I'm about ready to service the ZF 6HP26 on my car. This would be the second time I have serviced it. The first time was at 60k miles, in which I took it to a shop that replaced the pan, fluid, Torx bolts T-40, bridge seals, mechatronic seals, and the mechatronic sleeve. They also did a fluid change. At the time the shop commented that the fluid in the transmission looked new. My guess is that some previous owner did the change as well. Now I'm at 88,000 miles and have been noticing the usual issues with the 6HP26.

I've decided to do a full service this time:

• New solenoids
• Bridge seal
• Mechatronic seals
• Mechatronic sleeve connector.
• Mercon SP
• Fluid pan with filter and gasket
• And maybe the Sonnax Zip Kit.

Now, here's the problem, the guy that serviced my Jag the last time used Liquid-Moly ATF that "met" the spec. I'm not so sure about those claims. But anyways, he moved out of the country. I decided to do it myself. I have all the parts on the way except for the Zip Kit because it requires figuring out what Separator plate my Valve-body has.

So now I have a conundrum, I need to obtain IDS/SDD and a Mongoose cable. I would like to have a good quality cable that will allow me to reset the transmission adaptations and in the future, program new keys.

I've seen recommendations in the forum for custom British Diagnostics cables. I have also seen previous posts mention the OBDII365.com $39.99 cables. From those here who have used either of these, would you recommend them? Will I be able to reset the adaptations with either of those cables? British Diagnostics says that for the X100, their product is fully compatible except for reflashing/programming modules. Which, to me, sounds like I will not be able to reset the transmission adaptations.

Second question: I own a Mac, will I be able to use IDS/SDD in a VM of Windows XP in Mac OS or on a separate partition with Windows XP installed?

Third question: My Mac does not have USB 2 ports. Instead it has USB-C which will require an adaptor or dongle for connecting the USB-2 of the Mongoose cable. Can anyone confirm if it will work in these conditions?

 

BD says that because it can’t program aj27 ecms. anyways this **** has been posted 9999999 times do the research.,,anything that isn’t a wds or gna600 will not work perfect.

resetting adapts will do nothing to solve your problem. only use it when you put new clutches in to expedite relearn

 

I'll share what I know:

In the net (great product but poor customer experience), the DB setup is recommended. I have programmed keys with it. From memory, someone reflashed their transmission with the same kit which means the (separate) programming pins on the connector are active. Remember, the DB kit also has a number of flash images already downloaded in the VM. It is not just a cable and the software, there was a subscription service (topix?) as well to source all these binaries. To my knowledge, adaptations reset are just CAN messages. My Foxwell handheld claims to be able to do it.

I ran the BD vmdk disk image in VirtualBox. I believe you should be able to do the same on a mac. Remember, you need to turn off networking in the VM and back-date the clock, IIRC. Much easier in a VM.

Hard to know for triple sure, but the USB problems reported on this forum were for Windows hosts with newer USB-3 chipsets. Apparently, the Windows drivers had issues with the USB-2 cable. When the same machine was running a Linux host, it apparently worked fine. Chances are the mac will handle this just fine.

Best of luck, keep us posted.

 

Thank you for being condescending. I have been doing the research. I wouldn't be asking the question if the research was answering my questions.

Also, I am changing the solenoids. Resetting the transmission adaptations is very much necessary in that case.

However, I didn't know about the problem being specific to the AJ-27. That means I should be fine with my AJ33S.

 

Thanks! This is reassuring. Seems like the BD kit is the way to go without breaking the bank. Windows XP and VirtualBox is easy enough to get running on a Mac. I just hope that there isn't a problem with USB-C to USB 2 - adaptors.

 

You can try that in advance. Plug in an older USB-2 device and expose it to a Windows XP VM under VBox. Then check if Windows XP can see it.

 

Without meaning to kick the proverbial ants farm, any particular reason to do this vs. flat out going with a refurb valve body? Last I looked, valves were maybe $400, and a whole refurb body $1,100. To my knowledge, bores in the body can wear out, etc. If you feel your transmission is showing some age, is there confidence new valves alone will help? I suppose you could always negotiate a refurb body later without valves and put these new ones in by yourself.

 

From what I researched, the solenoids start going bad on these transmissions at around 80k miles, leading to the symptoms commonly seen, like the 2-1 bump. Also, the one that controls the E-clutch is almost always the first one to go. I'm going at it preventively but also, because I want to leave nothing to chance. The valve bodies themselves don't go bad. The seals can be refurbished, new solenoids placed, and if you want, the Sonnax zip kit can be used as well. Just the first two items should cure any valve body issues on these cars. I was able to buy genuine ZF solenoids for $289. At that price, it felt like a steal for some peace of mind.

The issues my trans has, according the reports I have seen in other threads, can be fixed with the seals and Mercon SP, but while I'm in there, why not?