Have any of you purchased remanufactured valve bodies and if so, where from and were you happy with the results?
The prices seem to range from around $300 to over $700. Not wanting to pay too much but not wanting to do this again.
Thanks

 

I had my original valve body from my ZF 6-speed rebuilt in the San Francisco Bay area.
Can't remember the name of the shop offhand but they were specialists. Cost was 800.00 but it made a big difference in the performance of the transmission. The biggest change was the removal of the bump going from second down to first at slow roll stop lights or signs. After the rebuild that was completely gone and they also gave me the full diagnostic before doing the rebuild.

 

They eliminated the infamous "lurch" issue for you that some of these ZF units have suffered from for many years. Well done....

 

800$ damn, if I can't swing that!

Do you have contact for them? And, when you sent it to them was that the specific issue you were chaising? And, do you know what they replaced or did they give you a breakdown of bits and pieces.

Like a dummy, when I had mine out and apart, there are these little (I think there are 5 or 6) rubber buttons, DAMPERS, that I didn't replace. And such an easy thing to replace once everything is exposed. I just couldn't find them. Dumb dumb dumb.

I have a hard UP and occasionally down 1, 2nd shift issue. It's gotten 'better' as I've driven the car more - adapting I guess. Even what remains CAN'T be good. With the forces involved,,,, it's tons of weight. I need to DO something.

 

Razorboy, or any of you that know ZF Trannys!

I noticed that you had the Valve Body rebuilt in your ZF....What were the symptoms that required that repair?

I changed the Oil & Filter on my 2005 XKR at about 75,000 Miles and everything has worked good until recently ...Now, it has started to "Hang-up" in 1st in the Mornings when it is cold...Not every time but pretty close to it...It has rolled up on 120,000 miles now... I have been thinking of doing the Oil change again...but if it needs more than that, such as the Valve Body rebuilt.....How would I know? What are the symptoms? Is it time to take it in to a Transmission Shop? I read somewhere about needing to change-out something internal when you service the ZF.,. but I can't remember what it was....Old age has caught up with me!
Thanks for your Help!

Billy Clyde @ Cinco Ranch

 

Lot of info on the ZF 6 HP26 ( NOT 5HP 25 related ) valve body is in this old thread by, Mickey R. "Another ZF6 Transmission Question" Several pages but a worthwhile read. Last contact with Mickey was positive on the replacement. Great Read.

 

Ugh - it was a number of years ago and the lurch wasn't the reason. I was having some major issues with my trans that turned out to be problems with my rear wheel bearings. There is a really long thread about it on the forum if you do a little searching through my posts.
Maybe I can get lucky in a search so I will try but can't promise anything. Finding the shop, I mean.
I dropped off the valve body and, in a day, or two they contacted me with a report on the condition of the valve body. They had measured it all the way through, so they have the equipment to do all the appropriate pressure tests. The fix on the lurch was a surprise for me when I reinstalled the valve body. It ultimately wasn't the issue I was chasing but once I did find the primary issue, I discovered I had a perfectly functioning transmission and with no lurching anymore. Call it a very positive side-effect so the shop really did find issues and they were contributing to the lurch.
I should also add that at the time, I was convinced by a couple of shops and in my research that the original transmission was probably toast. So I decided to try the valve body as some last ditch effort. I figured that if I needed to put another trans in the car, I would put in my newly rebuilt valve body no matter what the condition of the valve body that comes with the replacement transmission. Turns out I didn't need a replacement at all - anyway

 

Well, I just reached out to the company that Mickey R said he used and got a quote back for $2200 for a rebuilt unit!!!!!