I’m no expert at all on the DB7, but while I was crawling around on the Internet I came across the official OBDII Diagnostic Manual for the DB7. This is the pre-Ford era of Aston, and all the stuff for the Gaydon era cars might be similar, but not the exact same. All cars sold in the USA after 1996 had to be fitted with an OBDII port, so its no suprise this manual is from 1996. If you are a DB7 owner out there, then this might help you. Continue reading “OBDII P Codes for an Aston Martin DB7”
I had the Transmission Oil Pan/Sump off my 2005 DB9 to change the fluid, filters and seals of the Touchtronic II 6-speed Automatic Transmission. This is the ZF 6HP26 fitted to most Aston Martin DB9, DBS and Rapide between 2004 and 2014. I’ve been doing an entire series on these tasks (check it out here) and for me its time to reinstall the Oil Pan. There are some specific steps to doing this properly, let me show you how. Continue reading “Installing the Automatic Transmission Oil Pan/Sump in an Aston Martin DB9”
Most Aston Martin DB9s, DBS and Rapides from 2004 to 2014 were fitted with a Shift By Wire magic ZF 6HP26 6-speed Automatic Transmission. I’ve written about this great transmission in detail here. As ‘Shift by Wire’ suggests, there is a substantial number of wires that interconnect with the the Transmissions Mechatronics unit. These need to pass through the transmission housing somehow, and this happens through the ‘Electronics Sleeve’. As I discussed in the article on removing the Electronics Sleeve (read that here) the O-rings that seal it to the housing tend to degrade and begin to weep fluid. I was doing a full fluid, filter and seal service to my transmission and as part of that I’ve elected to replace my Electronics Sleeve. Getting it installed was a bit tricky, let me share those tricks with you here. Continue reading “Installing the Electronics Sleeve in the Automatic Transmission of an Aston Martin DB9”
The Mechatronic Unit is responsible for the Shift By Wire magic in the ZF 6HP26 6-speed Automatic Transmissions fitted to most Aston Martin DB9s, DBS and Rapides from 2004 to 2014. If you’ve already removed you Mechatronic Unit for some servicing work (I was changing the Mechatronic Valve and Bridge Seals – check out this video), you’ll need to get the unit properly reinstalled afterwards. There are some specific procedures to follow and let me share those with you here. Continue reading “Installing the Mechatronic Unit in the Automatic Transmission of an Aston Martin DB9”
Most of the Aston Martin DB9’s, DBS and Rapides built between 2004 and 2014 were fitted with a ZF model 6HP26 6-speed automatic transmission. Within the transmission there is a device called the Mechatronic Unit which is responsible for shifting the transmission through its gears. The transmission has a pump that creates hydraulic pressure, and the mechatronics unit uses a series of electronic solenoids to control the flow of the fluids to operate the various clutches.
Like most Hydraulic systems there are seals that keep the high pressure fluids contained. If these seals begin to leak (from aging or other deterioration), the fluid pressure begins to leak out, the pressures are reduced, and the transmission doesn’t operate as well. The seals can deteriorate slowly over the years, and you may not notice that your Aston isn’t shifting like it used to since the change is so gradual. Or a seal can completely fail and bad things can happen.
I’m in the process of doing a complete transmission fluid and filter change (I’ve done a full series of articles and videos on this entire process and you can check out the main article here to learn more) If you are going to all the trouble for the fluid and filter, it’s just a small amount more work to change the four Mechatronic Valve Seals and the very important Mechatronics Bridge Seal.
Of all the tasks in that process so far, this is probably the easiest. Let me show you how. Continue reading “Changing the Mechatronics Valve and Bridge Seals in an Aston Martin DB9”
Aston 1936 