Is It 09A or JF506E?

This seems to be a very common confusion for the JF506E; is it the same as the 09A or is there some difference between the two?  The company that manufactures this unit is Jatco and the official name of the unit as designated by Jatco is JF506E.  Depending on the car maker that is using the unit it will have a different name.  For example, Volkswagen calls it 09A, Mazda calls it RE5F01A and Ford refers to it as the RE5FO.  Regardless the name used or how its written it is the same Jatco unit JF506-E.

The are some differences between the units depending on the car maker like the solenoids and some of the friction and steel counts and or thickness but the same unit never the less. 

Speaking about the solenoid there seems to be some conversation in forums and around the bench about aftermarket solenoids.  A few months or so ago the aftermarket solenoids where introduced into the market.  And we get phone calls about which ones we carry and what they look like and how do I know for sure?

In this post we are hoping to answer some question about the differences between the solenoids used in the oem application and the aftermarket ones.


The one used from factory are manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric and have the Mitsubishi logo stamped on the bottom of the solenoid.

The aftermarket ones do not have the logo and the stem is a different color, at least in the aftermarket one we where able to find.





Another thing I wanted to point out is as I was going to take the picture of the two solenoids they slipped out of my hand and both fell to the floor.  The aftermarket one broke as you can see in the picture below.  At the time of this posting I would strongly recommend sticking to the oem solenoids.

Differences Between BMW X5 Transfer Case

We have looked into this topic in prior postings. In this one we will take a better look at the differences between the NV125 and LWX-500 BMW Transfer Cases.

The NV125 was used from 1999 to 2003. But here is the thing, the LWX-500 was also used in 2002 and 2003 models and in 2003 a new electric shift t case was introduced to replace the the other two. In short if you have a 2003 you could have one three different transfer cases.

The first thing I would look for is a shift motor like the picture below. If you have a shift motor than you have an ATC-500.



Once you have determined you do not have a shift motor than you need to figure out if you have the NV125 or the LWX-500. I have seen the LWX-500 in 2002 and in 2003.

For beginners the first place to look is at the rear of the transfer case. The tag for the NV-125 or the engravings for the LWX500 will be located in this section.



On the inside we will look at one of the more obvious differences, like the planetary gear.





As you can see from the pictures above the planetary gear for LWX-500 has a shaft integrated into it and the other one is just the planet. Both have three gears each.

Another internal difference between the two is in the rear case half where the back of the front output shaft sits. The The New Venture 125 has a smaller pressed in bearing where as the LWX-500 has a bigger bearing.

 This should make identifying your transfer case, or transfer box depending on where you live, much easier.  Ordering parts now can be less stressful and more accurate when ordering from our online store.  In our transfer case section we have separate listings for all the X5 and X3 transfer case models.

On a different note, the new fill and drain plugs for this unit are updated to bring a small magnet built into them.

BW Morse Tec Chain Stampings

In the past few days we sold some HV-007 Morse Tec Hy-Vo chains used in Jeep Qudratrac. After a few phone calls and emails regarding the stamping we decided to post pictures of all the different stamping we can find and open a discussion on the subject. As we find different versions of the stamps used we will post them here.