Zip kit and fluid change, now won't go past 5th

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greiswig

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It's nice that Columbia Roving would redirect you, rather than upcharge you. That's customer service IMO.
Agreed. Now I'm interested in seeing what this shop that messed up will be willing to do for me. They've got a hostage, after all.
 

dlimanov

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your signature says 47k mi on the truck. there should be no debris to speak of that could potentially cause these issues or clutch to fail. most likely they botched up the install and are now trying to make it your problem. would definitely have someone with experience doing this work take a second look.
 

Al Pizzica

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I agree they botched something in the install. It sounds like one of the pistons is stuck, not allowing it to shift into 5 and thus not any higher either. Also agree at 47k your fluid should be relatively fine.
 

greiswig

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It’s going to a dedicated transmission shop when I get back to Washington, one that is intimately familiar with the Zip Kit and this tranny. I’m hopeful.
 

greiswig

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Well, I picked up the vehicle from this outfit yesterday and drove it the 10mi home. I'll have it towed the 35 miles to the transmission shop.

I was driving VERY gingerly, on backroads and trying to accelerate slowly and keep it under 45mph.What they had described was a "failure to shift into gears 6-8." I definitely felt that, but I had two VERY hard down-shifts (from 4th-3rd, I think), and the third time it happened the dashboard threw the "transmission issue" info message, and the ECO light and warning lights lit up. From that point on, it was almost like it was starting in 2nd gear: engine would rev a bit, but it accelerated really slowly, like the transmission was slipping a ton. Kept my eye on the temp gauge and treated the accelerator like it had eggs on it, and made it home.

Here's what the GAP tool showed once I scanned it:
 

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Tapps33

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Full disclosure, I don't have too much experience with the 8 speed, but I do have quite a bit with the 6 speed, and they're VERY similar.

While I won't call the original shop liars, I have NEVER heard of, "the debris providing the necessary friction" for a transmission.

I have heard of botched ZIP kit installations. I've installed 3 ZIP kits myself, and the directions and support from Sonnax are top notch. To date, knock on wood, I haven't had any issues with my installations. (And no, I'm not a transmission guy or professional mechanic....just someone who's been wrenching on LR3's and LR4's for about 20 years now.). Given the error codes I'm seeing from your GAP tool, and the fact that they pulled the mechatronic, I'm wondering whether they shocked the TCM slightly. Out of curiosity, did you have them swap the solenoids as well? It could simply be they didn't seat the electronic half of the mechatronic properly, and one or more of the solenoids isn't firing correctly. Heck, they may have accidentally dropped one of the solenoids. Did they order the correct separator plate? Did they even order and install a new separator plate? (FYI, you CANNOT re-use a separator plate, so anytime you split the mechatronic open, you MUST install a brand new separator plate.)

It might be worth seeing if the new shop will install a fresh ZIP kit, separator plate and solenoids. The beauty of that is the fact that Sonnax provides ways to test every single channel to ensure the kit is installed and functioning properly. Don't get me wrong, it'll still probably run you $1K-$1.5K, but that's better than a whole new transmission.

FYI, these ZF transmissions are pretty darn reliable and robust...the weakest link is the electronic portion, they're highly susceptible to static shock damage. Finally, this issue has happened before, and I can't think of a single instance where the shop (or owner) hadn't fried their mechatronic and ended up with a new mechatronic....not a new transmission.
 

greiswig

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Full disclosure, I don't have too much experience with the 8 speed, but I do have quite a bit with the 6 speed, and they're VERY similar.

While I won't call the original shop liars, I have NEVER heard of, "the debris providing the necessary friction" for a transmission.

I have heard of botched ZIP kit installations. I've installed 3 ZIP kits myself, and the directions and support from Sonnax are top notch. To date, knock on wood, I haven't had any issues with my installations. (And no, I'm not a transmission guy or professional mechanic....just someone who's been wrenching on LR3's and LR4's for about 20 years now.). Given the error codes I'm seeing from your GAP tool, and the fact that they pulled the mechatronic, I'm wondering whether they shocked the TCM slightly. Out of curiosity, did you have them swap the solenoids as well? It could simply be they didn't seat the electronic half of the mechatronic properly, and one or more of the solenoids isn't firing correctly. Heck, they may have accidentally dropped one of the solenoids. Did they order the correct separator plate? Did they even order and install a new separator plate? (FYI, you CANNOT re-use a separator plate, so anytime you split the mechatronic open, you MUST install a brand new separator plate.)

It might be worth seeing if the new shop will install a fresh ZIP kit, separator plate and solenoids. The beauty of that is the fact that Sonnax provides ways to test every single channel to ensure the kit is installed and functioning properly. Don't get me wrong, it'll still probably run you $1K-$1.5K, but that's better than a whole new transmission.

FYI, these ZF transmissions are pretty darn reliable and robust...the weakest link is the electronic portion, they're highly susceptible to static shock damage. Finally, this issue has happened before, and I can't think of a single instance where the shop (or owner) hadn't fried their mechatronic and ended up with a new mechatronic....not a new transmission.
All good theories, for sure. I know this shop had contacted Sonnax and got a set of pressure and vacuum test procedures from them that he claimed the unit had passed, hence his theory that the issue was "further up in the transmission" and therefore not part of what he'd just been working on.

I did not have them swap solenoids, but had asked them to test their functionality as part of the new install. "Everything checks out" was their reply. They ended up putting the old parts back into the transmission, which TBH is fine with me on one hand (they can try to get reimbursed for the Zip Kit), but struck me as odd because I don't know too many shops who are going to keep the old parts around in any kind of clean manner once the new parts are installed. IDK...

I'm towing it to the transmission shop that Columbia Rover recommended, and hopefully next week I'll know more.
 

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