wee story about jatco auto gearbox

2002 td4 109000 on the clock went to main dealer in glasgow to ask about when should i replace the gearbox fluid i was told it was a sealed unit and doesnt need changed happy me so off i went three weeks later her indoors and i were heading to asda stopped at traffic lights and went to pull away changing from 1st to 2nd bang 2nd to 3rd bang all the way up to 5th same on the way down. about turn and headed home and parked her up a friend thought he new the problem and changed the three diff mounts as it seems this causes this to happen the ones that came off were badly perished so thats a job less to do next guy recommended mackies transmissions in glasgow gave them a phone and they were very helpfull they asked what the auto box was doing and (yes you guessed it) asked the last time the fluid was changed told them the story and they said that they had heard of people being told this before and said its a load of rubbish they recommend 60000 miles changes . so ive been told over the phone as its still driving and changing gear and still has reverse that i wont need a replacment gearbox and my gearbox can bee repaired without removing it from the car they reckon its the hydraulic distributer or valve body as its better known thats faulty and not a big job . so shes booked in for thursday and hope the guy from mackies is right . when i get the car back i will post a wee thread to let yous know how i got on and if i find out any tips to stop this happening to anyone else i will pass them on but im sure this has been covered before cheers. moral of the story NO ITS NOT A SEALED BOX AND YES YOU DO HAVE TO CHANGE THE FLUID .

i'd phone em back up and tell em to look at their service sheet cos its on there as change at 60k !!!

Hi,

I hope your auto-box really can be fixed.

On Thursday I would ask them how much of the oil they will be able to change. Perhaps more than usual as they are going to do other work.

Normally you can only drain out about two-thirds of it.

As yours is well past the due change I would be having it changed again very soon - so treating this first change as a flush.

Good luck.
Singvogel.

no more than normal t/c holds the rest ,jatco is good in that you can replace most parts apart from rev brake band without removing box from vehicle ,its not essential or even preferable to change all oil in one go

jamesmartin said:

no more than normal t/c holds the rest ,jatco is good in that you can replace most parts apart from rev brake band without removing box from vehicle ,its not essential or even preferable to change all oil in one go

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I might be wrong of course, but I was thinking it best to get rid of as much as possible of the OP's old oil as he was 30K past the recommended change.

My oil at 65K when I changed it was not smelling of toast, which I'm told is a good sign. I thought my mechanic pal who helped me was joking - but no - he says its a good indication of the state of the box.

Lots of Jatcos used for towing suffer badly and really should have the oil changed more often - he says.

Any opinions on this?

auto box oil is very detergent ,auto boxes dont produce a lot of contaminents unless a clutch is slipping ,this is what burns oil,in which case your on borrowed time,change oil regulary but just drained amount,lr service intervals are to reduce cost of servicing not increase box life

I had mine chaged because i thought that was the problem it had done 165000 then it was not the problem, the clutch was the problem so I had to have that done cost £950

I gave mine 4 flushes each at 50 miles just te get the oil looking red,

Around 4 liters will come out 4 will be left in torque converter

I did this at 100k miles as I had no idea whether it had been done, judging from the state of the oil it probably hadnt been touched from new.

thanks for your replys guys . ive always changed the gearbox oil in my previous cars but when your told by the parts manager who went to talk to a mechanic at a main land rover dealers you automaticly think your getting the right advice next time i will come to you guys for advice . when i get the car back i will get the fluid changed again as yous said treat this one as a flush once its repaired thanks again will be in touch to let yous know i get on cheers .

EDIT: Just seen yer other post.
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Had it fixed yet?

Had the same issue wiv my auto. Felt like someone had driven into me. Bang when changing gears. Only did it when auto was warm. Turned out to be leaking auto oil in the end. If it were mine I’d stop driving it. Could cause further damage including nackering yer torque converter. Bin there…

It could be the fault inside as mentioned. The Jatco in the Freelander should have it’s oil changed at 60k, but this isn’t the full change. It’s only partial change. An oil change on these auto’s can work wonders. We’ve seen it done many times. Regardless of what garages say, I’d be wanting them to also diagnose the fault on the car, before agreeing to work being done over the phone before they see it.

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