How are meritor fredomline transmisions on 2005 volvos????

The clutch is said by the factory to be replaced at 1 mil bad or not just to make sure we replaced all of ours at about 900 k other than that they're very solid and nice to drive transmissions the only down side is that they rely a lot on air pressure so if you have a problem with the air system in the truck then the trans is not going to work properly we have about 20 of then most 1 mil plus and only thing we have done is check valve in front of the air tank and the clutches that's all when we first got everything we took out every single connection and put dielectric grease in them and that's all

 

A truck of mine has the 12 speed freedom line. It has been a good performer, and has been relatively problem-free for 990k miles- until last week. The voltage doubler cooked-off and it looks like it not only blew the fuse, but took out the transmission control unit (brain). Apparently this is a common issue when the doubler goes. A new voltage doubler: $500 + labor, a new brain: $5000 + labor. With labor, that puts us in the $6500 range not counting the tow-bill. I can't justify dropping $7000 on a "fix" for a million mile tranny. I doubt I'd get another 200-300k miles out of it, at which time I'd have to rebuild or replace. I'm leaning towards just biting the bullet and spending $12k or so to drop the freedom line and swap in an 18 speed standard, or 13 speed depending on pricing.

We replaced the clutch in our Freedom line twice since we've had it. The clutch life is claimed to be 2-3 times that of a standard trans (see article below).

I loved driving the freedom line- it was the smoothest shifting, most intuitive autoshift I've ever used. Hands down better than I-Shift, UltraShift, etc. in terms of performance attributes. BUT just be warned: it is not like the other autos; it isn't a standard gearbox with a computer controlled X-Y assembly. You cannot modify it to become a standard trans. You WILL pay dearly for any repairs. Parts can be hard to find also, since ZF Meritor dissolved and became just ZF, and no longer serves the North American market.

As a driver, I'd take the Freedomline any day. As an owner, I will be dumping it lieu a standard Eaton Fuller that won't require a wheelbarrow full of gold coins to pay for repair / replacement.

Here's a good article on the Freedomline, written just prior to ZF-Meritor breaking up and leaving the NA market.

http://www.todaystrucking.com/road-test-the-unflappable-freedomline

 

good tranny, but there are some weak points, like clutch servo and worn shift cylinder seals.

Really it is ZF Astronic tranmission with ZMTEC unit and voltage converter installed in truck with 12V system. TCU was designed for European trucks with 24V voltage supply. So no 12V TCU available like with I-shift for example (I-shift TCU is made by Wabco too and it shares a lot with ZF, early I-shift got the same clutch servo like ZF).

Problem of Asdtronic that there are no mechanics who can fix shifter internals in USA. They change TCU fully for your money.


To work on ZF you need ZF Trans soft software ore you can use and European diagnostic system via ISO9141. Really there is no k-line wire in Volvo (the last time they used K-L was pre '98 trucks with Wabco ABS). So I had to run diagnostic wire. VCADS and PTT are useless with ZF tranny.

 

Ouh, about parts... really easy to get from EU. This tranny is widly used

 

You can go online get the trans soft software from meritorious for no charge they even have a very very helpfull help line. I have it kn my laptop at work and have used a few times it comes in very handy to have

 

Pablo is there anywhere I can find somekind of diagram for the internal working of this trans we have a few at work and they are relatively easy to work on as far as clutche and wiring goes but I have tries and I can't find anything on the internals also is it possible to find a good used tcu somewhere in Europe since they are used so much more I want to have it in stock just as a good test part because it is really hard to find parts for it in NA. Last time we had to do a clutch on one we had to wait almost one week for the fork kit so we bought two of everything for the clutch and we keep it in stock just in case.

 

We have the freedomline in our 2007 780. The mileage is right at 663k and we've done about 105k of that. Our only problem is occasionally the speed sensors, there are two, will throw a code and you will get 'SM - System Malfunction' on the driver display along with the audible beeping alarm. I have found that unplugging the sensors and cleaning the connectors resolves the issue. It seems to do it more in higher humid environments like FL, so I guess it's moisture related. Ithas been suggested I change the sensors out, $200 ish each, and the wring harness to the sensors, about a $1000, but it's been ok for the last six months so haven't bothered.

In terms of operation, I don't like that the computer will not progressive shift. It will take the rpm upto 1600, some times higher, before it shifts on every gear. There is no software update available to address this. It will skip shift however. Also the computer has to relearn the shift pattern every time you switch the engine off. So you get some erratic shifting until it learns, which is no big deal but nonetheless a bit annoying sometimes. Lastly, the downshift pattern is greatly effected by having the exhaust brake on(volvo d12 engine). With stage 2 brake setting on the computer will downshift at 1500 rpm and take the rpm upto 1900 rpm. I don't like this at all. So if you like to drive with exhaust brake on don't do it on the stage 2 setting, or as soon as you touch the pedal it will downshift. On the stage 1 setting the pattern is unchanged. Other than that it is really a fine transmission. Very smooth shifting and the skip shifting feature is very cool.

Finding someone to work on it who knows what they are doing seems to be hard. I have found two volvo dealerships that have knowledgable techs. Dallas TX and Yakima WA. The Dallas guys basically said that if things go wrong internally it's cheaper just to put a new tranny in. True or not? I really don't know.

When it was still sold as part of the OE option it was the best automated transmission around. Far superior than the Eaton ones. Eaton played dirty IMO in sueing over the two pedal layout that resulted in ZF pulling out of the USA market. Eaton new that the ZF box was better and just wanted them out of the picture, and they did it in such a petty way.

 

Interesting, where are the speed sensors located? I'm having the same issue on my 12 speed ZF tranny. "SM" and audible beep but nobody can find fault codes. It's at the International dealer as I type this but I'm tempted to pick it up in the morning and try to clean the connectors. They were going to see if it needed a software update but i"m not convinced that that is the issue. I'm in Houston so humidity could very well be the culprit.

Any help would be greatly appreciated