That's interesting. What mileage is your truck on, Cola?
Mine is over 210k now, and there's no way I'd be resetting adaptations at that level of wear
Ian Bodsworth who did my megaflush actively advised against it while he was carrying out the procedure, saying it is optional even on relatively low-milers.

I hope your improvements last though!  Sam's Motor & Machine YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgNSRjY0I9FCzsi9ku3ccbw

Home of the 'Cheapest 4.4 TDV8 Range Rover"

Hi Sam

mines on 130,000mls now, I know what you mean about the reset, Bodsy also did my gearbox flush last year, had it booked in after watching your video!

The gearbox has always had the harsher change of that first gear change when setting off, it was made slightly better after the gearbox flush and I did consider resetting it then but as you know most people advise against it.

I was on the verge of fully falling out of love with the car due to the suspension and also the harsh gear change change so I thought sod it, if I cant sort the suspension Ill bite the bullet and try the gearbox reset to at least sort the gearchange out or find out that its had it.

I am glad I did, the gearbox is far better now and the suspension so far not bothering me as much as it did, I'm using the car more again now instead of avoiding driving it

I was hesitant at putting on here about my experience with resetting the gearbox and the improvement with the suspension, it could be coincidence, I cant see how they are linked, I would hate for someone else to try it and end up with a broken gearbox but I know how much the issue of the suspension has plagued a lot of people. 2012 TDV8 Autobiography Baltic Blue
Previous
2007 BMW M5 E60

I've had a harsh 1-2 upshift since I've had it so may try a reset but not sure why the box doesn't learn over time to smooth out the changes. Only happens on light throttle / low load. 2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)

Absolutely no reason not to reset adaptations on a high mileage gearbox, just take care to follow the proper adaption drive cycle. Not sure why someone would advise against it but obviously they are not familiar with the ZF 6 or 8 speed autos.

If anything, high mileage transmission have the most to gain from the improvement in shift quality if you readapt properly. The worse that can happen is you end up where you started with no improvement.

Perhaps your next question is “what is the correct adaption drive procedure?” This is the one I follow and it cured my hard 3-2 downshift in my 230.000km 2012. And I also recommend drain and filling the transmission with ZF Lifeguard fluid ONLY. It has the proper additives no matter what cross compatibility other fluid manufacturers claim.


Shifting Adaptations:

Executing the following is highly recommended after a fluid change for improved shifting quality:

Vehicle should be at normal operating temperature, transmission shifter in normal mode not sports.
accelerate from a rest through the gears on a moderate throttle until 6thgear is engaged (about 55mph).

Release throttle and allow car to coast down almost to a halt, do not use the brake until the car is at walking pace (if the brake is used at any time whilst the transmission is above 2nd gear the adaption process for this cycle will be aborted).
Note: using a slight uphill gradient will help the car slow much quicker. If traffic conditions necessitate the use of the brakes during the acceleration or coasting process the cycle will have to be repeated.
Hold foot on brake for 15 seconds once car has come to a halt.

Repeat this process a total of 5 times

2-1 Tip in Thump

Vehicle should be at normal operating temperature, transmission shifter in normal mode not sports.
accelerate gently to 15 MPH
Briskly Decelerate using ample braking power until 1 MPH
“Rapidly” Accelerate using 50%-75% throttle
Repeat the process a total of 6 times

To be honest a ZF specialist would be better to advise on adaption reset process. Rob
 2012 Range Rover HSE | 2011 Range Rover Autobiography | 2010 Range Rover Sport Supercharged
2020 Tesla Model 3 Performance, 2013 Mercedes-Benz G550, 2008 Ferrari F430, 2007 Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI

LandyManSam wrote:

That's interesting. What mileage is your truck on, Cola?
Mine is over 210k now, and there's no way I'd be resetting adaptations at that level of wear
Ian Bodsworth who did my megaflush actively advised against it while he was carrying out the procedure, saying it is optional even on relatively low-milers.

I hope your improvements last though!

Why doesn't it adapt over time (self calibration) ? 2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)

I don’t know. If the automatic adaptation got it wrong and for whatever reason started pulling back clutch pressures on old/original fluid, really hard shifts and slipping would occur and almost certainly resulting in premature failure. Ergo, probably best to eliminate all that potential issue and adapt one way and let the service tech reset adaptations manually.

Speculatively, because these were scheduled at 10/100k mile fluid intervals (i.e. never or way past new and/or certified preowned warranty period) which is mostly the manufacturer’s concern. Anytime the transmission was serviced by the dealership, they would have reset the adaptations and performed the drive cycle. 2012 Range Rover HSE | 2011 Range Rover Autobiography | 2010 Range Rover Sport Supercharged
2020 Tesla Model 3 Performance, 2013 Mercedes-Benz G550, 2008 Ferrari F430, 2007 Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI

Privanthe wrote:

Just wanted to add something on to this thread as I wasn’t aware until now. Have been talking with Patrick @ IID - I wanted finer details on the calibration process and how best to do it, terrain/speed etc.

Turns out there is absolutely no ADCS/VDS calibration. The calibration is purely for coding a new adaptive damping module to the car, it has no affect on the shocks/ride quality directly.

Must have been a placebo this whole time..

Besides all that discussion, if you think about how the transmission works it’s really just measuring filling times and pressures, then adapting on that. Would be sketchy and too uncertain to let it decide whether fluid is new or not. I would rather instruct it and relearn by way of the drive cycle.

In the end, it doesn’t matter all this discussion because if you read the ZF technical manuals, it explains how this all works. And well, this is how it works. New fluid, new adaptations.


All of that said, if you have real problems like slipping or a bad clutch or solenoid, none of this will solve it. An intermittent hard or abrupt shift (I’m not talking clunking, etc), sure this can be the ticket. 2012 Range Rover HSE | 2011 Range Rover Autobiography | 2010 Range Rover Sport Supercharged
2020 Tesla Model 3 Performance, 2013 Mercedes-Benz G550, 2008 Ferrari F430, 2007 Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI

GraemeS wrote:

Privanthe wrote:

Just wanted to add something on to this thread as I wasn’t aware until now. Have been talking with Patrick @ IID - I wanted finer details on the calibration process and how best to do it, terrain/speed etc.

Turns out there is absolutely no ADCS/VDS calibration. The calibration is purely for coding a new adaptive damping module to the car, it has no affect on the shocks/ride quality directly.

Must have been a placebo this whole time..

That may be the case for MY17+ vehicles but recalibration of my MY12 shocks certainly recalibrates the system, making them softer or harder depending on the calibration surface. I had to recalibrate several times as the first time the vehicle wasn't moving which resulted in uselessly soft shocks to calibration over ruts and pot-holes that resulted in excessively firm shocks, finally settling on a particular strip of secondary sealed road travelling at 80 kph which provided the best ride given that the shocks were well worn at the time.

I'm not sure how practical the described gearbox re-set procedure is unless you own a very long private road and furthermore I doubt most gearbox service centers or dealerships would have access to roads that alowed this. Again - I still don't understand why the box doesn't adapt in normal driving like most other systems. 2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)

Last edited by JayGee on 30th Jun 2023 10:22am. Edited 1 time in total

A timer display starts when the start button on the IIDtool is pressed and IIRC the timer runs for 20 seconds. I press the start button while driving at my 80 kph and try to maintain the same speed. I've chosen a stretch of bitumen that has a couple of patched areas and is generally uneven, but nothing too drastic.
I recalibrated the original shocks twice several months apart to restore reasonable shock performance and ride, then again after replacing the rears as the new rears were now too firm then again after eventually replacing the fronts.

JayGee wrote:

I'm not sure how practical the described gearbox re-set procedure is unless you own a very long private road and furthermore I doubt most gearbox service centers or dealerships would have access to roads that alowed this. Again - I still don't understand why the box doesn't adapt in normal driving like most other systems.

If you still don’t understand than I recommmed reading the ZF and LR service manuals or just have a clunky auto box. Suit yourself my friend.

If you think LR’s is long, you should see the one BMW uses for the same transmission  2012 Range Rover HSE | 2011 Range Rover Autobiography | 2010 Range Rover Sport Supercharged
2020 Tesla Model 3 Performance, 2013 Mercedes-Benz G550, 2008 Ferrari F430, 2007 Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI

GraemeS wrote:

A timer display starts when the start button on the IIDtool is pressed and IIRC the timer runs for 20 seconds. I press the start button while driving at my 80 kph and try to maintain the same speed. I've chosen a stretch of bitumen that has a couple of patched areas and is generally uneven, but nothing too drastic.
I recalibrated the original shocks twice several months apart to restore reasonable shock performance and ride, then again after replacing the rears as the new rears were now too firm then again after eventually replacing the fronts.

Gap added the function in response to my enquiry if they might be able to provide it at some stage. The tool invokes a standard capability of the CVD module that Gap knew about but hadn't programmed.