Auto box specialists

I want to get my FL2's automatic transmission flushed and serviced, can anyone recommend anyone?
Preferably in Suffolk.
Cheers.

Do you mean oil changed and (if it has one) internal filter changed? If so any decent garage should be able to do it. I'm not sure there's much to service, the brake bands should be adjustable but again this is a basic job. I think the problem will be that these jobs are not much fun, its all working underneath, it has to be very clean and there's very little scope for making money on the parts. If you know what you are doing its only a couple of hours at most and there's easier jobs to make the same money so don't expect your hand to be bitten off.

rob1miles said:

Do you mean oil changed and (if it has one) internal filter changed? If so any decent garage should be able to do it. I'm not sure there's much to service, the brake bands should be adjustable but again this is a basic job. I think the problem will be that these jobs are not much fun, its all working underneath, it has to be very clean and there's very little scope for making money on the parts. If you know what you are doing its only a couple of hours at most and there's easier jobs to make the same money so don't expect your hand to be bitten off.

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I'll do a bit of research in to the workings of this unit and see what I can co.e up with then. Cheers.

Draining it yourself will only get rid of 40% or so of old oil...there are the machines which will install a cleaning additive then replace the oil like for like and replace 99% of the old oil from what research I've done...loads of info on utube etc...Google auto transmission flush in ur area I'm pretty sure summat will come up...hope this helps

Quick search...hwb automotive Ltd hallsworth Suffolk...ip198en...01986873999

Depending on the mileage opinions vary as to what level of service is recommended. Generally speaking high mileage 'boxes don't take kindly to total flushing & a basic fluid + filter change is acceptable. The temperature of the fluid is important & the task should be within the scope of any reputable garage.
My local garage (not in Suffolk I'm afraid) charged me £60 labour to do the ZF on my 5series with the oil & filter supplied by me.

No need to power flush it. Just do the normal part fluid change every 50k miles. Make sure its at the correct temperature for the fluid change and set the level correctly, following the correct procedure. Only use quality fluid.

Thanks for the info guys.
I've spoken to a local, independent Land Rover specialist and they're going to 'hot flush' her for me.
I doubt any of the previous owners have ever had it done and she's done 102k so, hopefully she'll appreciate the attention.

Is replacing the filter not a box out job on these....?

The filter is too difficult to get to. It would require the auto gearbox to be taken apart to get to. I've looked into this myself. The manufacturer aisin states the filter doesn't need changed. That sounds bonkers as an oil and filter change is probably one of the best/cheapest things you can do to keep an auto gearbox in good health. In general auto gearboxes don't suffer the contamination of other "oiled" items like car engines where the oil is contaminated by muck from the fuel burning process. So the auto's filter won't clog up any where near to what an engines oil filter does.

I can kind or understand the logic of, it don't get dirty so the filter doesn't need changing, but if that's the case, why have a filter in the first place.

Col

Colthebrummie said:

I can kind or understand the logic of, it don't get dirty so the filter doesn't need changing, but if that's the case, why have a filter in the first place.

Col

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Ter filter out muck. Auto gearbox oil is normally clean when it comes out if there's no problems. It does darken a little with use. I assume they fit a filter in order to filter out any muck in there if it eggsists as good practice. Be it hiding from the time of manufacture (they hydro test them normally anyway) or created later if faults develop. They run them on test beds to see how they do across the lifetime of general use so know what to eggspect if nothing major goes wrong like clutch packs burning out or metalwork wearing, causing lose partials to chip oft etc. When you consider the cost of a box the filter is only a small part of that, and betterer to have in than not, to ensure muck is trapped if it does eggsists in the box.

Craig_mate said:

I've spoken to a local, independent Land Rover specialist and they're going to 'hot flush' her for me.
I doubt any of the previous owners have ever had it done and she's done 102k so, hopefully she'll appreciate the attention.

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I'd be cautious about flushing all the fluid. You could find that the transmission starts to slip after its done, requiring a rebuild.

The theory is that the old fluid will be full of fine particulates, which actually help prevent a well travelled gearbox suffering from clutch slip.

There's plenty of evidence that supports this theory, and little to say a partial fluid change is ineffective.

Most gearbox manufacturers specify a partial fluid change, presumably to maintain an amount of particulates in suspension within the fluid.

My own gearbox only started slipping, once I'd done a full fluid change, so that's something I'll not be repeating.

Nodge68 said:

I'd be cautious about flushing all the fluid. You could find that the transmission starts to slip after its done, requiring a rebuild.

The theory is that the old fluid will be full of fine particulates, which actually help prevent a well travelled gearbox suffering from clutch slip.

There's plenty of evidence that supports this theory, and little to say a partial fluid change is ineffective.

Most gearbox manufacturers specify a partial fluid change, presumably to maintain an amount of particulates in suspension within the fluid.

My own gearbox only started slipping, once I'd done a full fluid change, so that's something I'll not be repeating.

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Well now I'm worrying.... I've heard good things about RR sports having their boxes flushed, I know it's a different box but, surely the principal is the same and as long as they use the correct fluid all should be well....?

Craig_mate said:

Well now I'm worrying.... I've heard good things about RR sports having their boxes flushed, I know it's a different box but, surely the principal is the same and as long as they use the correct fluid all should be well....?

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I think gearbox design plays a part in this.
A gearbox designed for in line installation is often not constrained by space, so in line gearboxes are larger, meaning larger clutch packs.
In a transverse installation, size is important, so these boxes tend to be smaller, which results in smaller clutch packs.

I'm not saying that a total fluid flush will cause the clutches to start slipping, just that there is evidence to support this, including my own experience.

Nodge68 said:

I think gearbox design plays a part in this.
A gearbox designed for in line installation is often not constrained by space, so in line gearboxes are larger, meaning larger clutch packs.
In a transverse installation, size is important, so these boxes tend to be smaller, which results in smaller clutch packs.

I'm not saying that a total fluid flush will cause the clutches to start slipping, just that there is evidence to support this, including my own experience.

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That makes complete sense. This unit is a weird little Japanese affair.
So, with your experience, I have a 102k mile auto box which is a tad sluggish. What should I do?

Craig_mate said:

That makes complete sense. This unit is a weird little Japanese affair.
So, with your experience, I have a 102k mile auto box which is a tad sluggish. What should I do?

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Going from the experience I've had with a weird little Japanese gearbox (a FL1 Jatco), I'd avoid a total flush, and just stick to the recommended partial change.
My box was fine at 115k miles when I did a partial change. It suffered from a solenoid valve failure, so after the solenoid was replaced I decided to flush all the fluid, as what came out was quite dirty, almost gritty in feel. This flush was in an attempt to get the changes as smooth as they should have been.

After the flush, the box behaved very differently. It changed ratios really smoothly, which was nice. However I noticed then when towing a light trailer up hill at full throttle, there was an amount of flare (slip) on the up change to 4th. This became worse over time, to the point where the box would flare at anything over half throttle, even without any additional weight in the vehicle.

Of course the only cause of action is to rebuild the box, but unfortunately the vehicle isn't worth the cost of a rebuild, so I'll be selling it as is. I've added some gearbox treatment which might help the box, but the damage is done, so any treatments now will simply prolong the inevitable box replacement.

So I'd definitely not recommend a flush, based on my experience of it.

Nodge68 said:

Going from the experience I've had with a weird little Japanese gearbox (a FL1 Jatco), I'd avoid a total flush, and just stick to the recommended partial change.
My box was fine at 115k miles when I did a partial change. It suffered from a solenoid valve failure, so after the solenoid was replaced I decided to flush all the fluid, as what came out was quite dirty, almost gritty in feel. This flush was in an attempt to get the changes as smooth as they should have been.

After the flush, the box behaved very differently. It changed ratios really smoothly, which was nice. However I noticed then when towing a light trailer up hill at full throttle, there was an amount of flare (slip) on the up change to 4th. This became worse over time, to the point where the box would flare at anything over half throttle, even without any additional weight in the vehicle.

Of course the only cause of action is to rebuild the box, but unfortunately the vehicle isn't worth the cost of a rebuild, so I'll be selling it as is. I've added some gearbox treatment which might help the box, but the damage is done, so any treatments now will simply prolong the inevitable box replacement.

So I'd definitely not recommend a flush, based on my experience of it.

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Alright then! Thanks for sharing.

Loads of people have done a full fluid change on the FL1 jatco without problems. Especially the volvo lot who also use it in their motors. Search for the "gibbons method" and you'll see they're more than happy with doing it, but it's simply not needed. Some have done this on the FL2 aisin anorl. If you really want to do a full change then do a few partial changes, several hundred miles apart. But it's not needed. I did it once via multiple partial changes on the FL1 but for other reasons. There are lots of peeps online with bigger heavier vehicles who get them power flushed with full changes of fluid anorl. A power flush is quite a violent process. It's not a common practice in the uk to do this. In the US they do it a lot.

@Nodge68 I remember to saying previously the trailer was above the weight of the towing capacity of the FL1, as well as going up hill?

This has all given me a lot to think about. Thank you.

Craig_mate said:

This has all given me a lot to think about. Thank you.

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Seasoned FL2 owners like me have been doing a partial change every 50k miles to keep the box happy, for many years. It's all it needs. If yer using it heavily oft road a lot or towing a lot then partial change at lower intervals like every 40k miles if yer concerned.