Check Auto Box Oil (TD5)

You are quite right to be cautious about working under the autobox with the pan off. The pipes that do things are often only push fits in holes, and each pipe may hold the pipe before it in place, with the last one being held in place by the pan!

Having said that, if ever you get the chance of a freebie autobox to play with, take it. They are amazingly clever things to take to bits, and usually they will come more or less completely to bits with next to no tools, sometimes just by tipping them up to let the whole epicyclic geartrain slide out! Good fun. So is trying to put it back together again!

CharlesY

Can anyone tell me what size Torx bit is needed for the filler plug on the TD5 Auto gearbox? Don't wanna crawl around the road tonight if i can help it.

Ta

My God, thank you guys. This is a forum...

Stuart250S said:

Couldn't avoid this thread. Just acquired our TD5 a few weeks ago. 98K (kms) on the clock and always serviced by an L/R dealer, except for the last two 10k services. Decided to 'baseline' the whole car and changed every fluid/oil/lube including all filters (yes, the auto filter as well). Funny thing, I drained 2.5 litres out of the autobox (including running empty for a few of seconds to get the fluid out of the torque converter) and followed the manual exactly (check levels whilst running and after allowing the clutches/brakes to refill) and refilled with 4.5 litres. The two litres diference is scary in itself, but there does not seem to be any way to get the service manual's 9 litre refill amount. What am I missing?

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You cannot drain a torque converter - unless you take it off and tip it up.
It will always be lying very nearly half full.

"Running empty" does not help to drain the torque converter, but it certainly helps to bugger the big oil pump at the front of the box.

Draining these things properly is a big job .... hoses off the cooler, and so on, but you can NOT empty that torque converter, more's the pity.

CharlesY

From Ashcrofts FAQS dibble bit!

have a 4 speed ZF Auto and it sticks in first gear in the morning or when cold and is reluctant to change up from 1st gear. Once the gearbox has warmed up it shifts normally. Why?

We have noticed many customers reporting this fault starting a few days after an oil and filter change and after researching this using our experience and the expertise of others in the trade we have come to the conclusion that as ATF oil is a detergent type oil, when the oil is changed this will dislodge and stir up settled debris in the autobox which in turn jams the governor valve. In light of this although it sounds controversial it is debateable if changing the oil and filter is a good idea, some say if the box it going to fail it will fail if the oil is good or bad and their advice is leave it alone. I am still undecided but the truth is I get a lot of calls from customers thinking they are looking after the autobox by servicing it and a few days later this fault occurs.




Ashcroft Transmissions

Jason2 said:

From Ashcrofts FAQS dibble bit!

have a 4 speed ZF Auto and it sticks in first gear in the morning or when cold and is reluctant to change up from 1st gear. Once the gearbox has warmed up it shifts normally. Why?

We have noticed many customers reporting this fault starting a few days after an oil and filter change and after researching this using our experience and the expertise of others in the trade we have come to the conclusion that as ATF oil is a detergent type oil, when the oil is changed this will dislodge and stir up settled debris in the autobox which in turn jams the governor valve. In light of this although it sounds controversial it is debateable if changing the oil and filter is a good idea, some say if the box it going to fail it will fail if the oil is good or bad and their advice is leave it alone. I am still undecided but the truth is I get a lot of calls from customers thinking they are looking after the autobox by servicing it and a few days later this fault occurs.

Ashcroft Transmissions

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Yeah yeah ...... so you do 250,000 miles and then decide to change the oil for the first time. Probably a bad plan. You were lucky it kept working, and you should have left well alone.

Other folk won't be so lucky. Their boxes will fail from gunge cloggings a lot sooner.

The sensible way to go (apart from a manual gearbox!) is probably to drain the oil at reasonable intervals, clean the screens / filters, and replace the amount of oil taken out with clean new oil. This process will help to physically remove a lot of the crap that ends up inside auto-boxes.

Just remember that you'll be lucky to get much more than half the oil out when you drain it.

First time you take the pan off, have a speaker magnet ready to stick to the inside of it. Make sure it has clearance of course. This WILL grab all the metal swarf and loose bits from the oil. Next change it will look all furry. Good trick that.

CharlesY

does any one knows who to check the transmision oil and where is the refill bolt in the transmision i have a freelander automatic 2.5 l 2002

miguel torres said:

does any one knows who to check the transmision oil and where is the refill bolt in the transmision i have a freelander automatic 2.5 l 2002

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might be better askin in the freelander bit(gaylander section)

When I did the oilchange on the autobox in my last Discovery I got out 4.5ltrs, the rest stays in the TC.

The only way to completely change all the oil, as far as I'm aware, is to go to a garage that has an autobox flushing machine. This will empty all the old oil out, whilst the engine is running and refill with new stuff.

I found that if you do two oil changes within a few days of each other, that's about as good as you're going to get, at home.


I did not change the filter on mine, just the oil.