'98 Disco 1 Automatic Gearbox Oil Replacement

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dazzawazza

New Member
Posts
23
Location
NW London
Hi guys, my oil cooler gave way a few days ago so I drained the gearbox (took dip stick out, took drain plug out, left to drain for an hour or so), replaced the cooler, plug and started to refill the gearbox however....

I've only put in 5 Litres and the dip stick says it's past max. The docs say there should be 9 litres in there. I took it for a spin to use all the gears and it's still saying it's over full. Is there anything special I need to do? I am testing with the engine idling on park with a cool transmission.

Any help much appreciated. cheers.
 
The torque converter holds the rest, so you can't change 'all' the oil, just what is in the box itself.

Workshop emmanuel says to fill to the high level mark on refill.

Peter
 
listerdiesel said:
The torque converter holds the rest, so you can't change 'all' the oil, just what is in the box itself.

Workshop emmanuel says to fill to the high level mark on refill.

Peter
Click to expand...

Cheers Peter. I wondered if the 9 Litre figure was for the TC and GB but thought I'd check with a greater force before driving off :)
 
Thanks Peter, Yeah I figured going over the max was bad so I drained it down to max as you say. It seems to be running through the gears fine but kick down isn't working.

At low speeds kick down works but between 30-70 it doesn't drop down it just slows the car down VERY quickly until I lift off the accelerator and then reapply the accelerator then it selects the appropriate gear for the speed I am going.

Any ideas?
 
That was my other thought but since I'd just had the gearbox spew it's oil all over the M11 I thought something might have happened to it. I don't think it's a sticky valve as the gear changes seem to happen smoothly and at the same speeds as before the cooler split. So I thought something could have happened to the kick down? It's just a guess really.

The car doesn't just slow down it feels like it being pulled back Last night of the motorway I actually felt pushed in to the seat belt as it slowed down.

Is there an easy way to tell if it is fuel starvation, anything to look for?
 
tough one that.. experienced it in other cars but not in the disco (apart from when I've run out of gas but that's easily solved by pressing the overdraft (petrol) button) - from experience fuel starvation causes the engine to struggle and lose power on full throttle then recover as you close the throttle and the mixture richens up a little.. does it do it on petrol and gas?

kick down is a cable from the throttle lever on the plenum to the gearbox and is adjustable but unless you've moved either the plenum or the gearbox I can't see it being the cause.. might be something overheated in the gearbox that's damaged but that's beyond my knowledge
 
cheers mjltigger, ha ha, I've not used the overdraft button for ages :) I'll take it out tonight when the streets in London are a bit emptier and try it without LPG to see what happens.

thanks.
 
I wonder if there is a connection between petrol operation and LPG regarding the fault?

Kickdown is a purely electro-mechanical thing, but I don't think you can kick down regardless of speed, the system won't allow you to drop a gear if you're going to overrev the engine doing it.

Peter
 
but you can kick down from pretty high speeds if your cable is adjusted properly.. kick down from 70mph is not a problem as it only gives you just over 4000rpm and the kick down limit is 4500.. it wont kick down over 80..
 
OK just been out for an hour or so. AFAICT the kick down is working. Below about 70MPH is seemed to drop down and the revs jumped to 3000 or so. All felt fine and responsive.

I managed to recreate the problem. On any incline (going up it) slowly accelerate and normally at about 50-60 it just stops accelerating. Press the accelerator a few mm and nothing happens, a few more mm and nothing happens. After maybe 8mm there is a loss of power and a transmission clunk. If I back off you hear the engine pick up and another transmission clunck sound and you can then accelerate up again.

On a very steep hill I got it to happen at lower speeds (20-30) using the same slowly pressing the accelerator down. It happens in both LPG and Petrol with no real differences in how it happens.

When I got back I noticed that at idle the engine was VERY lumpy. When started from cold it idled fine.

Any ideas?
 
I'm at the edge of my knowledge now.. need one of the real experts.. it still sounds like fuel to me but i wonder if you went anywhere near your dizzy when you did the oil cooler.. if the ecu spots a misfire it will back the fuel off to correct it so if you have too much advance for some reason it could cause the symptoms you are describing.. but i am into guesswork
 
cheers mjltigger. I'm way beyond my knowledge to be honest. I think I'm gonna have to take it to a garage and let them have a look around. Maybe there is some error code to help narrow down what's going on.

cheers for your help everyone.
 
I haven't had time to take it to the garage yet. It's a bit manic around here at the moment. Unfortunately it involves driving a lot so I've had to be careful with the landy.
 
Update: Well I was on the way back from Norfolk to London and I'm pretty sure the Gearbox has had it now. Really odd vibrations from the middle of the vehicle at speed and scraping sounds when idle. It's not all the time but it's on it's way out I think.

I don't have the money or time to repair the Gearbox so I'll put it up for sale I think. I've just inherited another 4x4 so I can't afford to keep two around.
 
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