I have an 86 740gle b230f engine and ZF22 trans. When I driving every once in a while the car seems to shift into overdrive too early and then back into third then it shifts into overdrive at normal power. I can't really tell if it is overdrive or if it is a lockup converter. I don't even know if this car has a lockup. I recently bought this car and it has always done this, I flushed the fluid and tried adjusting the kickdown cable, looked in the faq, no help. What causes the tranny too shift into overdrive? any ideas on what could be wrong? Your help is much appreciated.

Jeff

Jeff,

I may be off base here, but I don't think that the ZF22 has overdrive. IIRC, it is a 4-speed transmission with lock-up TC, as opposed to the AW-70 which is a 3-speed with overdrive (later 70/71's also had lock-ups).

I think your right, It's probably the torque converter giving me problems, I really don't know how they go bad though. Thanks for your help

Jeff

If the car has a lot of miles on it, it may just be that....some of those trannys develop issues of shifting too quickly when the get into high mileage. also, a word to the wise, if memory serves me correctly, you are not supposed to hold the rpm above 2000 when in park or neutral for an extended period of time, for you may burn the trans fluid....BMW's do this with the ZF trannys, im not sure of the volvos do also

The problem is it's a ZF22!

Seriously, it sounds like the TC is locking up early and causing the symptoms you're describing.

Dump it for an AW70L or AW71L unit (See the FAQ)
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1985 740GLE

Does it have the same relay as the AW trannys ?