Hi guys,
Got myself a 4.2s/c L322 about 18months ago! Love the car and the way it drives however has always had some slight problems with the gearbox!
Firstly when I test drive the car, it came up with a fault saying transmission change not available selected gears only!
The car was then sent to a specialist by the garage I was buying it off. It supposedly had a full gearbox oil change and filter.
I wasn't convinced this was done as a couple of months after I found the plastic dump was cracked and filled with putty!!
Long story short, I fitted a replacement dump pan and new filter, oil ect.
Gearbox has always felt slightly harsh when changing. Always had a noticeable thump when coming to a stop from a reasonable speed. Also when accelerating under load when changing gears the revs shoot up and then back down into the next gear!
More recently the gearbox has become a lot more 'thumpy' and is saying change not available and it locks into gear! If I then turn the car off and back on it seems to work again.
Took it to my local garage who yet again changed the oil for proper zf fluid, (was previously changed with dextron equivalent)
After fault scanning the box, it showed 1-2 shift change and 2-3 shift fault. Cleared the code and drove it, scanned again saying 3-4 now!
We then reset the adaptation on the box. Thinking it may cure it however made things ten times worse resulting in a car that is barely driveable! Read up online and found an adaptation re learning procedure however I could not get it to re learn (unsure whether I was doing it right or not tbh!)
Was told it may be the torque converter however after taking it to a gearbox specialist he has recommended a full rebuild, including new torque converter. He said the box had end float and the phosphor bronze parts were most likely worn. Quoted me £1800/£1900 with a 12month warenty.

So my main question is does this sound reasonable, and had anyone had any similar issues/fixes? I have tried searching the forum but couldn't find any links to my specific problem.
Also if anyone knows the Coreect re learn procedure for this gearbox I am more than willing to try again if it means saving £1900!

It is the 6 speed zf6hp26 I think!

Thank you!

By far the most common issue with the 6HP26 is faulty solenoids.

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I did as above earlier in the year. I sent my valve body to a firm in Luton (can't recall the name at the moment), they tested it and found some faults which they repaired. I reassembled with new seals, sump and oil and then reflashed the software using my IID tool. Almost 12 months later and the problem I had (similar sounding to yours) hasn't reappeared.

Last edited by kezbo1981 on 8th Dec 2016 3:49pm. Edited 1 time in total

not the same car but I had my TD6 box reconned with a new torque converter 4 years ago and paid just shy of £2000 at an auto box specialist with 2 year/24,000 mile warranty (whichever came first)

I've had exactly the same issue on a similar car and gearbox, luckily I became one of Phil's guinea pigs. All of the problems were down to one solenoid. Yes, just one of them!

Knowing what I know now I would not be reconditioning gearboxes and torque converters, you are almost sure to spend an enormous amount of money changing all the parts that do not need changing.

If you want my advice, follow RRPhil's guidance. What he doesn't know about automatic transitions is not worth knowing!

Good luck!  2006 4.2 SC
2019 Renault Zoe Dynamique Nav

Thanks for the response guys! RRphil, if I was to remove the mechatronic unit, send it off for testing is there a cheap way of re flashing the gearbox software now I've reset the adaptations like a fool? cheers

kezbo1981 wrote:

reflashed the software using my IID tool

Thanks to the contributors. This has solved my problems by IID TCM flush and replaced solenoid valves.

Lots cheaper than a new gearbox. ______________________________
Vogue tdv8 08MY poverty pack - wow

Great news!

This fixed my problem couple of years ago. Now it is coming back intermittently. Reset fault and will go back to normal for a month or two. Now it also reads bank 1 rich sometimes. Can the bank 1 rich code and the transmission fault related?