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DIY ZF 6HP19Z Transmission Drain & Refill

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Old 10-16-2013, 05:57 AM
  #281  
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Originally Posted by E60I
Ouch, sorry to hear about that! Make of list of what to part out just in case if they are really going to call it as a total loss. The good thing is you are okay.

Did you feel any difference after you replaced the fluid and parts?
I didnt feel any difference. Just piece of mind after doing it. Not sure what to part out. I dont have the wheels on since my daughter curbed one while learning to drive smh. Not much else to take off that is in good shape.
Old 10-25-2013, 01:27 AM
  #282  
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After reading this thread went about and replaced the leaker and took lots of pictures as people here kept asking to re-post the OP's pics of this process which seemed to have disappeared, so here is a 545i 2004 6HP26 oil pan&filter change. - a set on Flickr bunch that should help those looking for visuals. Don't know how well the descriptions are visible to the public from that site and JIC they are not here's some noticable items to be aware of for those attempting this.
1) When raising the car try to get it as high as you safely can, in my case the ramps I use should be higher for easier access.
2) For a reference to get the car level you can use the bottom of the rockerpanels under the doors as it is close to being level.
3) Remove that small heatshield near the filler plug (only 2 screws) for easier access, after you have removed the two large underbody splash panels.
4) I am a one man operation but two sets of hands is a lot easier.
5) Have a power driver ready for those 21 Torx screws holding the pan on will save you a lot of time.
6) While draining old oil raise the front of car some more to get more oil out and then drop it again to level before re-filling.
7) You can do this without flooding the garage with oil if you plan it properly and have a large drip tray.
8) have some preferably leather gloves ready to prevent from burning your hands when re-inserting the plug after re-filling that exhaust gets hot by the time you get all the required oil in again.
9) Easiest way to monitor tranny oil temperature during refill is INPA or similar diagn. program plugged into your ODBII connector.
That's about all I can think of beyond the obvious stuff........
Hopes this adds to the good info that is already here.
OH and almost forgot to mention, I used Pentosin ATF1 and am planning to drain it again this week to re-fill again so I get about 75% new oil in there as now it's only 50 % there IMHO...

Follow-up.......driven the car now for two weeks since the first drain and used 10 liters of Pentosin for the 2 drain ops. and also added 2 liters ZF fluid as the 10 ltrs Pentosin was insufficient (due to spillage) and thusfar am very satisfied with the new feel and functioning of the transmission, she shifts much smoother and better I find....would highly recommend doing this oil change for those that have approx 100K or thereabouts and/or 8-10 yrs I think that the aging as well as mileage make their toll on the oil quality even though it's "Lifetime" ...........

Last edited by cmyachtie; 10-31-2013 at 02:11 PM.
Old 11-25-2013, 10:32 AM
  #283  
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Looks like I need to do this on my '04 530 with 103K; sealing sleeve looks OK, area around pan gasket is moist with ATF.

Are you all replacing the pan screws for this job, or is it OK to just reuse them?
Old 11-26-2013, 05:26 AM
  #284  
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Originally Posted by KyleB
Looks like I need to do this on my '04 530 with 103K; sealing sleeve looks OK, area around pan gasket is moist with ATF.

Are you all replacing the pan screws for this job, or is it OK to just reuse them?
Apparently they SHOULD not be reused, that being said does not mean you cannot reuse them........the screws are supposed to be torque spec'd in that they become weaker after use.....you govern yourself accordingly I did replace them I know they are expensive but $100 or there abouts is a cheap insurance for tranny replacement should you loose your fluid.
Old 11-26-2013, 06:20 AM
  #285  
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Originally Posted by cmyachtie
After reading this thread went about and replaced the leaker and took lots of pictures as people here kept asking to re-post the OP's pics of this process which seemed to have disappeared, so here is a 545i 2004 6HP26 oil pan&filter change. - a set on Flickr bunch that should help those looking for visuals. Don't know how well the descriptions are visible to the public from that site and JIC they are not here's some noticable items to be aware of for those attempting this.
1) When raising the car try to get it as high as you safely can, in my case the ramps I use should be higher for easier access.
2) For a reference to get the car level you can use the bottom of the rockerpanels under the doors as it is close to being level.
3) Remove that small heatshield near the filler plug (only 2 screws) for easier access, after you have removed the two large underbody splash panels.
4) I am a one man operation but two sets of hands is a lot easier.
5) Have a power driver ready for those 21 Torx screws holding the pan on will save you a lot of time.
6) While draining old oil raise the front of car some more to get more oil out and then drop it again to level before re-filling.
7) You can do this without flooding the garage with oil if you plan it properly and have a large drip tray.
8) have some preferably leather gloves ready to prevent from burning your hands when re-inserting the plug after re-filling that exhaust gets hot by the time you get all the required oil in again.
9) Easiest way to monitor tranny oil temperature during refill is INPA or similar diagn. program plugged into your ODBII connector.
That's about all I can think of beyond the obvious stuff........
Hopes this adds to the good info that is already here.
OH and almost forgot to mention, I used Pentosin ATF1 and am planning to drain it again this week to re-fill again so I get about 75% new oil in there as now it's only 50 % there IMHO...

Follow-up.......driven the car now for two weeks since the first drain and used 10 liters of Pentosin for the 2 drain ops. and also added 2 liters ZF fluid as the 10 ltrs Pentosin was insufficient (due to spillage) and thusfar am very satisfied with the new feel and functioning of the transmission, she shifts much smoother and better I find....would highly recommend doing this oil change for those that have approx 100K or thereabouts and/or 8-10 yrs I think that the aging as well as mileage make their toll on the oil quality even though it's "Lifetime" ...........
Do you have the instruction to use INPA to read the tranny fluid temperature ?

Thanks.
Old 11-26-2013, 06:30 AM
  #286  
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Originally Posted by cmyachtie
Apparently they SHOULD not be reused, that being said does not mean you cannot reuse them........the screws are supposed to be torque spec'd in that they become weaker after use.....you govern yourself accordingly I did replace them I know they are expensive but $100 or there abouts is a cheap insurance for tranny replacement should you loose your fluid.
I tried to get all 24 new bolts for the oil pan but dealer only had 20. So I may re-use 4 "good" one. The bigger fear that I have is to deal with the stripped out bolts. After reading posts in this thread. Almost 80% of chance will have stripped torx bolts during the removal of the old oil pan. I did the oil drain myself back in 50k and dealer did the sleeve too. Now, I am ready for 2nd oil drain + oil pan replacement @ 100k. New bolts from dealer are T40 instead of T2x. Did you encounter stripped Torx bolts when you did yours ?
Old 11-26-2013, 07:31 AM
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thanks for the responses guys. at less than $2 each, I'm not going to take the chance of having an old bolt not seal correctly. Thanks again for the input.

Originally Posted by lcc014
Do you have the instruction to use INPA to read the tranny fluid temperature ?
It's somewhere in this thread, I think only a couple of pages back from the end. It's very simple to access, assuming you know your way around INPA.
Old 11-26-2013, 08:01 AM
  #288  
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Originally Posted by KyleB
thanks for the responses guys. at less than $2 each, I'm not going to take the chance of having an old bolt not seal correctly. Thanks again for the input.



It's somewhere in this thread, I think only a couple of pages back from the end. It's very simple to access, assuming you know your way around INPA.
Thanks for the pointer but I could not find any information in this thread talking about the instruction to read tranny fluid temperature from INPA - back to about page 20.
Old 11-26-2013, 08:11 AM
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It's on page 16, post 156.
Old 11-26-2013, 10:40 AM
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Originally Posted by KyleB
It's on page 16, post 156.
Found it, thank you so much.


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