Rebuilding ZF5HP24

addiction · #1 07-26-2013, 10:36 PM

Hi everyone! I'm new to the forum and BMW. I bought my wife a X5 4.4 sport. I was wanting to be proactive about the fluids in the sav so I changed them. I believe that's what caused my trans to start slipping and going into limp mode. I have the usual bang into gear which I believe is the A drum and B drum axial bearing and o ring. I will be tearing into it this following weekend to repair. I have ordered the overhaul kit, a drum, bearing, and a drum friction disks for good measure. I hope all goes well. If anyone has any pointers other than the threads I have read through for days on end please let me know. I would like to take pictures of the whole process to help folks on here.

Oh and this is my first automatic I ever tear down. I've done plenty of work on other cars and trucks including trans swaps but never rebuild.

civdiv99 · #2 07-27-2013, 12:58 AM

Righty tightly, lefty loosey. Have some room to lay out and clean your parts, and it's no big deal. You got he ZF rebuild book?

Some things to kind of plan for include a way to hold the trans case on its tail when removing and then replacing the tower assemblies. Holding the tower assemblies is a pain, and dropping one more so. I made up a clamp with rubber pads.

By far the worst part is R & R the trans itself, at least when yer my age. Taking it apart and rebuilding is not a big deal. But, it is messy. Consider stopping by one of those restaurant supply places and grabbing bus tubs for a few bucks each. They are golden for putting assemblies in and containing all the drips and stuff.

addiction · #3 07-27-2013, 11:41 AM

Thanks civi. Your rebuild is what inspired me to do it myself. I have the manual now and feel confident it will be pretty straight forward. I have and old buddy that is helping me. We both have good mechanical sense so that's a big plus. I was thinking about how to get my trans to stand on it's tail. I work for a hardware company so it shouldn't be a problem making something. Thanks for the tips. I'm actually looking forward to this rebuild.

civdiv99 · #4 07-27-2013, 09:51 PM

Pay close attention to re-seating the converter on the shafts and complete engagement/seating during install. It's not good enough to seat it before you start cranking up the trans jack since you end up wiggling and so forth during that process. So double check before you start trying to seat the bell housing on the alignment dowels.

During removal, I found it easiest to remove the transfer case (easy to do, and no fuss, no muss), and then lower the trans slightly on the trans jack, and sit indian style with my head where the transfer case used to be. That and a couple of well places lights allows you to sight right up along the transmission and run each of those upper bell housing bolts out easily. Nice line of sight.

NOTE! The 2 upper bolts on the bell housing are a different size than all the others.

You will need to get creative to make the tools to compress the spring plates to remove the clutch plates. I used PVC and a combination of other things. For one or 2 of them, I made a tool just like the ones pictured in the manual. I think I stuck a photo of that in my post at one point. For me, the longest process of the dissassy and re-assy was making the round tools/adapters to do the clutch plates. That had to wait until the towers were out and disassembled in order for me to determine just what I needed to make and what dimensions.

For holding the housing I used a combination of my engine hoist, and a neighbor. (B&B system).

Re-installing the first tower (the heavy one), I made a clamp for the shaft and ended up using the cherry picker to lower the assembly in gradually, keeping my hands free to align everything.

Follow the booklet and lay out your parts logically and it's pretty relaxing, and kinda cool to examine everything and what not. I thought it was a lot less stressful than, say, my job.

TriX5 · #5 07-28-2013, 09:39 PM

Good luck A. !

BTDT and it is a great feeling when you get it back together!

civdiv99 · #6 07-28-2013, 11:49 PM

BTDT ?

wilky · #7 07-29-2013, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by civdiv99

BTDT ?

Been There Done That.

addiction · #8 07-29-2013, 11:29 AM

Parts came today! I'll be heading to the parts store to get the fluid. I'm using Royal Purple esso fluid. Couple of questions.

Is the rear main seal on the engine easy to replace? Figured its cheap insurance.

Anyone recommend a different fluid other than Royal Purple?

civdiv99 · #9 07-29-2013, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wilky

Been There Done That.

Sometimes I miss the obvious.

addiction · #10 08-03-2013, 09:21 PM

Well I rebuilt the trans today. Sorry no pics. Camera was dead. Thank you civd for the pointers. As was expected. The oring in the a drum was broken. The rest of trans looked great. I did replace the b hub axial bearing as it looked very worn. It wasn't broken but I could tell the race was very worn. Paper thin. I used Valvoline oil that specified for our trans. It was that at 6.00 vs Royal Purple 15.00 a quart. Used a total of 8 qrts. I did drain as much fluid out if the torque converter as I could. I can only assume there was still a qrt in there. I started at 7am and was done 7pm today with the help of and old friend. Thanks again for the pointers. It runs great. Time will only tell how well I did.