I swear this car is like a dog I once had!!!!

[Bimminator]

Every time I bring it to my indy to fix a problem it is running fine by the time I get it there or at least by the time he looks at it. I had a dog once that would be miraculously curred of any ills as soon as I pulled in to the parking lot of the vet. I posted a couple of weeks ago about my tranny staying in second and third gear and finially not engaging in reverse the day before I brought it in. Well my indy couldn't detect any problem. When he test drove it it shifted properly and there were no stored codes. He did find that tranny lines were leaking slightly but he didn't think that was causing any problems as it was slight. He suggested that it may be an issue with the shifter but not likely the tranny its self. So he gave it back to me and told me basically to drive it until it does it again. Well guess what? After about a week and a half of operating normally it wouldn't go past 3rd again tonight. I think I'm going to bring it in to a tranny shop tomorrow to see if these issues are familiar to them.
Does this sound like an electrical issue in the shifter to anyone? I tend to think it is probably not the tranny its self as I haven't had any slippage and when it is not stuck in third or second gear it shifts pretty smooth? I did determine about a month ago that the coolant temp sensor likely needs to be replaced, but I haven't made it down to Bruno's yet for parts, plan to go in the next week if the car is shifting right. Any insight is greatly appreciated

Thanks, Shawn

[Kalevera]

Was the dash indicator doing anything funny when things were acting up? Maybe the position switch is gunked up or is shorting out. Either way, it's a good idea to check it. Here's a related pic I love to show:



BTW, the switch is still visible in the pic -- black plastic at the base of the shifter.

For one, my tranny computer is messed up -- has a problem I haven't been able to track down in now...7 months...which causes occasional light pendulum shifting. Instead of trying to fix it, I'm just going to convert the car to a stick and live with it until then.

best, whit

[Bimminator]

Yeh I saw that pick before, that would suck. The dash indicator is normal just indicates ED. My mech suggested slamming the accelerator to activate the kickdown switch to see if that triggers a shift. I have tried this and sometimes it will initiate a shift but then when I have to brake, the car stops shifting at 3rd again upon acceleration and when I slam the peddle again sometimes it will continue shifting and sometimes it won't? I have an appointment at 3pm at local tranny shop so hopefully they can determine reasonably quickly what the problem is. When I explained to them this morning would the car had been doing they seemed to think it is probably an electrical issue possibly the kickdown actuator being stuck or seized. This is beyond me I was just curious if this is a typical problem with the ZF 4hp-22 tranny of this age. I'm hopeful that tranny doesn't need to be replaced as when the tranny is shifting properly it seems to be operating smoothly? I guess I will find out soon. I'll post the results in case anybody else has this issue.

[Bimminator]

Well I just got back from my indy and luckily he was able to look at it and test drive it for the first time while it was acting up. The car is not shifting in to overdrive. He strongly believes there is likely an internal seal leak which is causing the tranny to lose pressure. What he wants me to do as a first step is to pour in half a bottle of lucus tranny fix and drive in town for the next few days to see if the problem resolves itself, which would indicate that the seals are the issue. If nothing happens the next step is to check the solenoids in the tranny to see if there are any not working, eventhough a scan didn't reveal any codes which they felt it should have if the solenoids were the issue. They belive the problem is either of these two things because if there was something "broken" internally in the tranny this would not be an intermitent issue it would be constant. If all else fails the third option is to put in a salvaged or rebuilt tranny which they don't want to do until they are sure the solenoids are functioning.
This seems reasonable to me, I'll post back with the results.
Cheers, Shawn

[632 Regal]

Reboot the car yet? Anything electrical can trigger a trans fault and cause it to stay in 3rd gear (limp mode) including low fluid. I wouldnt want to add anything to it yet till you reboot and see if theres something triggering the limp mode. Its not like its constant or repeatable on demand so the trans is probably still fine.

[dacoyote]

Whit,

Nice pic, at least that isn't my car yet :-)

Question about the shifting because I think my car does the same thing and I always though it was a "BMW thing".

What my car does is some of the times it fells like it's shifting back and forth, like it cannot make up it's mind what gear it wants to be in.. if I give it a little more or less gas it goes away, it's something it does at right about 45 - 55.

-Charles

[Bimminator]

Reboot the car yet? Anything electrical can trigger a trans fault and cause it to stay in 3rd gear (limp mode) including low fluid. I wouldnt want to add anything to it yet till you reboot and see if theres something triggering the limp mode. Its not like its constant or repeatable on demand so the trans is probably still fine.

No I haven't done a reboot yet. I was thinking that may be the reason my indy wasn't reading any codes because I had erased them the last time I had done a reboot. It didn't occur to me that it may be stuck in limp mode. I haven't been able to get the stomp codes to function and my indy wasn't reading any codes with the scanner so I've only been considering tranny related issues, you know, hoping like hell you don't have to do a swap or a rebuild. My indy said that faulty solenoids won't always trigger a fault code so does anyone know what is involved in testing them manually and what they are worth to replace?

[632 Regal]

do the reboot firat and hope like hell it goes away

[Bimminator]

do the reboot firat and hope like hell it goes away

I've been doing a lot of hoping like hell in the last couple of weeks it seems. I don't even mind so much that this may cost some bucks to resolve. What bothers me is that the problem can't be pin pointed there seems to be lots of things that could be the problem and I hate the thought of fixing a half a dozen things before realizing the problem all along was something else. After spend a **** load of money unnecessarily of course.

[Kalevera]

Bimminator --

It may very well be one of a number potential hydraulic issues, but before doing anything else, have someone who knows the 4hp backwards and forwards check the solenoids. Now, I'm no expert in 4hp electronics (Javier knows lots, though) and I haven't rebuilt a valve body for one to date, but I'm relatively sure that there's a solenoid responsible for shifting into O/D.

Hopefully, the trans shop you took it to does a lot of work on european cars, specifically bimmers. While lots of 4hp-22s were installed in european cars, BMW was one of a handful to adopt the EH version. The 4hp started being used in BMWs somewhere around '82, around '87 is when the EH version was put to use, and BMW stopped using the trans completely by the end of '92....Jaguar and Audi used variants up until something like '96 MY cars. So, be sure to find someone to do the work who knows the nuances.

If Jim Blanton will touch it, I'd be calling him (Blanton Transmission) -- I know he does a lot of Getrag stuff, not sure about ZF; as well, many people have had success with Kurt Koeller's knowledge and rebuilds.

Charles -- Yes, I classify it more as a "loss of feel" in the gas pedal, visible by a bouncing tach (around 1500 rpm on the 535) when dropping to OD at about 40mph. Ways to get it to stop are to pop the car into manual mode or hit the gas so that the trans will downshift, as stated. My issue is below DME/EGS fault control; if the trans computer thought something were wrong, you'd have a solid check engine light. I'm putting off troubleshooting it -- probably something stupid like the throttle potentiometer -- because I don't know how long I'll keep the autobox.

best, whit