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Originally Posted by crystalworks
The biggest challenge is having 2 young kids, homeschooling, and having parents who are at that age when I am helping them more and more. Just did a full brake job on my Mom's QX70 yesterday and hung a new ceiling fan for her last week. My Dad's 535d comes in for a front end refresh during the Thanksgiving break.
But vehicle wise... yeah the DPF was a HUGE pain. On a 50i or 35i I could have the trans out and in over a weekend. Oh, also the waiting for parts. There was a ton of "while I'm in there" going on so that eats up a bunch of time. Finding a suitable trans took 8 months too. It all adds up.
On yours, are you sure you don't want to start with the 4 tube seals, bridge seal, and a fluid change (Valvoline Maxlife multivehicle)? Made my 4.8is shift like a brand new transmission. I had been driving around the 2-1 slam for years. Now I don't even think about the trans. If the seal service doesn't fix it you could then progress to a valve body rebuild. And then lastly replace the trans. Could save you a bunch of time and money. I had no codes on the 6hp in the 4.8is either and did the trans service at about your mileage (~123k if memory serves).
The torque converter is just hard to keep engaged on the input shaft of the trans while you are maneuvering it all back onto the engine. There is bottom access that helps if you remember to check it while mounting everything. I did not and had to back the bellhousing back off. Also, you 100% need a trans jack.
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I hear you man, sounds like we're in very similar boats: I've got 3 young kids, my wife working her job from home while I'm in the office doing 8-8 right now, house projects, car projects, etc. I get myself slammed as I insist on doing practically all the work myself, but I'm *almost* to the point where I've got to start farming some items out lest I drown in unfinished projects.
In my situation, I started with bridge + tube seals & new ZF solenoids, fluid change (LifeGuard 6) and new pan. That helped for a while, but it eventually went back to its old ways. Next logical step was valve body rebuild, which I had done by the same folks you used. Again, some parts of shifting were better, others went back to the way they were before. In the last 6-9 months, the 2-1 slam showed up and is getting worse. As I mentioned before, I also replaced the front axles (bad outer joints), rear axles (torn boots) & put new tires on, so I've hit almost all of the mechanical things that factor into shift quality that are exterior to the transmission. This all leads me to believe the issues are the common bushing wear internal to the transmission and that there's not much else to do but fix it properly.
Up until about a week ago, I was ready to take it to a shop and "prepared" to shell out the $3k+ to have mine rebuilt. Your thread & experience has led me to try the same thing as I'm not out that much if it doesn't work: I just sourced an 80k mile transmission from an E70 with the 4.8 for $950 shipped. According to the pictures, it is the same ZF model number (1068 050 009) as mine, so I believe I'll be able to just put my valve body in and go.
I now have to decide if I want to just pay a shop to swap it for me or tackle it myself. I have buddies with a QuickJack & transmission jack that I can borrow from and my garage is heated too... just have to make room. Annnnd convince my wife to give me a solid weekend to hit this without distractions. If I do the job, I will also plan to put in a new starter, guibo & likely change the transfer case mount as well.
At the end of the day, if this doesn't pan out, then my transmission is at least out of the car and I'm only out about $1k. I can then either have someone rebuild it that I trust (such as Gary Ferraro in NY) or I can stupidly start another project myself.
Regardless, I appreciate your willingness to document your journey, it's helped out a ton.