Has anyone had the same issue with their transmission or controller? After some research, it appears it could be the valve body and it's solenoids or the TCM. Im just trying to understand most effective process to debug.
Thanks,
Mike

 

I work on Transmissions every day. I just put a zip kit in a ZF 6hp today. What codes if any are you getting? What does the fluid smell like and is it at the proper level?

 

0700 Code for Faulty TCM and its in EP mode.

It all started when driving one day on the highway. The car lost drive gear and I had to drive home in a lower gear with the engine reving high due to trans gear. At that point I decided to drop the trans pan. The fluid was obviously darker than fresh fluid, but it didn't smell burnt at all. The filter is just a screen. I replaced the filer and then added like 2.5 quarts of fresh fluid which was the same amount that came out when I removed the pan. I got it up to proper temp (~113 Deg F) and then removed the plug. Only a small amount of fluid came out....so I was good. I reset the computer system by the process which involves pressing the button on the speedo gauge. After that, the car seemed okay. But within a few months it would just slip out of gear and into some sort of neutral (although the shifter was still in drive). After resetting the computer, it would drive fine for about 10 miles until it slipped back into neutral. I had to keep resetting it just to make it back home. I tried it again another day, and I couldn't make it a few hundred feet. It would just slip into neutral. Now it takes about 4-5 resets to get it to recognize drive gear, but even then its only good enough to move it 20-30 feet around the yard. It clunks hard when shifting into reverse, but reverse is the only gear that works right now.

Mike

 

This all started one day driving on the highway and the car missed a shift and went into neutral. I had to drive home in a lower gear with the engine reving. I decided to drop the pan. about 2.5 quarts of fluid came out. it was obviously darker than fresh fluid, but it did not seem to smell burnt. I replaced the filter screen and then added 2.5 quarts of fresh fluid. ran it up to ~113 deg F and let the excess fluid drain out, which was about a shot glass worth.

I reset the computer be the process which involves holding the button located in the speedo. it then seemed to drive fine until it would just slip into neutral every 5-10 miles. I would have to reset the computer to get it to drive another 5-10 miles. I tried it again another day, and it would only get 100 feet before going into neutral. Now I have to reset it 4-5 times just to get it to move around the driveway in drive gear. Even then, it only goes 10 feet before slipping back into neutral. Reverse works fine though. when shifting into reverse, I get a loud clunk every time.

the code is 0700 for Faulty TCM, but its also in EP mode.

 

Was there any shavings in the fluid? They would be really fine, It would look like the fluid had glitter in it. Do you have access to a diagnostic tool? The line pressure in the valve body could be off. You could read the pressures in the valve body and test each shift solenoid to see if they are working. The TCM could be toast or you could have an open ground or short in the TCM. I would also look at live data and PID's from the TCM. If you don't have access to a quality diagnostic tool this will be difficult to diagnose.

 

There were no shavings in the fluid. I do have the Icarsoft scanner for use on bmw and mini. i will have to check and see what its capable of on the transmission.

 

Can you watch this with INPA? I have an S2 solenoid that is giving me trouble and I'm trying to figure out where to start.

My R52 has been stuck in EP since I purchased it almost a year ago. I have a CEL and read the code in INPA as P0977, "Shift Solenoid B Control Circuit High" and with an OBD Scanner I get FC2720 EGS solenoidvalve, S2. Also, in INPA, it says the S2 solenoid output state is ON while S1 solenoid output is OFF even though the car is off with the ignition on. I suspect that solenoid output state may be the source of my problem.

Here's a link to my post in case you're able to help...

 

Shane: Where in Virginia are you located? Might benefit from your expertise sometime.