Reverse gone! Did Kirt move?

[zhandax]

Talked to Kirt, valve body should be here tomorrow, tech is expecting me. Wish me no metal in the pan!

[Tiger]

Glad you got a hold of Kirt. He helped me out with mine years ago... still running strong. I had the checkball problem that when I pulled out of the garage, it was fine but when I wanted to go forward, I couldn't... it felt like the parking brake was on... both the drive and reverse were activated at the same time. Since I didn't go anywhere or drive with any sort of problem, the tranny was fine and just the valve body needed to be rebuilt.

How much is a rebuilt valve body going for these day?

[zhandax]

$400 which, if I remember correctly, is only $50 more than 2006 when I first talked to him about getting one.

[Tiger]

Ahh... that' pretty much the same... I recall paying about that much... maybe a bit cheaper long ago... but that's pratically the same price from my point of view. Usually it would have been much more... considering how much they are getting for rebuilt tranny.

[whiskychaser]

Wouldnt want to seem to be a spendthrift, but I'd have gone for this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ZF5HP...Q5fAccessories

[Mr._Graybeard]

Wouldnt want to seem to be a spendthrift, but I'd have gone for this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ZF5HP...Q5fAccessories

I bought the VB kit from Kirt last year for $135, IIRC. The rebuild isn't a difficult job but it's messy and a little tedious. It took me maybe five hours but I was going slowly to make sure I didn't screw it up.

[MBXB]

http://www.e38.org/e32/e32%20transmission%20valve.pdf

[632 Regal]

So Kirt thinks it could be the valve body then? If so this is the first time I heard of a valvebody failure for a 5HP-18 with that low of miles.

Talked to Kirt, valve body should be here tomorrow, tech is expecting me. Wish me no metal in the pan!

[zhandax]

Jeff, I have the 5HP30 which -sure seems like- got its fame from valve body failures. bubba966 is driving a 540 now, but he didn't say it was the car with the broken circlip holder. When I mentioned the circlip to Kirt, he said that sounds more like a 5HP18 and he couldn't remember one on a 5HP30. Add in the fact that my car has not thrown a single code (eliminating the trans ECU?) and it almost has to be the valve body, or at least that sounds like the way to bet. I did tell my tech if he sees metal in the pan, call me and don't even bother installing the VB. Just in case I'm the first.

As far as doing it myself, if it were a 4-barrel Holley that I could stand on both feet to remove for a rebuild, no problem. Since I started getting junk mail from AARP (knew I should have stayed away from that Foreigner concert they sponsored) I find I would rather get a root canal than work underneath a car. The last time I changed the trans filter on the Mercedes I got an oil shampoo. Long arms, a 12" deep ribcage, and jackstands make for pretty miserable working conditions on a crawler. Maybe I need to throw the jackstand boxes away. Seeing "Made in China" every time I have to trust my life to them doesn't help any.

[zhandax]

In case anyone thought I was just being the usual sarcastic me, here is proof. This is wrong, in so many ways......