I agree with Aspen. I did a few transmission fluid changes and it really didn't do anything for me. I bet a valve body replacement would take care of your problem.

 

As with the others, I have changed the VB and it fixed the shifting issues.

So I would recommend to change the VB and flush it with new fluids as well

Tom

 

I hit 152000 miles before my trans acted up. 3rd gear never engaged. I tried a valve body first, but no luck. I yanked the trans out last week and brought it to my friend who has a trans shop. I had a failed drum. The seal that is attached to the drum had a section missing. Hopefully all will be good early next week and I can put everything back together again. I changed fluid at about 75000 miles. This was just a simple mechanical failure.

 

There are two main problems with this trans. 1) shift flares and hard downshifts which is the valve body 2) slipping and loss of 3rd or 4th gear or lack of any gear - which is an internal sleeve that rotates out of position. They are documented in this huge thread, but hard to find. If you are having tranny issues, you need to diagnose which issue. #2 is a much more expensive fix and as Ive's says, the VB is unrelated.

 

Just another data point here... I have an R53 with a manual transmission, but I also have a 2007 Saab 9-3 V6 Aero with... you guessed it, the same Asin Warner auto 6 speed transmission.

The valve body failed in the Saab, just like described here. Hard right turn (and sometimes at random) it would fail to upshift, the revs would go way up, and then it would slam back into gear as they came back down. Not pretty, you should see the faces I would make as it was coming down from 6000 RPM and I was just waiting for the thing to slam back into gear. :(

It was screwed up since at least 50k miles (when I got the car used, and cheap, probably extra cheap because of this issue).

Anyway, it was the valve body. Replaced it with the RevMax rebuilt valve body myself, and the problem seems to be solved. I did have to email them and remind them to finish the refund on my core charge after shipping back the old unit, but they didn't fuss about it, and the new part seems perfect.

 

I figured I would try the valve body first. My trans guy said it was a good way to go. It would have gotten a valve body along with the rebuild anyway. He told be he was addressing that sleeve and he found the seal on one of the drums damaged. Hopefully I'll get it back around Tuesday and I can start putting it back together.

 

follow this link to fine tuning your tranny. Sometimes a simple valve body replacement just doesn't completely work out of the box.

http://www.sonnax.com/articles/360-a...n-fwd-6-speeds

 

What's your opinion on drilling a small hole in the subframe just below the hidden transmission pan's torx bolt to easily access it? An alternative to dropping the subframe or lifting the engine! I think this will make it easier to access the bolt for regular transmission oil change or valve replacement.

 

I would say drilling a hole in the subframe is a bad idea. It's just going to be a new point for failure and corrosion. The engine is easy enough to move once freed from the mounts. Also you don't need to remove to pan for a fluid change.

 

You can fill it from the top, there is a plug under the air intake. It is a SLOW way to fill but doable.. Otherwise you can pump in fluid through the drain plug, if you have a pump.

 

Do not drill a hole into the sub frame. The motor mounts have enough play, where you can jack the motor up about 1 inch to give yourself enough clearance to remove that covered screw. I placed a large piece of wood under the oil pan and jacked it up. Use an open end 10 mm wrench, I also put the car in service mode to make it easier to remove the pan and valve body. Fill your fluid from the bottom. I filled from the top and that took forever. The other time I filled from the bottom with a manual pump - 5-6 quarts took like 250-300 pumps. Lesson learned from the first 3-4 times. I just bought a cheap bug sprayer at Walmart for $5. It held 4 quarts of tranny fluid and I filled it from the bottom. It took 4-5 minutes.

 

This is great (4-5 minutes) with the bug sprayer option ..
Can you send me the link for that bug sprayer
Did you use the bug sprayer with the stand pipe already installed in the transmission oil pan?

is it this one?
http://www.walmart.com/ip/RL-Flo-Mas...rayer/13376324

And did you have to modify it?

Thanks

 

That is the exact one i bought. I removed the tip and pulled the blue insert out. I filled it with the stand pipe installed. I kept a decent amount of pressure while pushing it into the drain hole. it leaked just a little.

 

Great and thank you.

 

For all the old DIY'ers ( people who completed this job a few years ago)
For all who experienced the 2-3 hard shifts, was the VB a permenant fix for you guys or after a while you started experiencing the same old symptoms?

Thanks!

 

My son's Mini had problems with 2/3. it was solved with a VB. if it is a valve body issue and not drum issue you are good. Son's car had a hiccup after 35k miles P0700/P0977 check engine light came on. Replaced S2 and did a few adjustments, shift smooth as my BMWs.

 

Sorry, do you mean solenoid 2? Currently I'm not experiencing any engine codes! It's hard shifting between 2/3.

 

That was discussed here:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...nd-jumped.html

No codes, no worries about replacing shift solenoid #2.

 

Thanks

 

Had the car 4 years now. The original VB was replaced a month after I got it. It was better but still gave hard shifts and flares. Got a third VB a year later and it was about 90% good. I drove for a few months thinking it would improve as the adaptations learned. Some but not perfect, I checked the fluid level and found that it had about 500 ml too much. Drained that and it was much better.
For the past 2 years it has been about 95% of normal. The first 1-2 shift when cold can hang a touch. Also when I floor it from a roll in second it will get up to about 5K rpm and start to slip for a second then re-engage go up to red line and shift to 3rd.

I still look longingly at threads for swaps to a manual. This car would be much nicer with a manual. Much nicer.

 

there is adjustments for your valve body, Here is a cut and paste from sonnax. The adjustments were spot on for my sons car.

There are several reasons why you may need to adjust a clutch control valve:

Clutch pack clearance may be different than OE. Always check thickness of replacement steels and frictions.
Bonded pistons may be worn, allowing clutch pressure to leak.
Sealing rings may not be sealing correctly.
Slight wear in the valve body.
The most common shift/engagement complaints are:

Delay/bump into Reverse
2-3 Flare/bump and 4-5 flare
3-4 Flare bump or 3-4 Neutral
Harsh 1-2 and sometimes 5-6
The adjustment depends on how severe the problem is:

Delay into Reverse with a small flare on the 2-3 = K3/C3 turn adjuster counterclockwise 3/4 turn.
Delay/bump into Reverse, 2-3 flare & 4-5 flare = K3/C3 turn adjuster counterclockwise 1 1/2 turns.
3-4 Slight flare = K2/C2 counterclockwise 1 turn.
3-4 Flare/bump = K2/C2 counterclockwise 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 turns.
3-4 Neutral = K2/C2 counterclockwise 2-2 1/4 turns.
Firm 1-2 with no flare = B1 clockwise 3/4 - 1 turn.

TF-60SN

 

I just finished my VB replacement and honestly im kinda mad at myself for putting this off for so long thinking that it was gonna be an extensive process. it can be done in a full days work. car shifts like butter now! after i purchased my VB i saw a few post about not buying from pacific coast transmissions so i was kinda scared, but they shipped my VB right away and absolutely no problems with it so far unlike some other have had! thanks for all the how to guys!

 

Congrats on your fix

Did you reset adaption after the VB swap?

 

thank you! nope, i wanted to see how it drove without resetting it

 

I'm looking to complete this swap very soon and I was wondering how often an adaption reset is required. Some people reported that it's not needed and others suggested it is necessary. At which point someone can decide if it's needed or not?