Well first need to have a very good think on what can actually do it. Next step could be replace the complete Mechatronic, refurb from Holland 1000 Euro. Although the black crud is worrying. It could be that one of the clutches is going. Refurb kits for that are about 1000 USD on Ebay.

It does worry me though that we can't seem to find what is causing it.

I am wondering what a new box would cost in light of the above  MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

I'd be tempted to get a good used box as they use the same one on the sport don't they? Shipping could be the problem though as I'm betting on about 60kg+... FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
Mantec Sump Guard, Rigid Load liner, MY10 BT upgrade.

Shipping can be seafreight. My biggest worry is the quality of the box that I get. If it is a full refurb fine, but a second hand could be just as bad.

Don't forget, this car only has about 50,000 mls on it. MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

Maybe Phil fancies one in his spare time  FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
Mantec Sump Guard, Rigid Load liner, MY10 BT upgrade.

Sorry to hear that your 3-4 shift problem still remains, Eugene. Do you think that it might be worth trying swapping your solenoids around (of the same type, obviously - yellows with yellows, blues with blues)? Normally this would be a bad idea as your ECU will have been calibrated to their individual flow characteristics at the factory, but just as a temporary measure to see if it affects the 3-4 shift in any way?

Phil

Condolences ebajema.

I've been thinking of you trying to rebuild a transmission on your own. The days of the British African explorers disassembling their Series Ones or Twos on one side of a river and reassembling them on the other are long gone. Good luck!

Hi Phil, I agree with that as next step. I wonder if it would be smart to just order a new coil set anyway (300 Euro).

The thing is, I'm wrecking my brain on what could be causing it. It is a very distinct issue that only occurs in one step of the shift process. There must be a single cause that is doing this. And since it was there long before the transmission cooler failure we can rule out any links to that.

I also wonder if the debris in the oil is any indication of what it is. For example a clutch that is not fully engaging and slipping or a clutch that can't fully engage due to another problem.

There is something else that I do note or think is there. The acceleration sometimes seem to be a bit "hesitant". If it is there or it is my imagination, I am not sure, it seems very vague. Almost like one of the clutches takes a little bit of time to fully engage, if that makes sense.

Hi RR2008HSE, it does feel a bit like being cut off from the "normal" world. Luckily I'm lying on the clean painted concrete floor of our parking garage and not in the dirt somewhere outside in lion country . And when the mechatronis is removed, I take it up into our cool apartment, instead of working on it on a rickety camping table under an awning in the Serengeti seeing the sun slowly sink on the horizon across the plains

Getting all the parts over here is a bit of a mission though, if I would be in Europe, you have them the next day or so. To get them here takes a bit more time (about a week) and it costs a bit more, so not too bad. MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

The mechatronic is coming out tomorrow, Wednesday 29 May. The car is in for rear wheel bearings, parking brake shoes, third brake light and door handle replacement as well.

Once the mechatronic is out, I will do musical chairs with the coils and see what happens to my "issue". If it is the coils, the problem should move to another gear change.

I have been thinking about this a lot and this is one of the theories I have, please feel free to comment.

If one or two of these proportional valves are not working at full speed, the clutch or brake it controls will be applied too slowly. This could trigger the algorithm fault and cause excessive slip on the clutch / brake resulting in the debris I see.

Will keep you posted on the results (hope to have the car back by Saturday) after the test drive. MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

Eugene,

If you get around to a solenoid swap-about I would suggest that you swap EDS 4 & EDS 2 (both blue caps). EDS 4 controls the D & E clutches (used in 1st, 4th, 5th & 6th) and EDS 2 controls the B clutch (used in 3rd & 5th). It might be best to leave EDS 5 (the remaining blue cap solenoid) alone initially as this controls the main system pressure.

Click image to enlarge

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Hi Phil, will do that.

What if the pressure control is not "good", as in the pressure is too low ? Could that mean that the clutches/brakes are applied but slipping ?? MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

I doubt that. Using the signals from the two speed sensors the ECU can accurately determine if there’s any in-gear clutch slip and would place the unit into failsafe, to protect the clutch pack, if continuous slip occurred.

Phil

Thanks Phil, I will swap the EDS2 and 4 as recommended and do a position swap with all "yellow" EDSs.

EDS 1 goes to EDS 3
EDS 3 goes to EDS 6
EDS 6 goes to EDS 1

What could be causing the black dust/grit do you think ?? On the Furitech website http://www.furitech.com.au/, they mention the "milkshake" causing all kinds of issues. Could there be a link or should I be looking at other things ? MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

Update 30 May 2013: The EDSs have been moved around as discussed. Once done I also decided to do a resistance measurement on all of them:
EDS 1 Yellow (was 6) 5.5 Ohm
EDS 2 Green (was 4) 5.5 Ohm
EDS 3 Yellow (was 1) 5.3 Ohm
EDS 5 Green (not moved) 5.7 Ohm
EDS 4 Green (was 2) 5.4 Ohm
MV1 Black (RRPhil version 10.8 Ohm and EBA version (not installed) same.
EDS 6 Yellow (was 3) 5.4 Ohm

Not sure when it is going back as they ran into some issue with the rear suspension. Bolts rusted almost solid and some of the bushes in bad shape. So tomorrow the hunt for new bushes is on and the bearings still need to be changed as well. So unlikely that I will be driving this weekend

Update on the test drive. During the bearing replacement operation the boys found out that the bushings of the suspension were "toast" so I have ordered a complete new set for the rear. Also both parking brake cables were damage. So I ordered them today but it will take at least 2 weeks before it is all here ;( Hopefully it is sooner and hopefully we find out what is wrong with the gearbox in this test. I am almost at the point just ordering the blasted EDSs and putting them in if they weren't 300 plus Euro. MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

Finally, the SC is rolling again since late this afternoon. We're still flushing the cooling system after replacement of the engine oil cooler but at least we made a big step. The rear suspension bushings replaced, rear wheel bearings, parking brake shoes and cables, third brake light and door handles. I do have to open up the right hand side door as the mirror doesn't fold and the window doesn't do auto up anymore. So I think when the door handles were replaced not all connectors went in (properly).

Now as for the gearbox issue, although not a 100% sure, it left the 3-4 upshift and moved to the 4-5 upshift. Since the EPRDs moved one position, they are not perfectly matched to their new location so the upshifts are not super smooth but pretty good, a little flaring although it seems to settle in.

So if I'm correct in my assessment, then it could be a single EPRD that is causing the issues but I will continue to test and discuss with Phil !!! MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

Latest update. The air has clearly left the mechatronic and the adjustements have been made by the ECU so the box is very smooth again in all gears. The problem has clearly moved from 3-4 to the 4-5 upshift although it seems slightly less pronounced now but still very much there. So the remedy would seem to be replace one (which one ???) or all EPRDs. A complete solenoid set out of Holland is about 300 Euro, a new/refurbished mechatronic is about 1150 Euro.

What to do ????? MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!