Another Transmission/ Torque Converter issue in the making ??
 

Much as I enjoy driving my X5 4.6is, recently I have pumped more money than I would have liked fixing and replacing parts which I thought were made for life. Anyhow, my biggest concern now is the transmission - here is the story.

X is 2003 4.6is, currently on 134k km.

At 91km, I had some real shifting issues with the tranny which resulted in a full overhaul and replacing the torque converter, seals, filters etc and all was well until recently. 6 weeks ago the tranny would downshift very harshly from 2-1 regardless of my stopping speed, and the local ZF bod replaced the transmission cooler, filters and replaced the ATF. No other problems reported. Initially car seemed fine but a new problem has crept in.

When cold, transmission shifts normally. After around 20 mins, I found that if I come to a slow rolling stop, then the car would lurch from 2nd to 1st gear. However, if I stop from a speed of 15kmh or above, then this 2-1 shift lurch is not that obvious (almost like it disappears). I have tested the car over the last few days and found that this 2-1 lurch only occurs at a rolling stop and is somewhat 'intermittent'. Had it ramped up and no signs of any leaks - the ZF chap ran diagnostics today and there were no reported fault codes (last week the Dealer ran a full diagnostics relating to another problem and no tranny codes came up).

Could this be the torque converter (again??)/ valve body/something else? Im baffled as I have read lots of posts on here but still confused. Is it ok to keep driving, as the tranny behaves normally otherwise (smooth shifting/no noises etc)??

Thanks in advance.

A Frustrated X5 Owner :banghead:

Bump - anyone got any advice please - I'm tearing my hair out here :drama:

Hi,
I would get a good specialist to drive it and get thier opinion. I took mine in, they plugged it in, got code which was good (third gear monitoring),but it also had a TC fault which didnt throw a code, this was diagnosed by a test drive. Where in the UK are you ?

cheers

I’m interested in this fault as it doesn’t seem to occur on the 5HP24s in L322 Range Rovers, with which I’m most familiar. Although the 2-1 downshift ‘lurch’ problem is very common (and much, much discussed on this forum) with the ZF 6HP26 transmission, it is unusual with the 5HP24 fitted to your 4.6is. In ‘auto’ mode the 2-1 rollout shift involves only the disengagement of the E-brake as 1st gear is reacted against a mechanical sprag, so you would expect the shift to be seamless.

This is definitely the 2-1 rollout shift and not a 3-2? If you downshift in ‘manual’ mode do you get the same poor quality shift (in manual mode the F-brake overrides the mechanical sprag in 1st)?

As I’ve mentioned before on here your car is fitted with the ‘034’ version of the 5HP24 – the daddy of them all (there are some 27 versions of this transmission) – and the one I haven’t yet had the pleasure of rebuilding.

If you’re unable to fix the fault and are getting desperate (because it takes me around 3 weeks) I’d be happy to re-manufacture your transmission for just the cost of the parts (usually around the £500 mark) if you can get the transmission removed from the car yourself and shipped to Lancashire?

Phil

What an offer........:thumbup:

Hi lads. That's a fabulous offer and thank you very much. Although I'm from Lancashire I'm actually working here in Saudi Arabia, just didn't change my profile location yet - gutted and my apologies !! I'm half tempted to ship the car to you straight away and get a chance to visit me folks at the same time ;).

The rough shift is only from 2-1 and not 3-2. I'm just wary not to keep driving and damage my already over hauled tranny.

The chap I see here in Saudi is a ZF specialist, having worked for them in Germany for many years. He's good as when he overhauled the car it drove like new....until now. He even overhauls the tranny for the dealers out here sometimes. He test drove the car and it only lurched once...typical!! He thought it could be either the TC or valve body but he's nit too sure, saying that he said it's ok to drive the car. He did the diagnostic and no tranny errors came up. All other shifting is normal in both Auto and Manual mode.

Once again thanks for the offer, and any advice is greatly appreciated. Would be good to meet for a drink sometime I'm back in the UK as I'm only a few miles from Bburn.

Happy New Year!

I had the same problem for at least first 6 months of ownership.
Finally it's got stalled 2 under same conditions in the same spot on the road,rolling to stop,two days in a row.I said to myself,f@#$ it,I have to do my homework and research.SOOO,it turned out to be a loose intake boot from MAF to Throttle body.That happens when indies rush in the shop,now I always check the engine bay after I pick X up form the shop.

Thanks Diyanich, but that does not explain why it only happens once the car is warmed up. Maybe you could shed some more light on your issue. Cheers.

Mine was happening only with X warm.And it wasn't unusual to have some passengers while it was lurching,quite embarrassing thing I should say.

Is it an easy fix to reconnect the loose intake boot? Please can you post pics if possible?
Thanks.

No need for pictures.
Open the hood and check the bay on the left side for loose boots from air filter housing through MAF to the middle of the engine where the throttle body is.
It takes less than 2 minutes to execute.

valve body...these cars are known for this.
dirty valve body...metal flakes inside.
when car warms up tranny fluid goes up leaving metals to linger into valve body guides.
youll sometimes notice a hard knock from 2-1st gear.
buy a rebuilr valve body / filter / seal and do it yourself in an hour.
valve bodies cost about 450us with 250 core charge.

Did one of the admin team mention at one time that old sparks plugs can have this effect

Yes,I've read it in some of the older posts,but I haven't changed spark plugs and have no lurch at all after a valve body rebuild,but,as I wrote earlier in this thread,I had a loose intake boot when it was lurching like S.O.B.

I have the same lurch in my 2003 4.6is in stop and go traffic. In sport mode, there seems to almost be no lurch bc there appears to be more of a rev matching going on esp in 2-1 shifts. Therefore, in traffic I drive in sport, not auto and not manual. Also, when the ac is on the lurch seems relatively muted but not as when in sport mode. Anyone else have this with their x?

I also have the same problem, seeking a fix for this, ..... winter the x have no lurch problems because it cold outside, as the weather gets warm the lurching starts up again... what if its the transmission cooler the problem... i thinking about add transmission cooler keep the tran oil from getting to hot.... is this a good idea.....

No, IMO. Increased wear at startup. If your diagnosis shows the transmission is overheating then fix that and return it to how it should function.

Check your maf it works off reading temp changes in the air...
Also Cold or hot outside under normal operating conditions parts will get to the same temp.
Like boil eggs inside or outside in the winter you'll still get the water just as hot just may take 3mins more...

Just disconnect your maf and drive it for a day it'll put your ecu into default air fuel mixture...if it doesn't lurch you know it's that.

No one can give you a solid answer here we can only point you in a direction
Happy hunting and good luck.