project #23: zf 5hp18 transmission valve body overhaul diy

Forum Car Forum BMW Forum Past BMW Models BMW 5 Series Forum (E39)

Project #23: ZF 5HP18 Transmission Valve Body Overhaul DIY Part 1

Tweet 0

0

Thread: Project #23: ZF 5HP18 Transmission Valve Body Overhaul DIY Part 1

Become an Inner Circle member to remove these ads.

User Name Password Log in

Remember Me?

RegisterHelp

Home Features Videos New Cars Used Cars Used Car Parts

Today's Posts Gallery FAQ Calendar Community Forum Actions Quick Links Advanced Search

Advanced Transmissionwww.aadvancedtrans.com

Certified Transmission Specialists. Foreign or Domestic & 1-Yr Warranty

Results 1 to 20 of 27 of 2 1 2 Last

Like Send 2 people like this. Sign Up to see whatyour friends like.

Thread Tools Search Thread Display

04-21-2011 05:24 PM

1 out of 1 members found this post helpful. |

Project #23: ZF 5HP18 Transmission Valve Body Overhaul DIYPart 1

Some helpful info before we get going on this DIY:ERIKSSON INDUSTRIESAuthorized ZF Distributor North America1-800-388-4418http://www.zftranspart.com/index.php...parent=40&pg=1The following ZF transmissions (plus helpful information) andeverything you need for them, are on this site:4HP184HP22/245HP185HP195HP19FL/FLA5HP245HP306HP19/216HP26/28/32Nat Wentworth owns/runs the site, great guy. He offers tons ofelectrical, hardparts, kits, literature and even transmission fluid (ifyou want the official stuff). Best prices, good service (mails to usAPO/FPO people around the world) and even emailed me back aboutquestions/ clarifications I had on the differences between ZF'sinstructions provided in the VBK kit, and ZF's official pdf files on theirwebsite of their transmissions (the web site PDFs are not vetted forcorrectness; provided instructions by ZF are. I ordered the VBK for~$154, which included shipping. Here is the 5HP18 valve body kit, soyou can see what comes in it:http://www.zftranspart.com/index.php...d=52&parent=43

Next is a link: it is the 5HP18 pdf from ZF's website (again, note thatinstructions sent via a ZF kit override any discrepancies that occurwith these online ZF PDFs....and it has nothing to do with whatcountry your e39 w/ A ZF was destined for---the providedinstructions rule):http://www.zf.com/na/content/media/u.../.../5HP18.pdf

This next photo is to give you an idea of ho to find the specificnumber of your ZF transmission (it is important, because kits vary,you can't just say I have a "5HP18", as there are many differentvariations of the 5HP18 kits). This metal stamped plate will be on thepassenger side of your ZF transmission, nearly shrouded by theexhaust pipes. You will have to get a mirror, and a magnifying glass,while holding a flashlight in your mouth, to find out this specialnumber (why they couldn't put this in a more accessible spot, well,

#1

Join Date:Posts:

Dec 2006877

Rep Power: 7

eurodavid

Registered MemberLocation, ,Member No: 147798

Forum

Project #23: ZF 5HP18 Transmission Valve Body Overhaul DIY Part 1 http://forum.roadfly.com/threads/13172034-Project-23-ZF-5HP18-Trans...

1 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

never mind....):

Ok, let's get rolling with the DIY procedure & the pics. Remember,the procedure's steps and methods will apply to virtually any ZF e39transmission, if you would like to perform a vavle body kit (hence thiskit will be referred to as: VBK) overhaul. The DIY procedure pics willbe as it happened for me, a sort of a journey, and I hope they areeducational, helpful, or maybe just plain hilarious. Don't ask me whyI did this procedure, as the car & transmission was ok with200,000kms on it, but now that it is done, I notice differences, somebig differences (in shifting quality, responsiveness, smoothness andeerily at times, the quietness of the shifts).

Pics 1/2/3 below: You have to choose your poison in terms of thetransmission oil. My transmission requires the infamous LT71141trans oil, but as a few of us on here (and other sites) have proved,there are many substitutes for this oil. Even ZF told me that therereally are no special friction modifiers and additives that others havewondered aloud about here. My choice has been this (if I had accessto the Valvoline LT71141 substitute, I do it instead because it is muchcheaper than Royal Purple and just as good, imho):


2 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


3 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

Pic 4 below: This is the poor man's version of BMW540san's garagelift. Get the car as high as you can, safely as you can, and havebackups in case one fails. Notice the car is on Craftsman 3 tonjack-stands, then has gorilla ramps under the wheels in case any/alljack-stands fail, and finally, there is a big hydraulic jack put up snugto the base of the differential, just in case the jack-stands fail, andthe gorilla ramps fail. I like to be safe, for obvious reasons, as thesecars are heavy:


4 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

Pic 5 below: this is a no-brainer. You're going to be disconnecting thetransmission electrical connections. Do yourself a big favor (and savelots of headaches) by disconnecting the battery (in your trunk,passenger side, behind & below the shelf box that tilts out). 13mmwrench is what my battery connection takes:


5 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

Pic 6 below: you have to take the underneath bra off the car to get atthe transmission. A Philips head screwdriver, loosen up 8 or 9 screws(remember, they stay attached to the bra), and you are in business:

Pic 7 below: After the bra comes off, you are greeted with a full sightof transmission, looking a the bottom tranny pan. In this pic, theright side is the fill hole (notice I have the grren, not black, captransmission) ad the left side is the drain hole:


6 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

Pic 8 below: as you lie there, can see plainly stamped on thetransmission pan this:

If you have any brains and/or sanity, here is where you might wantto admire that you got yourself this far, put everything backtogether, and call it a day. If you are insane, move forward at yourown risk.

Pic 9 below: The point of no return. Time to drain the transmissionpan. Look at pic 7 again (above). The drain plug is a 5mm hex plugscrew, with washer. It's torque spec (remember this for later), is11-12ft lbs or 15-16Nm). A simple long handled 5mm hex key worksbest, allowing you finite control as you remove the screw plug so thetransmission can drain (I hope I don't have to remind you thatdraining a transmission on the BMW is always done with the car coldas possible):


7 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

Pics 10/11/12 below: this step is important, imho, if you want toavoid headaches later. You will need to pop of the fill hole cap cover(the green one, in my case), and loosen up fill hole plug slightly,mainly because it is torqued to 74 ft lbs or 100Nm ad you will not beable to loosen it (if you want) when the pan is off the car. You do thisstep "after" the pan has been drained completely. The fill hole plugon my pan is a 17mm hex, and I foind it easy to use a 3ft breakersocket bar with socket 17mm hex socket to loosen this plug (there isa washer on this plug, don't lose it, and you think you don't haveone, think again, it is stuck up inside the fill hole. Get something topry it loose and off:


8 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


9 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


10 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

end of Part 1. There is a 20 pic Roadfly restriction, so I have do dothis writeup in five parts. I will attach the subsequent parts to this 1stpart.

EuroDavid

81.245.40.86 Reply With Quote

Become an Inner Circle member to remove these ads.

Transmission Rebuildswww.TransmissionsAZ.com

Best Transmission Rebuilding in Scottsdale. Give Us a Call Today!

04-21-2011 05:25 PM

1 out of 1 members found this post helpful. | Part 2:

Pics 13/14/15/16/17/18 below: Next step is pretty obvious. Twobrackets that help hold the underneath bra on need to come off, inorder to get access to removing the transmission pan and also haveunfettered access when you are dropping the valve body. Getyourself a 10mm socket and wrench, with a flexible shaft, andremove all the bolt/washer (they are welded as once piece) holdingthese brackets on. There is one bracket on the driver's side of thetransmission, and one on the left side. The pics are self explanatory,and you can see what the brackets & bolt/washers look like once theyare off the car:

#2

Join Date:Posts:

Dec 2006877

Rep Power: 7

eurodavid



11 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


12 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


13 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


14 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


15 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

Pics 19/20/21/22 below: Since I am doing this procedure outside(Belgium has been hit with 70+F weather the past two weeks, andthere was no way in heck I was going to do this VBK DIY in agarage). The pics ought to be obvious what I am trying to do. If theyneed explaining, then I recommend you stop immediately andcontact someone for help. I used any and everything I could find tomake a controlled yet comfortable environment for under the car(also, ignore the homemade transmission jack in pic 21: I wasn'tsmart enough to make this until I did the re-install of the valve body,and yes, i took the valve body out with arms, hands, elbows,forehead and anything else I could muster while I did my best not todie from drinking too much transmission fluid poring all over my face,nose, mouth and throat):


16 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


17 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

Pic 23 below: now is the time to take off the transmission pan via thepan bolts and expose the mother-load---the VALVE BODY. For thetransmission pan, a simple 10mm socket and wrench with smallextension will do the trick to remove the 8 transmission pan bolts.These 8 bolts (each have an attaching pan bracket that come off withtheir respective bolt, do not separate them or even attempt to, asyou will strip them, they were not designed to come apart) have a


18 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

torque spec of 4.43 ft lbs or 6Nm (again, remember this torque specfor later re-assembly). Once the pan is off, immediately put it insidea new, large garbage bag so it doesn't get filthy; (note: once thevalve body is out of the transmission, you will immediately reattachthe transmission pan. This serves two purposes: one, they torqueconverter, once the valve body is out of the car, will drain another2-3 quarts, and also it keeps everything clean and removed from anydebris, floating and/or otherwise):

Pic 24/25 below: You are going to be staring a large number of screwbolts, and you are going to wonder to yourself, as David Bryne of theTalking Heads sings:"And you may ask yourselfHow do I work this?And you may ask yourselfWhere is that large automobile?And you may tell yourselfThis is not my beautiful house!And you may tell yourselfThis is not my beautiful wife!(chorus)Letting the days go by/let the water hold me downLetting the days go by/water flowing undergroundInto the blue again/after the money's goneOnce in a lifetime/water flowing underground.Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was..."Thankfully, ZF made this somewhat but not totally intuitive. Some ofthe bolt heads are larger than the other ones (look closely in pic 24).These are the ones affixing the whole valve body to the interior of thetransmission. They are not symmetrically placed, as you would thinkto hold this heavy valve body up in there. They are placed at random,sometimes grouped together, other times not. Oh, did I mention thatsome will be different lengths than others?? You bet, make darn sureyou note which bolt came out of which hole (these screw bolts aretorque to the spec of 71 inch lbs or 8NM, and they use a T-27 torx tobe removed. In fact, ZF in their infinite wisdom, made every singlebolt head that you will work on from here on out, considering all thevalve body and its components, serviceable via a T-27 Torx (handy tohave this in 2 or 3 socket forms, and also in key form, will be obviouslater as you look at the valve body dis-assembly):


19 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


20 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

Pic 26 below: remove all the large head bolts in the center of thevalve bodies and around their edges, but leave to the two large headbolts that obviously are helping hold up the transmission valve plateto the body. Once is located at the rear, the other at the front.Remove these last two last, and be prepared for two things: more oilcoming out and going everywhere (note I have large sheets of plasticlaid out on the driveway) and two, it being a lot heavier than youanticipated (and here is where you feel like a moron you didn't makea transmission jack (which is easy) or if you are fortunate, youalready have one (as they are not expensive):


21 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

Pic 27 below: Thankfully, it was late in the early evening and my wifewas home, otherwise I'd been toast. I screamed her name for like10mins, until she finally heard me (or chose to hear me), and shecame outside, realized I was barely hanging on holding the stillattached (electrically) valve body with my slowly weakening left arm,while balancing it with my right. She realized, after surveying me fora painful 2 or 3 mins that I needed help, and she quickly got thelarge plastic oil drain pan (lol, with the old oil filter in it, by that point,I didn't care) and we built a makeshift tower that I could slide thevalve body on. Whew, catastrophe 1 avoided:


22 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

Pics 28/29 below: Ok, I chose to leave some pics out, as I don't wantto look like an complete nube-idiot. But let me tell you that eventhough it appears you cannot do it, you will disconnect the completevalve body electrical connections via its plug high up in thetransmission body. DO NOT ATTEMPT, like a certain moron here did,to unplug all the different electrical connections on the valve bodysitting in front of you. Those numerous plastic connections are old,brittle, and a major PIA getting loose and off. If you crack and/orbreak one, the complete wiring harness alone will set you backanother $200. So, remember, go for the full electrical plug up high inthe transmission body, as once it is disconnected externally, theelectrical socket plug pushes back in towards the interior of thetransmission and will fall out, making the valve body free and clear ofthe car. Pic 28 is reminding you not to be a moron, and pic 29 isshowing you the external (to the transmission) socket plug clip youwill have to remove before shoving the socket back into the interiorof the transmission and having it beautifully fall out into your handsw/ all electrical connections still attached:


23 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

EuroDavid



24 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

04-21-2011 05:26 PM

1 out of 1 members found this post helpful. | Part 3:

Pics 30/31/32/33 below: These next pics are one backside of ourproperty, where mancave number 1 is. I decided to turn it into atemporary outpatient transmission surgical facility, which workedgreat for the 3 days of doing this DIY (took this long because ofvarious reasons). I walked back with the precious valve body in myhands and entered this facility with hopes of not having any morecatastrophes (which unfortunately didn't pan out, lol) (note: makesure you don't forget to put the transmission pan back on thetransmission, or you will be greeted with 2-3 more qts of tranny oildraining out from the torque converter, and also dust, bugs,whatever lodging up inside the transmission, a big no-no):

Join Date:Posts:

Dec 2006877

Rep Power: 7

eurodavid



25 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

(notice I have two chairs in pic 33. The black Craftsman was beingsaved in case I needed to fly a certain someone across the pond andhelp me finish this, as it is ALL his fault I do these crazy DIYs to mycar......................)

Pics 34/35/36/37 below: Pic 33 is of the full valve body, just as it isas it would drop out of the car. the left side of the pic is the front ofthe car, the right side is the back of the car (valve body orientation in


26 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

the transmission). the first order of business is taking care of anunavoidable casualty of removing an old wiring harness plug frominside the transmission body. The sealing 0-rings on the plug aretoast, flattened, old and brittle. you see in one pic a piece just cameoff in my fingers. I replaced these two o-rings with high-temp nitrile1 inch o-rings; my 1 inch buna o-rings kept breaking when I had tostretch them around the 1 1/4 inch diameter electrical plug---a littletrick/hint: use a 1 1/4: socket, put it in a vise, clamp it hard, use apre-soaked transmission oil nitrile o-ring, use little picks to stretch it& slide it down around the socket, then put the socket up the face ofthe electrical plug, and push the nitrile o-rings (there will be two) on.They are a tight fit, but risking busting the electrical plug's brittleplastic housing while you trying to stretch and put on these newo-rings is not a good idea:


27 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


28 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

Pic 38 below: now that we are going to be removing the 3 smallervalve housing bodies from the main valve plate, plus removing theelectrical solenoids housing, there is one thing vital here to note. Donot use anything that will leave a residue and/or little fibers on anypart of anything that concerns the valve housings, bodies, orifices,etc. Get yourself something like this, they are well worth it:


29 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

EuroDavid


04-21-2011 05:27 PM

| Pics 39-51 below: Now, we are going to start removing the 3 valvehousing bodies and the solenoid housing body (note: all screw boltsfrom here on out have a torque spec of 4.43 in lbs and 6Nm). First upis the front topside upper valve housing body. All these pics shouldbe self-apparent. The front upper valve body is removed via severalbolts (again, some are different lengths, KEEP TRACK or you will haveheadaches) that are the bottom side of the complete valve body, andgo up through the bottom lower front valve housing body. Also notehow clean my transmission orifices are, from several pan and fullflushes since 100000kms: for those of that advocate not changingyour fluid, keep whistling in the dark to yourselves. Further note littlethings like the blue Thomas Train tracks I stole from my youngest kidto use as a separator (duct taped the back of them together, markingeach lane 1 through 8) of all the springs and mechanisms I will beremoving and replacing in each valve body (trust me, this is anecessity). Also notice the pics I drew of the housing plate's boltholes, because some bolts are longer than the others and you haveto keep track of this or big problems will loom. I also included severalschematics (plus the official ZF VBK instructions, the pic that has myhand-writing on it) to help with things. Lastly, I took one snapshot (Idid not do any others, too time consuming) to give you an idea of thedifferences of the old versus the new springs I was installing (thespring difference pic has the new spring in front, the old springbehind it):

#4

Join Date:Posts:

Dec 2006877

Rep Power: 7

eurodavid



30 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


31 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


32 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


33 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


34 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


35 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


36 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


37 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

Pics 52-56 below: after you completed servicing the front upper valvebody housing, set it and its body attaching bolts aside. Now we willfocus on removing the solenoid valve housing body. Thankfully, wedon't have ot service it. To remove it, first note you have to removethe two speed sensors via their each two respective bolts. The rearspeed sensor has little spacers under it, so mark that down so youremember it and don't mistakenly put them on the front (towards the"front" of the car) speed sensor. Included also are two schematics ofthe solenoid housing valve body. Again note how clean the orificesare. Transmissions, especially automatics, love new fluid like nothingelse in this world:


38 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


39 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


40 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


41 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

Pics 57-58 below: now we are going to deal with the lower two valvebody housings of the overall transmission valve body. First, I wantedto show you these two pics so that you can see how the gear selectormoves as you shift from "P" to "R" to "N" and to "D" (as far as Iunderstand, the steptronic functions are done electronically via thesolenoids, not via this sliding manual lever). Also note in these twopics all the bolts that are still holding on each lower valve body:


42 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

EuroDavid


04-21-2011 05:28 PM

| Part 4:

Pics 59-61 below: after removing the front and rear lower valve bodyhousings, this is what you will be looking at. Again, all the orifices inmy tranny are whistle clean, very little residue, very little metalshavings, etc. I shudder to think, remembering how dirty the trannyoil was when I first serviced it at 100,000kms, what these orificeswould look like if I decided to be an ostrich and stick my head in thesand about not changing the transmission (you North Americans doknow BMW Europe rescinded that "Lifetime" stuff on the e39automatics some 8 years ago now, yes?). Also, have I mentionedthat ZF loves bolts of different lengths, and now, get ready for it,bolts that are identical in overall length but have different threadlength? Whatever you do, keep track of which bolts come out ofwhich holes, or in my opinion, you are setting yourself up for hours ofheadaches (draw pictures, mark where that particular bolt goes, andtag/identify it some way). 6 bolts, some of different thread length butnot overall length, hold the rear lower valve body on, and only 3 boltshold the front lower valve body housing on (again, it is vital you notewhich holes they come out of):

#5

Join Date:Posts:

Dec 2006877

Rep Power: 7

eurodavid



43 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


44 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

Pics 62-76 below: Ok, now for some real fun. There is main valvebody plate, a gasket underneath it (which you'll be replacing via yourVBK), and all kids of lovely, maddening little orifice gaskets, screensand balls. I cannot emphasize enough that this is going to be beyondmaddening for you. why? Well, the VBK comes with all these thingsneatly packaged together, but with different colors, and you think toyourself, no problem, I'll put the correct color new one in where Iremove that color at that location. The new VBK orifice gaskets arecolor coded purple, green, red, and the check balls are brown, andthank heavens the springs and screens are the same color. Look atthe colors you see in the pic when I first remove the plate, then theplate body's gasket. Do you see any little round purple gaskets? Doyou see any green little round gaskets (not the darn check balls, butthe gaskets!), do you see any red ones?? Argh, I cursed for a goodhour wondering how I was suppose to figure this small gasketplacement out because the instructions, no matter how clear youthink they are, are not clear at all, plus EVERY color was different andnot noted in the instructions. Sure, the obvious stuff like the screen,little springs and check balls (which, btw, had no difference incircumference between the old, 0.22" diameter versus the new 0.24"diameter), but damnn, those gasket were maddening. After you stareat them for awhile what is different between them, you start to goloco. Also, to remove them, you are going to need some kind ofdental pick set to gently remove & lift them out, and also to placenew ones in. Thus, I included a pic of the dental pick set I have (notethat the diameter of a toothpick is way too big to deal with thesegaskets mm-sized holes):


45 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


46 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


47 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


48 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


49 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


50 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


51 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


52 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


53 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

EuroDavid



54 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

04-21-2011 05:30 PM

| Part 5:

Pics 77-80 below: Ok, now that we are done with the maddeningmain valve body orifice housing, we are going to service those twolower valve housing bodies that we removed earlier. These pics dealthe lower rear valve housing body. As you go through these pics, youwill notice in one pic I am holding a new, packaged spring and itseems that the ZF worker building this transmission back in late 1995was having a bad day. Why? Well, he left out this spring, which issort of crucial in the it is the "2-3 traction valve". I always wonderedwhy the transmission took so long to respond when I was at speedsof 20mph through, say 40 or 50mph, as there always seem to be alag & then a kick when the gear when finally kick in. It wasn't aproblem, but upon doing this DIY, I noticed a huge change in how thetransmission reacts to my feathering and/or hammering theaccelerator pedal in-between this speed range (if I haven't told you,all these bolts we've been dealing with on on part of theremoved--out of the car--valve body housing have a torque spec of4.43 in lbs and 6Nm):

Join Date:Posts:

Dec 2006877

Rep Power: 7

eurodavid



55 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


56 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


57 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

Pic 81 below: this next pic is to give you some idea of the little slideplates that hold in some of the mechanism and the springs. You willhave to remove a few of these (note the instructions) to get atreplacing the springs. They are not too bad. I was able to work themout with my fingers, and re-inserts them using the top of wide ballpoint pen to push the whole mechanism & spring in, while Ire-inserted these stop plates. Just be warned that when you removethese (just like with all the other valve body housing face plates, thesprings and/or mechanisms will come flying out if you are notcareful):


58 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

Pics 82-85 below: Now you will service the lower front valve housingbody. Same routine as the others, just be patient, go slow, and geteverything correct the first time (it helps if you have a bit ofobsessive-compulsive order when doing this, recheck things over andover and over, it is worth it):


59 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


60 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


61 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

Pic 86 below: It was late into the evening and I needed to go to bed.I re-assembled the complete valve bodies together. If you kept trackof everything, especially where every bolt goes and into whichspecific hole, then it will be a breeze (if you didn't keep track, thenmuch good luck). Just re-assemble in reverse order that youremoved the 3 valve housing bodies and the solenoids. In otherwords, first goes on the lower front valve housing body. Second, thelower rear valve housing body goes on. Flip everything on its side,and then install the solenoid valve housing body. Remember, all boltsare 4.43 inch lbs or 6Nm. Finally, attached the upper front valvehousing body, and your baby is ready for re-insertion to your beloved39. For me, it was midnight, I was dead tired, so I wrapped up myturkey with some foil, and went to bed:


62 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

Pics 87-88 below: to avoid the fiasco I had when removing the valvebody, I look around my stuff and decided to build a transmission jackthat I would use for re-insertion of the valve body. It worked so well Icouldn't believe it. Still, I needed my wife there to help steady thevalve body once it was raised, because this thing was going "inside"the transmission, so it had to rest on something and couldn't beattached to it.Finally, we got the valve body re-attached. Go slow, and fit itcarefully, as the main valve body plate also has a metal 1/4 inchthick pin near its outside edge that it slides into (on the passengerside of the internal transmission). Make sure you get this thickcotter-like pin in there correctly, or your valve body will be ruinedonce you begin shifting. Also note, you have to re-attach the maunalgear selector I spoke of earlier. If you are able to so all this yourselfwhile you are balancing the whole valve body on your transmissionjack, then my hat is off to you. Remember, the whole valve bodycannot have any fixings attaching it to the jack, otherwise you won'tgot it up into the transmission body (the tolerances are less than1/8-1/4"). I needed another set of hands, and my wife came throughswimmingly. Further note, you will need to remove the transmissionpan again, and you will find another 2 or so qts of transmission oil init. Just be prepared; do the same steps, drain it first, then remove,place it in its clean garbage bag until you can get to it:


63 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

Pics 89-93 below: After the valve body is up in the transmission, andyou put the corresponding bolts into their carefully marked locations(and you torqued them to spec of 71 inch lbs or 8NM that Imentioned earlier----and you thought you didn't have to payattention), you need to clean your transmission pan and its magnets.My pan had basically nothing in it, except for a thin sheen of materialthe pan magnets picked up. I decided to bolster my pan magnets


64 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

with some computer hard drive magnets, as they are the strongesttype of magnets known, as since our transmissions rarely get above70 Celsius operating temps, due to our front-of-the-car mountedtransmission coolers, these computer magnets are awesome (watchout, they are small but wicked strong, and will rip the flesh off yourfingertips if you thinking you can play around with them. I have a picshowing where I took an old hard drive apart, and got the magnetsout. You also need a transmission filter (its 3 bolts torqued to thesame 4.43 inch lbs or 6Nm, and don't forget its o-ring as you put iton), so there a few pics of that. There is also some pics of torquewrenches, I have 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2" torque wrenches, and they area necessity. For this job, I needed the 1/4" for all the inch lb torquedbolts, and I needed the big 1/2" for the transmission fill hole screwplug, which has to be torqued to 73.8 ft lbs (foot, not inch, lbs) or100Nm.To remind you, remember the fill hole plug screw takes a 17mmsocket hex:


65 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


66 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

EuroDavid



67 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

04-21-2011 05:30 PM

| Part 6:

Pics 94-99 below: this DIY procedure will cause you to looseanywhere between 7-8 qts of your transmission's overall oil level. Mu5hp18 transmission holds 11.1 qts, so this amount drained is asignificant amount. A little trick is to now drop the front of the carwhile keeping the rear end up high, and begin filling yourtransmission. For now, this is all done with the car cold. I learned thisfrom ZF themselves, as they actually do something similar. You willactually have to go through one more cold fill, plus one more fill withthe car running up to its required temp and do the correct fillprocedure (which I provide pics of ZF's instructions for). I cannotemphasize enough on the first cold fill, with the rear up high andfront basically as low as you can safely get it, to get as much newtransmission oil in there as you can. The transmission is going to bestarved the first time you start it up, and go through the gears for afew minutes, allowing the torque converter to replenish itself, alongwith all the valve bodies to replenish themselves. After only 3-5 minsof taking the gear selector from "P" through "R" to "D" and stoppingfor 3-4 secs at each setting, turn the car off. Jack the front of the carback up to its level position, and begin pumping more oil in throughthe fill hole. You will find that you have to put in another 2-3 qts ofoil; put it in until it runs out of the hole again, because this time youare going to drive it for 5-10 mins and come back and get ready todo the official ZF fill method (which you will find will take another 1-2quarts to get the fluid to run out of the fill hole, with the car deadlevel, while the transmission is operating between 30-50 Celsius).Last thing I want to comment on, look at the pics of the little pumpthat goes into the new bottle of Royal Purple. It is a lifesaver whenyou are filling these transmissions under your car, on your back. Putit in there, pump the new oil in, grab another bottle if necessary, andkeep going until you got it right. I have 3 of these, they cost $4.99each from my favorite store in the whole world: Harbor Freight:

Join Date:Posts:

Dec 2006877

Rep Power: 7

eurodavid



68 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


69 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


70 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

That's it, folks. I hope this helps anyone out there. I ti s not as hardas I thought, nut it is somewhat hard. Maybe more correct to say it istime-consuming and long stretches of attention to every detail isrequired. Now that I know what I am doing, I could probably do thiswhole DIY again (which I don't want to, lol) in maybe 5-6 hours. As itis, I was tired, but ecstatic I pulled this off and seemingly restoredmy transmission to a new-like condition. As I said in the beginning ofthis writeup, the outcomes and noticeable things that happened afterdoing this DIY were a big surprise to me, especially since I didn'tthink that much was wrong with my ZF transmission. Anyhow, theblue suede tennis shoes man had to drink alone, but happily.Thankfully I didn't have to go far to get to the bathroom:


71 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

P.S. Please excuse any grammar and/or spelling errors. I wanted toget this DIY writeup done while stuff was still fresh in my mind.


72 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

EuroDavid


04-21-2011 05:33 PM

| OK, go on. It's really interesting. I thought first you dropped thewhole tranny out. What you did seems doable.Great writeup so far. Thanks David for doing this.

#8

Join Date:Posts:

Mar 2011306

Rep Power: 2

doru



04-22-2011 08:38 AM

| I want a man cave in Belgium now.

#9

Join Date:Posts:

Oct 2001790

Rep Power: 0

Craig in Canada

Registered MemberLocationToronto-ish, , CanadaMember No: 16800


04-22-2011 09:14 AM #10

Join Date:Posts:

Dec 2006877

Rep Power: 7

eurodavid



73 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

| Craig,

LOL. Come on over, you can help with my next project brewing in mymind (after this summer's rear end stuff, of course). The next thing Iwant to do is the timing chain guides, where I have to take the headoff. When I am in sportmode and/or shifting myself, and when I amhammering it, between 5k-6k rpms, I hear a slight chain slap (orrattle) as the engine comes out of that gear and goes up to the next.Nothing happens under 5k rpm (in any gear), stiull, there are days Ilike to do some hard runs, especially when i get into Germany, and Ihate that momentary little noise. I figure the chain guides might be alittle worn, as I already replaced the lower chain tensioner(http://bimmer.roadfly.com/bmw/forums/e39/9336627-1.html).

You're welcome to come on over this summer and share themancave, drink some very, very fine beer, and work on an e39. Allthe things in life a simple man can ask for ;-D

P.S. Someting is bugging me: how did so much transmission oil drainout? The car was dead level, if anything pointing slightly downtowards the front, yet I checked again this morning, and I put a littleover 8 qts of Royal Purple back in there just to get a little bit of dripto come back out at 40-45 Celsius? When the valve body is removed,does everything in the torque converter basically come back out andinto the transmission pan while I was working the removed valvebody? I thought oil stays in the torque converter no matter what, andthe only way to get it out was doing the self flush using its owninternal pump that I usually do while someone sits in the car goingback & forth between "R" and "D" and into "Sport Mode 1-5"? Doesthe removed valve body relieve the pressure that is holding the oil upin the torque converter?

EuroDavid


04-22-2011 09:35 AM

| Great write up Euro....I mean "Mr. ZF Tranny Man". You've got a niceMan Cave shop, tile floor too!Your post just may push Rajaie's Vanos post off the map for top dog!Your right about posting pics and text. If the pics are wider than~768 you have to scroll to the bottom of the post, which is a PITA, tomove the pics over to see the rest of the pic. If you are using anotebook with a small screen the text then gets cut off.Great Job. What's next on the list?

#11

Join Date:Posts:

Oct 200019,539

Rep Power: 32

JimLev

Registered MemberLocationPembroke, MA, United StatesMember No: 4328

Just a few mods.If it ain't broken make it better and quicker!


04-22-2011 10:59 AM

|

Jim, I tried to edit the post (just html links, no img pic link), butI couldn't?

Wonder if I should ask Charlie and/or Alan to delete the DIY post,and I'll re-post it again tomorrow, except this time no "img" links thatbring up all the pics? I'll re-post it just like the "Show Print Version"where only html links to the pics are shown, and a person would haveto manually click on them.

I hear ya about the length, sorry it was so long. I was trying to make

#12


74 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

it idiot-proof, but maybe I made it worse by making it too long.

Whaddyathink, should we beg Charlie and/or Alan to deep-six it???(We both know that no one is going to take the time to try to gothrough the pics with the way that scroll bar thing is set up)?

Join Date:Posts:

Dec 2006877

Rep Power: 7

eurodavid


Originally Posted by jimlev

Great write up Euro....I mean "Mr. ZF Tranny Man". You've got anice Man Cave shop, tile floor too!Your post just may push Rajaie's Vanos post off the map for topdog!Your right about posting pics and text. If the pics are wider than~768 you have to scroll to the bottom of the post, which is aPITA, to move the pics over to see the rest of the pic. If you areusing a notebook with a small screen the text then gets cut off.Great Job. What's next on the list?

EuroDavid


04-23-2011 09:03 AM

| IMO, don't deep six it yet. Let us all continue to use it to figure outhow all of these should be done from now on. It seems like you'vegot them engaged to come up with ideas (like using a "blog" or "wiki"instead of a normal post, for instance)

As one of them also said - having it as a normal post means it can'teasily be printed which is a problem.

On another vBulletin forum I frequent, they use the "wiki"functionality for things like this. One member posts a writeup withlots of pictures, graphs and inlaid text. The software then allows"comments" and "discussion" to take place afterwards but the mainarticle is pretty easy to follow. The downfall of this method is whenthe authour needs to post in multiple parts for whatever reason.Either they need to make "part 1", "part 2", "part 3" wiki posts andeach one gets isolated discussion or the followup parts (2 and later)actually appear in the discussion section.

Take a look at http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?tit...hes+and+boards for a sample.

#13

Join Date:Posts:

Oct 2001790

Rep Power: 0

Craig in Canada

Registered MemberLocationToronto-ish, , CanadaMember No: 16800


04-23-2011 12:05 PM

| wow you are logical, methodical and have lots of guts, great job butonly for certified BMW mechanics, pros or highest level do it yourselfer like you. KUDOS . VERY IMPRESSIVE ! what is your day job?

#14

Join Date:Posts:

Jan 20024,140

Rep Power: 16

JYGy2k5285spCT

Registered MemberLocation, , United StatesMember No: 23375

2000 528 5sp Premium Package. Titanium silver,grey leather, heatedseats,folding seats, 6cd player, bone stock except ash tray mod. Garmin GPS


75 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM


04-23-2011 06:57 PM

| He's "The Cylinder Hunter" ! Seriously, EuroD, that is a mostEXCELLENT write-up. Thank you for putting forth all of your efforts todocument this operation so thouroughly for the rest of us.

Do you have a back-up pair of those blue shoes? I'd hate to thinkthat your mechanical abilities might be lost if anything untowardshappened to those shoes? (Hercules' without his hair?)

#15

Join Date:Posts:

Jul 2009225

Rep Power: 0

BigRickMc50


1987 325 5Spd 2Door (Bought at 210k Mi, sold at 280k; strong car)1987 325 Auto 4Door (Wife's Car; Bought at 125k Mi, "sold" to daughter at250k; flywheel broken and retired)1989 525i 5Spd 4Door (Bought at 150k, Trans Broke at 230k, sold to repairshop)1994 740iL Auto (Bought at 95k Mi, parked at 110k Mi, awaiting minor repairs)1998 528 Auto (Bought at 122k Mi, parked at 175k Mi, awaiting minor repairs)2003 530i Auto (Wife's Car; Bought at 68k Mi, Going strong at 112k Mi)


04-24-2011 01:33 AM

| Slick stuff, EuroD, nicely done. Like others have said your aft cave isquite nicely appointed. Gotta get me an Easter Egg table protectorlike yours. Makes hunting for screws and washers entertaining. Ithought I saw some cylinders hanging on your pegboard - have youbeen holding out on us all this time???

#16

Join Date:Posts:

Jun 2005981

Rep Power: 0

@ ExAlfa

Inner Circle MemberInner Circle MemberLocationRochester, NY, United StatesMember No: 127477Inner Circle ©20 since: May 20,2011

'03 540iA M-Sport, H&R springs & M5 trunk spoilerGenesee Valley BMWCCAFinger Lakes region of NY


04-25-2011 09:44 AM

|

Thks for positive feedback everyone.

As a side note, after some experimentation (as Charlie mentioned), ifdon't have your computer monitor resolution set above 1200 x 800,then you are going to be faced with those maddening 20 pic threadlimit scroll bars, which is enough to drive anyone insane. for me, Ichanged all my home computers to 1280 by 768, and voila', themaddening scroll bars disappear and the pics are shown fully.

#17

Join Date:Posts:

Dec 2006877

eurodavid



76 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

Thanks again.

Rep Power: 7

EuroDavid


04-25-2011 10:07 AM

|

I'm at 1280 x 800 and still have the scroll bars.......ugh!

#18

Join Date:Posts:

Oct 200019,539

Rep Power: 32

JimLev

Registered MemberLocationPembroke, MA, United StatesMember No: 4328

Originally Posted by eurodavid

As a side note, after some experimentation (as Charliementioned), if don't have your computer monitor resolution setabove 1200 x 800, then you are going to be faced with thosemaddening 20 pic thread limit scroll bars, which is enough todrive anyone insane. for me, I changed all my home computersto 1280 by 768, and voila', the maddening scroll bars disappearand the pics are shown fully.

Thanks again.

Just a few mods.If it ain't broken make it better and quicker!


05-23-2011 05:45 AM

| thanks caveman , useful information,, i am gonna do the same thingwith my car as well , thank you one more time ,,,

#19

Join Date:Posts:

May 20111

Rep Power: 0

i.pharaoh

User Level 1Location, ,Member No: 186276


05-17-2012 07:22 AM

| Good day!My name is Eugene, I'm from Ukraine.Stumbled on your article in the forum, and it was interesting.You might not share the background information on the 5hp18

#20

Join Date:Posts:

May 20121

Rep Power: 0

mislya3

User Level 1Location, ,Member No: 192031



77 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

Forum Car Forum BMW Forum Past BMW Models BMW 5 Series Forum (E39)

Project #23: ZF 5HP18 Transmission Valve Body Overhaul DIY Part 1

« Has anyone dealt with this before and any opinions please... | Codes pulled for miss and check engine light. Needsome help please. »

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 02:52 PM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.1.4Copyright © 2013 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.

Copyright Roadfly.comSphinx-based search by Digital Point

Page 1 of 2 1 2 Last

Quick Navigation BMW 5 Series Forum (E39) Top

Fluke® Vibration TesterFluke.com/Vibration_Tester

The Fluke® 810 is Accurate & Easy to Use. Free Diagnostic Report!


78 of 78 1/10/2013 11:52 AM

project #23: zf 5hp18 transmission valve body overhaul diy

Documents