Back on this - spoke to rob at duckworths, he can do ravennol, zf oem or genuine oil, 12,18 and 26£ per litre respectively or there abouts - is ravenol any good?

He also says about filters that britpart do a standard or easy change style - or again there is genuine - what do you guys recommend/have used? Current stable:
2006 BMW M6
2007 4.2 V8 S/C FF
Gone:
2002 4.4 V8 FF

I bought 7L of genuine Lifeguard 6 from a bay retailer in Germany about £13/L
A couple of tubes of Instant Shudder Fix from the UK seller
and the Stainless Metal sump with separate filter and a new Mecatronic seal from LR Parts.

Very happy with the overall cost of parts, plus delighted with the end result. L322 3.6 TDV8 Vogue. 07MY
ML 320 7 Seat full leather etc. (The Black Pearl)

When I had my 5.0 S/C done, the guys at the local LR independent I've used for years, Brownchurch, said they put Ravenol in pretty much all the vehicles they do, as most customers prefer the reduced cost of it. But I did explicitly ask them to use ZF for mine, which they also had in stock, on the basis I'd rather know it's the exact manufacturer fluid as I'm not expecting to change it again for quite a while! But if they are happy to use it on customer vehicles, I do trust them completely, and they said they'd never had any issues with it so far.

They also recommended a metal sump with separate filter, which I went with as well.

Some anecdotal evidence, I replaces my gearbox oil with Ravenol last year, gear box was instantly smoother and function better, stopped slight surging at low rev’s.

Outcome might have been the same on any gearbox oil, who knows.

My opinion is buy a good brand and the correct spec which Ravenol is. If you are rich and just want easy, buy the overly expensive ZF life guard... just not sure you will see any benefit for your extra cash... but it won’t hurt otherwise.

Corbyn.

Can dr.tranny additive do some harm to my 6hp26 transmision if I add it as a precaution?
I have no faults, only ocassional light kick when rolling to stop and then continuing to accelerate (without entirely coming to stop) and ocassional kick when I suddenly accelerate (when overtaking) so I am not sure in what health condition is my torque converter.
Maybe this additive could help with this problems. Other than that transsmision shifts smoothly. (oil and filter was changed 10 000 km ago) RR HSE 4.4 2006 LPG

I am not convinced on additive, the main manufacturers would add or sell this ‘snake oil’ (my opinion) if there was benefits other than just a revenue stream.

I would just stump up and replace the oil and filter it’s the best thing you can do for you box.

What’s this shudder fix? Is it need? Also I don’t have any leaks on my gb so do i need to do the sleeve fix? Current stable:
2006 BMW M6
2007 4.2 V8 S/C FF
Gone:
2002 4.4 V8 FF

If your torque converter LUC engagements or gearshifts are improved by adding a friction modifier (assuming you’re using the correct fluid) then there is a problem with the friction elements in your transmission. Adding the stuff doesn’t put friction material back on the plates, it temporarily masks their worn condition.

The transmission controller continuously monitors the shift times and adjusts the solenoid pressures to maintain them. If you add a friction modifier you may extend the shift times beyond the range of the adaption limits. In the case of the 6HP26, which is infamous for its solenoid problems, some of the solenoids may already be at the outer extreme of their adaption range, so adding a modifier will potentially make matters much worse.

If your TC LUC is juddering, it’s because there’s a problem with your torque converter and it needs replacing/refurbishment.

Phil

Thanks Phil

I don’t have any judder yet touch wood so will give these a miss - I also don’t have a leak so would you not bother with the sleeve change?
Have you any experience with ravenol as you are the guru or would you stick with zf? I do occasionally have the 2 - 1 jolt is there anything I can add to reduce this? Current stable:
2006 BMW M6
2007 4.2 V8 S/C FF
Gone:
2002 4.4 V8 FF

I guess the sleeve replacement is worthwhile if you already have the sump pan/filter off (as you have easy access to the release mechanism) but, if there’s no sign of a leak, I wouldn’t bother doing it especially.

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Thanks Phil

I have no way of seeing the adaptations with my iid tool I don’t think - I can only reset them? Is it worth doing this after the service and a few hundred miles?

Cheers Current stable:
2006 BMW M6
2007 4.2 V8 S/C FF
Gone:
2002 4.4 V8 FF

I’d strongly recommend that you DON’T reset the solenoid adaptions unless you’ve either seen the existing adaptions or have replaced the solenoids/Mechatronic or updated the software.

The reason for this is, if you do have a faulty solenoid (or possibly more than one), it may now be operating at its maximum adaption to try to compensate for the fault. If you reset the adaptions back to ‘nominal’ the clutch controlled by the faulty solenoid will slip badly while the controller is trying to learn the new settings. There’s a risk (as many have found to their cost) that the clutch will overheat and be irreversibly damaged before the correct adaption has been found by the controller.

You often see people on the forum saying “I might change the fluid and re-set the adaptions”. This is particularly dangerous because, not only might the controller have to try to deal with re-learning the settings on a faulty solenoid, you’ve also potentially changed the friction characteristics for the clutches. For that reason, Land Rover have specifically instructed their technicians never to do this.

If all your solenoids are operating fine, then the chances are that you’ll get away with a reset. That’s why you need to see what the adaptions are set at first, before you risk it.

Phil

Ok Phil,

Thanks - as I said I have an IID tool would you buy the latest gearbox firmware from them and upload it then and start there?

Thanks again Current stable:
2006 BMW M6
2007 4.2 V8 S/C FF
Gone:
2002 4.4 V8 FF

Our friends on the BMW X5 forums seem to have no problems getting their diagnostic kit to display the adaption values for their solenoids before resetting them. The values (offsets for both clutch fill pressures and rapid fill times) can then be compared to the controller’s setting limits to determine if any of the solenoids are running at their extremes and are therefore faulty. It’s a great shame if the diagnostic tools available for the L322 aren’t capable of doing this, too. Is it worth some further investigation, or are you pretty sure that your kit won’t display this information?

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I'm sure I've seen the adaption readings within the IID Tool