FORD ZF 6HP26 DRIVING ADAPTIONS

LEARN HOW TO RESTORE SMOOTH GEAR SHIFTS TO YOUR FALCON OR TERRITORY WITH ZF 6HP26 AUTO TRANSMISSION

Do you own a Ford Falcon or Territory with a ZF 6HP26 Auto Transmission?

Are you experiencing rough shifts in gears?

Do you have any questions about the problems on your transmission?

If any of the answers is 'yes', then you have come to the right place.

Read on and you will get loads of information and professional advice about your Ford ZF 6HP26 speed Transmission.

"DRIVING ADAPTIONS"

How do I reset my ZF Transmission

“Driving Adaptions” what are they and why are they important?

As the transmission ages, wear on the internal parts naturally occur. Clutch plates slowly lose their ability to grip, seals lose their ability to seal and the solenoids can internally leak. But its not all bad news cause there is a (sheriff in town) and his job is to compensate for this clutch plate wear/slippage by raising the pressure on the gear shifts to keep a constant shift duration and feel. This process is called driving adaptions. How do I reset the driving adaptions on my Ford ZF Transmission?

Mechatronic fluid leak

WHAT MESSES WITH DRIVING ADAPTIONS?

Meanwhile, there are 2 conditions in the transmission that can cause the adaptions to raise the pressure too high which cause harsh or rough shifts.

Condition 1 “External fluid leak”

External fluid leaks from transmission is usually from the mechatronics plug or from the pan gasket.

Condition 2 “Internal fluid leak”

Internal fluid leaks from transmission is usually from the solenoids/bridge seal or clutch tube seals.

Mechatronics fluid leak

FLUID LEAK ; WHAT THIS MEANS?

Ford ZF 6HP26 Thumps when pulling up at the lights

Either way, the fluid level starts getting low and the driving adaptions starts ramping up pressure to compensate for the slipping transmission. You will most likely at first, notice a thump when you pull up at the traffic lights, this is because the pressure is now too high.

When you take the car to the transmission shop and they check, they will most probably notice a leak coming from the mechatronics plug or pan, sometimes both. Then a service is performed and a new plug is installed and the trans fluid is filled to the correct level at the correct temperature.

FEELS BETTER, BUT WAIT!

Ford BF-FG ZF 6HP26 Driving Adaption Reset

Even though the slipping has stopped, there still can be rough up and down shifts. This is because now fluid is at correct level but the adaption/pressure is still too high. To fix this the driving adaption need to be re-set to zero, then the mechatronics has to go through a special sequence while driving and also monitoring by the technician. We prefer fixing all internal and external and external leaks before re-setting the driving adaptions.

Valve body/mechatronics, bridge seal and 4 clutch tube seals under them should be repaired as well during service.

Once these 6 items are replaced then the adaptions reset.

The trans will shift like new again.

There is also an option to replace all solenoids while the valve body is removed and is a good idea if you want to avoid a faulty solenoid (Fail Safe) condition in the future.