The entire engine block is completely covered with oil.
Finally decided to give it a try.
The gasket went in smooth. While in there I decided to clean the injectors. I built my own injector puller out of a 12 inch nail and a lug nut. I watched few videos on how to take the injectors apart and clean the tips... needless to say I could NOT disassemble the damn things. I even used a pipe wrench on one, and it dug in deep into the wall, but it wouldn't budge. I was afraid of breaking the injectors, so I decided to clean the tips! Yes I read that you're not supposed to touch them in order to prevent plugging up the holes, but I did it anyways. I soaked the tips in pure acetone for 10 mins, and then cleaned them off with a rag, and then sprayed with carb cleaner, and then finished off with compressed air. I used a magnifying glass, and the holes appeared to be ok.
Put it all back together, and then spent the next 2 days trying to start the car.... it just wouldn't start. I thought I had messed it up this time for good.
Then I found out that you have to bleed/purge the gas lines once all is disconnected.
That took another day learning about, and purging all 6 injectors and lines and then the rail also.

Anyways, long story shot, the damn thing fired up! Runs like butter now. 3 days later, still good, no codes anything.

Also, I used to put in injector cleaners every 3-4 fillups.... turns out they didn't do much. The tips were very dirty and fuzzy with soot when I pulled the injectors out.

 

Oh good. Yeah your fluid was shot. ZF says the fluid should be changed every 100,000 kilometers. So dumb BMW says it’s lifetime.

Maybe drive it well and get it nice and hot until you drain and fill. Before changed the filter and fluid at 100k my 1-2 shift was pretty hard when cold; 2-3 was not smooth, too, and 2-1 clunked here and there. I used Mercon SP for a couple thousand, then did a drain and fill with Redline D6, and will do that when I change the fuel filter in 20k. Fuel filter is every 30k. Have you ever changed that? Might want to if not. lol

Glad all is better knock on wood. Were the holes on the injector tips not round? I can imagine the rest being covered in combustion products. If the holes were blocked up then the injector cleaner didn’t do much. That stuff requires high concentration to work, if at all, in my opinion.

 

Also, you are brave messing with the injectors. If those are the original injectors that is pretty good. Maybe the injector cleaner kept the insides more clean.

 

I change the fuel filter every 60k.. when I empty them, clear diesel comes out.. never had any gunk come out.
As much as this truck has been a PIA... I must say, it keeps ticking.. I've towed more than supposed to, took it into the bush, pulled logs with it, drove it in 3ft+ high snow without ever getting stuck.. Never cared for specific gas stations or cetane percentages, I change oil on average every 30k (I drive a lot and can't justify changing oil more frequently).. at times I ran low on oil because the damn valve gasket was shot for over a year.. and so on.. and it keeps running. It is a beast. Mind you it keeps breaking down and dying on me, but I keep somehow resurrecting it and getting it back on the road. Was at the dealer only once for a snapped pulley bolt and shot alternator and battery as result, otherwise only I have ever worked on it over the years.

Injectors are original.. I bought it with 35k on it.. no work had been done on it before

 

I plan on cutting a fuel filter open next time. I suspect the 30k is pretty conservative, like you suggest. What kind of engine oil do you use?

 

I've used the dealer oil until recently (5w30 twinpower). Since last year I've switched to Rotella T6 5w40. Much cheaper (esp when on sale) and I don't see any difference at all.

 

Well you are using long drain intervals and that is a data point that the factory “long file” oil seems to last. I would be more conservative with the rotella T6. The good thing about the T6 is it’s compatible with your DPF depending on the grade- the 5-40 is MB 228.31, so it’s dpf friendly. I believe the difference between the .31 and .51 is the drain interval. I would watch out for that. The .31 oils are probably not close to the factory BMW “LL” oils.

 

I deleted DPF 2 years ago heh. Don't think I would have been able to keep the truck this long otherwise.

 

Carry on lol

 

Just an update.. been almost a week now since I properly filled the transmission, and also did the injectors cleaning and valve cover gasket replacement. I drive it about 200 miles a day on average, mostly highway. I have pushed it just over 110mph the other day and no issues.
The truck runs like butter. I am actually surprised and impressed. Stepping on the gas hard when accelerating pushes me nicely into the seat. It has been few years since I have felt the truck accelerate effortlessly.
I still plan on doing another drain and fill in about a month - I definitely wish I did the tranny oil change years ago. Pentosin seems to work just fine.

 

Right on. Glad you had a good outcome.

Yes, there is nothing special about the BMW trans fluid except the price. I have 50% Mercon SP and 50% Redline D6. Filled 100% Mercon SP when I changed the filter. After a couple thousand I did a drain and fill with the Redline D6. I’ll drain and fill with the D6 for a while when I see it on sale.

As for motor oil, the Penzoil Euro L is cheap and is BMW LL04. Walmart has it.