auto box oil cooler

Hi i am changing my freelander next week going to get a auto. As i only tow a caravan twice a year in march and november will i need a extra oil cooler?
Thanks.

There was a larger oil cooler available. Not sure if it was aftermarket or LR sold them. I would expect most who tow on ere haven't got the larger cooler fitted.

Can we have a show of... er hands?

I've the td4 auto, tows my caravan well, never had any issues yet.

I've not checked for the uprated oil cooler, but as mine never had a tow bar fitted until I did it, I guess it didn't have one from new.

might be worth just being mindful of it if your towing the caravan somewhere which is going to put a lot of strain on the gearbox, like the lake district or somewhere equally hilly, give it a rest every now and again.

but for motorway work etc, mine seems fine.

Hi,
My TD4 auto has often pulled a 2 tonne trailer (as aerodynamic as a brick) to the Balkans & back - a 5000 mile roundtrip, in the height of summer with temp there around 36 degrees C, with no issues at all as regards overheating. In my view the standard oil-cooler does a good enough job.
Don't waste your cash. There are better mods to improve your car.

Are you talking about the engine oil cooler or the Auto transmission fluid cooler ?

matacaibo said:

Are you talking about the engine oil cooler or the Auto transmission fluid cooler ?

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I was thinking about the capabilities of both.
The engine oil cooler seems to be pretty efficient.
The auto fluid cooler effectiveness is another thing, but seems to be adequate.
I know that it is tucked away underneath and doesn't get much airflow over it.
I've not been aware of any change of the box's behaviour at working temp even in high ambient temperatures in S Europe.
On the other hand low temps in the winter mean a reluctance to change up until the box has warmed up a good bit. No real problem if you are aware of the need to take it very gently for the first few miles after a cold start.
Must have the right grade of auto trans fluid, though. Its difficult to find except than at LR dealers, and any other make/grade definitely has an effect on the performance.

Singvogel

The jatco auto has the ability to use a lower gear to warm it up/cool it down if needed, which is why it won't change up as you describe when cold.

matacaibo said:

Are you talking about the engine oil cooler or the Auto transmission fluid cooler ?

Click to expand...

i was thinking of the auto box oil cooler.

davie said:

i was thinking of the auto box oil cooler.

Click to expand...

The standard Freelander Auto transmission cooler is a water to auto fluid cooler & it uses the same water as the engine cooling system, the heat exchanger is mounted just in front of the gearbox. Auto Freelanders for hot climates have an airblast cooler instead of the water/fluid cooler, it's mounted in the same place as the fuel burning heater (not needed in a hot climate), it even uses the same wiring loom. I had my water/fluid heat exchanger replaced with an air cooler because I went offroading in the Pyrenees with the Freelander very heavilly loaded. I spoke to several Freelander transmission experts including Ashcroft Transmissions who all said it was a good idea so I went ahead & got it done by a company near Manchester, they fitted an enormous cooler in front of the radiator. Against all the accepted advice I also got the transmission fluid replaced with a new type of fully synthetic fluid which at £15 a litre is even more costly than the Land Rover stuff .
I've done about 4,000 miles since the work was done & so far so good, the gear changes are much snappier now & the soft lockup on 4th & 5th works better.