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  #1  
Old 05-02-2022, 08:59 PM
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Transmission Problems after Flush & Service

Hi folks,

My 6HP26 seems to be giving me problems after I flushed the fluids and serviced the rubber components last month. Perhaps it is just low on fluid, but im having a hard time finding the symptoms of a low fluid scenario.

The car drives and shifts very well. In fact, better than it did before the service. My issue is when I try to push the car. It has a hard time shifting into the next gear when accelerating hard from low speed. Today I gassed it maybe 75% from around 20 mph and its almost like something inside squeaked and it slipped. I took it really easy after that. No trans failsafe. I also cleared the adaptations but I did this after initially changing the fluid, and the car seems to have adapted fine by now.
Im no transmission expert so my best and only guess would be that maybe there is not enough fluid when the transmission is demanding higher pressure (such as in a high load scenario)?

Some info on the fill; when pumping new fluid into the trans, I did so at the correct temperature, confirmed with INPA. At one point the temp shot up too fast, so I had to let the trans cool off. Once it cooled down to aprox. 35c, I filled it again until light drip.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, thank you all. It looks like I will be under the car again next weekend
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Old 05-02-2022, 09:03 PM
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Did you do the second pass fill *after* running through all the gears? If not, you're it's probably low. It takes a fair bit more ATF after the system has circulated the fluid after the first fill.
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Old 05-02-2022, 09:09 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by haigha View Post
Did you do the second pass fill *after* running through all the gears? If not, you're it's probably low. It takes a fair bit more ATF after the system has circulated the fluid after the first fill.
I followed the ZF procedure, shifting through the gears and what not. The trans lost a lot of fluid as the box sat open over night with the mechatronics out. I filled more than FCP even supplies with their kit. Perhaps it was still not enough, as the torque converter drained/filled (?) as well as the rest of the fluid passages.

My apologizes if my logic is wrong here; I do not quite understand the principles of how a torque converter functions.
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Old 05-02-2022, 09:18 PM
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Just in case: You had the engine running when you shifted through the gears, correct? I meant to write that in my initial reply.
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Old 05-02-2022, 09:21 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by haigha View Post
Just in case: You had the engine running when you shifted through the gears, correct? I meant to write that in my initial reply.
That is correct.
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Old 05-03-2022, 05:14 PM
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I did not want to wait until the weekend. I lifted the car again and leveled as per the running boards. Fired up the motor and began cycling through the gears. Opened fill port at 30c and no fluid came out. Filled it until it started to come out as a stream. Fluid continued coming out as a stream all the way up until 40c in which I gave it a bit more fluid and capped it shut before anymore could stream out. Trans took a short while to get to temp and decent amount of fluid poured out as it heated up. As the temp. rose, the fluid began sputtering out quicker. I will report back the results after some driving.
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Old 05-03-2022, 08:23 PM
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Hope that fixes it!

I did three drain / flushes on my 04 4.4i in summer 2019 with Valvoline MaxLife and the transmission is shifting as good as new. I've only put on 1.5k miles or less per year since then though.

I was getting the Trans Prog Failsafe in cold weather before that because the fluid was low from leaking from the mechatronic sleeve (which was replaced, probably could have just replaced the o-rings since they were flattened from age).

EDIT: And just to make sure, you lifted so that the pan was level to the ground, correct? I used a level on the bumpers and the sideboards to make sure mine was. Probably, obvious to anyone doing this procedure, but verifying

Last edited by haigha; 05-03-2022 at 08:46 PM.
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Old 05-09-2022, 10:01 PM
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You should not level with the running boards. Should use a level on the pan. But maybe most importantly, which fluid did you use?

Hopefully you were just a little low on fluid and have now corrected it. I always cap when a stream is coming out, not a dribble, or worse just a drip.
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Old 05-09-2022, 11:10 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by crystalworks View Post
You should not level with the running boards. Should use a level on the pan. But maybe most importantly, which fluid did you use?

Hopefully you were just a little low on fluid and have now corrected it. I always cap when a stream is coming out, not a dribble, or worse just a drip.

I wouldn't say that I am a "more is better guy" but I am definitely with crystalworks, I fill it to a steady stream out at the right temp, give the transfer pump one more quick hit and pop the plug in - not "don't miss a drop lightning fast" or anything crazy, but I don't dilly-dally either. And definitely use the correct fluid for your tranny, it just isn't worth it not to.
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Old 05-10-2022, 12:59 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by crystalworks View Post
You should not level with the running boards. Should use a level on the pan. But maybe most importantly, which fluid did you use?

Hopefully you were just a little low on fluid and have now corrected it. I always cap when a stream is coming out, not a dribble, or worse just a drip.
Why not level with the running boards? If the car is to be lifted on a standard automotive lift, the car must be level with the running boards (as the jack points are). Regardless, does a degree or so really have such a major impact on gearbox filling?

The challenge for me, is that the gearbox is beginning to spew out liquid right below the 40 degree Celsius mark which is where the official ZF documentation says to cap it off. It seems now the consensus across forums is to just keep filling until it begins spewing out and so long as temp is between 30-50 degree it should be ok. I don’t know but I opened the fill plug again, pumped in more oil, waited until it hit 40, gave it another pump or so and capped it.

I don’t want to discuss the fluid I used. I’m not proud of myself but I purchased the right stuff, quickly ran out and had to make a run to the parts store. I reached out to Castrol and they told me the concoction I bought meets Shell M1375.4.

For now the car is running ok. I think the car has bad adaptions after running low on fluid, but this is also unconfirmed. I will continue driving the car and see how she runs. I have been taking it quite easy on her and only slowly beginning to push her harder and harder. Will keep you guys updated, thank you.
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