D2 Auto rebuild -

[Lwyatt]

Hi guys,
First off I wanted to say thanks for all the great info, I identified a buggered front prop shaft from the info on here, replaced it and a few others things, gold.
So I have a buggered Auto, symptoms were driving out of Sydney full load plus gear on the roof and put the foot down and a shudder only nano sec but violent a felt through the truck. Initially I thought torque converter as it seemed to be in 4Th only, but it increased in frequency and the oil was black when a double flush was done.
Made it 2000km home with it only cutting out once ( 15 min break and away we go).
Did some research and settled on taking it to Reliable Automatic in Albion, was diagnosed as needing a rebuild ( large amount of metal in the oil and constant slipping, I didn't notice it) Quote was around $5000 came in at $5100 including rear main seal done, another one I can't remember and a output shaft being resealed. They are a old school bunch there and have upgraded a few parts and linings. At the same got a auto cooler put on $650 for parts (didn't charge me fitting) and the torque converter was upgraded to heavy duty bearings and the fins (tweaked / tighten ?? No idea what that means) and have been I can tow ships or climb walls...
Verdict- it feels amazing it leaps forward when you put the foot down, now I understand the slipping. It's a different box all together. That annoying vibration that kicks in around 2300 is greatly reduced.
I hoping there's no more issues for while, auto, propshaft, window winder- the wife will be on the war path.
Next on the list, is EGR blanking, the silicone hoses, then removal of centre pipe, then temp gauge, then inter cooler, then chip time.
Cheers guys,
Luke

[stevo]

How many k's did the trans have on it?

[Lwyatt]

Hey mate,
It had 225k on it and I can't find any paperwork for any transmission service in the last 80k.

[Lwyatt]

Hi guys,
So the saga has continued, the auto has been rebuilt as I posted earlier i got a chance to have a chat to the rebuilder and he said the torque converter was completely stuffed and had started to disintegrate. Interestingly I asked why it snapped gears now as the smooth like feeling of the box is gone and he said he had taken up the tolerances as I had stated I was going to use it for towing. Less slip = less wear under load.
Points of interest bought up in the conversation :
for each 10 degrees you go over the recommended temp range of ATF your using cut your service interval by 50%.
If towing use a oil cooler to prolong ATF life span and therefore the autos.
Change filters and fluid every 12 months, his logic was the paper filters becomes harder due to temperature and the filtration therefore reducing the effectiveness.
Thought I would share and see what others thought as well.
Regards,
Luke

[stevo]

I am guessing by taken up the tolerances he has closed up the clutch pack heights, which is what I did to mine after reading that is what a lot of the BMW crowd do to their transmissions, mine changes quick.

I put a temp gauge on the outlet pipe on the trans helps in keeping trans temps down finding in stop start traffic keep it in second etc going to fit a fan to the second oil cooler I fitted so when temp hits 80 fan comes on.

[gavinwibrow]

Yep, I too tow and have a good transmission cooler, ATF temp gauge and over-ride switch in the D2a for those instances when it pays to anticipate heightened temps. I've been told that this can extend the life of the D2 auto trans significantly.

Having said all that, mine runs what I consider to be almost too cool around town, and would be interested in any comments on the Transmission Cooler Thermostat - Derale 25792 or similar, if not considered to be high-jacking the thread.

[Lwyatt]

By all means Gav I'd been interested to hear people's thoughts on ATF temps and coolers. The guys at the shop who did my rebuild were adamant that temp life and servicing were the key to getting longer life out of the ZF auto.
I ended up with getting the clutch tolerances taken up, heavy duty thrust bearing in the TC and the fans had some work done. Now it changes uphill under load ! The cooler I had put in was the biggest they would go being wary of it being too cold around town especially on start up and short runs. They did mention the inlet / outlet hose on the cooler needed to be a large as the exisiting hosing to avoid having decreasing flow, apparently there a few coolers out there that have the smaller Inlet / outlet.

Luke

[Pedro_The_Swift]

yea luke, why I bolted in one of these,,
I suppose a fan on the back is not a silly idea---