Coolant getting into auto-box oil

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kermitlandy

New Member
Posts
9
Location
France
1998 Discovery ES Auto.

Coolant is getting into the automatic gear box oil, anyone had this problem? how can you trace the leak ?

Many thanks :confused:
 
kermitlandy said:
1998 Discovery ES Auto.

Coolant is getting into the automatic gear box oil, anyone had this problem? how can you trace the leak ?

Many thanks :confused:
Click to expand...

Are you absolutely sure about this? I'm assuming this is a TDi 300 auto?

I can't recall any areas where cross-contamination could occur? The autobox oil cooler is completely separate from the radiator.

Tell me more please................................


Dave
 
Hi Dave
Thanks very much for answering. Yes, it is a 300 tdi. It's a bit of a saga, my husband (Terry) bought it from a friend over here (France) it had a turbo go when the owner was visiting and ended up not going back to the UK. Terry did loads of work on it and got it going ok except the kick-down wasn't working, we got a new cable and took it to our local garage for them to fit it, it turned out there were other problems and we got a couple of other bits, it's been there a while. they knew we were not in a hurry for it and - typically French - when we called in, it was always " be ready next week" !, anyway it was promised for today and when we went down the mechanic said "new problem" he showed us the dip stick and said the level was fine then he had taken it 10kms up the road and afterwards the level was very high and the coolant was getting into the oil.
I see you are also in France, we are in Mayenne, is there any chance Terry could ring you to pick your brains, be very grateful, the garage is not a Land Rover one and of course there is always the language problem!
Regards
Sheila Brown
 
The oil cooler for auto is air as far as I know.
Engine oil cooler in radiator

Unless the autobox has aftermarket cooler-trace pipes
 
kermitlandy said:
Hi Dave
Thanks very much for answering. Yes, it is a 300 tdi. It's a bit of a saga, my husband (Terry) bought it from a friend over here (France) it had a turbo go when the owner was visiting and ended up not going back to the UK. Terry did loads of work on it and got it going ok except the kick-down wasn't working, we got a new cable and took it to our local garage for them to fit it, it turned out there were other problems and we got a couple of other bits, it's been there a while. they knew we were not in a hurry for it and - typically French - when we called in, it was always " be ready next week" !, anyway it was promised for today and when we went down the mechanic said "new problem" he showed us the dip stick and said the level was fine then he had taken it 10kms up the road and afterwards the level was very high and the coolant was getting into the oil.
I see you are also in France, we are in Mayenne, is there any chance Terry could ring you to pick your brains, be very grateful, the garage is not a Land Rover one and of course there is always the language problem!
Regards
Sheila Brown
Click to expand...

Hi Sheila, you got mail !

Dave
 
I have a 300tdi auto and also can't think of any way that engine coolant could get into the auto box. As said, the gearbox cooler sits low down in front of the main rad - exactly where I want to put my winch but thats another story!

If the garage is not a LR garage is it possible that they have filled the gearbox without using the correct procedure i.e. engine running, select all gears pausing for a couple of seconds in each gear, return to park, check level with engine still running.

The garage may have over-filled the gearbox and I think it should be checked when cold so taking the level after a drive out could have warmed it up enough to read too high as well.
 
It's normal for the ATF level in auto boxes to increase when hot, that is why some modern automatic cars that have a gearbox dipstick to be marked with both hot and cold levels.
Discovery 1s only have one level to look at, that is when cold not after travailing a few miles down the road.
 
It is near impossible for coolant to get in to auto box. Didnt you think it could be garage creating more jobs for you to pay for. If coolant is getting in to box.drain it yourself. Refill and run your self and see if you have the same problem.

Its hard to find a good garage to trust.
 
dip stick would need a few mins to drain clean , and several attempts to be sure of exact level as oil in tube can make stick look like levels high
 
As has been said, the gearbox cooling is an entirely different system to that of the engine cooling and there is no way of having coolant getting into it unless it was mistakenly filled with the stuff. As has also been said, it is easy to believe the gearbox has been seriously overfilled after it has warmed up and I believe the best option left to you now is to verify the level yourself with the system cold, engine idling with selector in P or N.
Although it has to be said that considering the many various mods that have been done to these vehicles over the years, it would be prudent to check if you still have the original setup or otherwise retrofitted with something more modern involving the engine coolant that could indeed be giving you problems. The original 'bog brush' cooler has been said to sometimes get the box a bit toasty under certain conditions and it may just be possible that the previous owner may have binned it for something different.
 
Hi all
Just wanted to thank everyone who took the time to answer my posting, with special thanks to thebiglad (Dave) for all the help. Using the correct procedure for checking the level there proved to be no problem.
 
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