All in - pulling the 4.6 engine and trans to fix oil leaks once and for all

[stunt]

Thanks for the size details Phil! Didn't think about the narrowness needed. I'll probably see about fabbing up something like what you have.

Deal on the 20 ton press fell through. Some guy picked it up this morning. Wish the seller would have at least called me instead of making me drive an hour to his place... Oh well, back to looking for one of those again now.

[e30cabrio]

Auto transmissions are tricky. Many mechanics that don't specialize won't work on them for good reason. I'd let a pro do it and sleep tight knowing it is their azz on the line.

My 2 cents.

[JCL]

You can rebuild an automatic following a good manual. Slow and steady. You need to be very methodical, and have a place to lay everything out. Everything has to be very clean. There are occasionally special tools required for some seals, clips, etc but nothing extreme.

You won't necessarily be able to update software, you won't be able to test it until you reinstall it, and you will have to send the torque converter out for rebuild. But if you like working on nicely engineered parts, and have the time, consider doing it. I enjoyed it. But I never made close to the flat rate times.

[stunt]

Found this thread on the 5HP24 which has a lot of great info:

ZF 5HP24 teardown

[racingbmwm3]

Originally Posted by JCL

But I never made close to the flat rate times.

You also used to be a tech?

[JCL]

Independent garage. Worked there until after engineering school. Many years ago. The shop owner was an old school mechanic who would tackle any job, foreign or domestic, so we had a wide variety of work.

[stunt]

JCL, you mentioned sending out the converter to be rebuilt. So they are rebuildable? I seem to recall reading somewhere that they couldn't be rebuilt, maybe it was the guy from California Transmissions when I spoke to him a while back. I'll check with the guy I spoke to today about the price of doing the whole thing what the cost would be for just the converter.

I think I'm going to take on the challenge. I'll prep a nice clean work area before I get started.

So here's the sub-frame and steering rack after getting all cleaned up.



Here's a close up of the motor mount. Looks in real good shape to be and is very solid to the touch.



I popped one of them out, and they appear to have been made in 2006. No idea when they were actually installed.



Here's one of the bushings. Looks like I can still see a little of the paper label that was on it when installed. So I would think recently replaced? I do see a bit of a crack in the rubber, but perhaps that's pretty normal?

[Gregory891]

Bushings. You see the BMW symbol on the rubber, so it's genuine part. They do put date codes on this, which would also confirm if they have been replaced in the past.

I had issues with the other front suspension arms and ball joints, and decided (even knowing my torque bushings were only three years old) to do EVERYTHING all at once - so you have a "like new" reference. Since you have everything apart, why not?

[stunt]

Thanks. The 4.6 converter is the larger 12" diameter one compared to the more common 11" diameter one used on the 4.4 trucks.

Here's an outfit that is aware of the differences and offers the 12" one specifically for the 4.6:

Transmission Torque converter, ZF5HP24 TC-BMW78

$279 w/ free shipping seems like a reasonable price.

These would probably be good to pick up as well?

http://www.makcotransmissionparts.com/M465SC.html

http://www.makcotransmissionparts.co..._Code=LA-2001K

I also found a 5HP-24 repair manual online (130 page .pdf), which seems to very complete with pictures, procedures, torque specs, etc.

http://www.rangerovers.net/forum/6-r...explained.html

[RRPhil]

Because it doesn’t have a torsional vibration damper the LUC in the L51 model converter (SACHS WA4/W280 S-2GWK) is particularly sensitive to being set up correctly.



The total piston movement, on to off, is only 1mm and the retainer for the piston return springs - which double as tangential driving straps - is friction welded into place so has to be turned off on a lathe and then accurately re-welded in the correct position once the friction plate has been replaced.







For that reason torque converter remanufacturers shy away from this particular model or, if they do offer to recondition it, may not risk attempting to replace the LUC. I’d strongly recommend therefore that you find somewhere that has a lot of experience with this particular model.

Phil (aka Bemble on landrovernet)