Disco Auto Trans Failure

Just when I was celebration the fact that I had 200th vitually trouble-free
kms, bang, or rather nothing goes the box.

A few days ago putting it into gear gave a small jerk, then no response, as
if I were in neutral. A cup of tea later all was fine. I did notice a small
reluctance to change up, but nothing significant. Then later I noticed a bit
of a judder when the converter locks up at about 80k's. Today Im back to no
response.

The ATM fuild was usually pinkish from memory. This was the first thing i
checked, its now got a brownish tinge. Also way over the full mark, parked
on a level, idling and in neutral. Question is where did this extra fluid
come from? I've established that it cant be a leak from the transfer box
into the gearbox. Is it possible that theres a leak from the torque
converter into the box? The other possibility is that some enterprising pump
attendant topped up the transmission instead of the engine oil when my wife
was using the vehicle.

I'll try draining and refilling but I have to assume the worst and start
looking for a good second hand box.

Jac wrote:
> Just when I was celebration the fact that I had 200th vitually trouble-free
> kms, bang, or rather nothing goes the box.
>
> A few days ago putting it into gear gave a small jerk, then no response, as
> if I were in neutral. A cup of tea later all was fine. I did notice a small
> reluctance to change up, but nothing significant. Then later I noticed a bit
> of a judder when the converter locks up at about 80k's. Today Im back to no
> response.
>
> The ATM fuild was usually pinkish from memory. This was the first thing i
> checked, its now got a brownish tinge. Also way over the full mark, parked
> on a level, idling and in neutral. Question is where did this extra fluid
> come from? I've established that it cant be a leak from the transfer box
> into the gearbox. Is it possible that theres a leak from the torque
> converter into the box? The other possibility is that some enterprising pump
> attendant topped up the transmission instead of the engine oil when my wife
> was using the vehicle.
>
> I'll try draining and refilling but I have to assume the worst and start
> looking for a good second hand box.
>
>
Sounds like the pump has either failed or has become clogged. Smell the
fluid, if it has a burnt aroma you have serious problems. Go ahead and
pull the filter and before you dump the pan, run a magnet through the
gearbox fluid. You'll be checking for either an abundance or absolute
absence of metallic particles. The TC uses the same fluid as the gearbox
(or at least the NAS versions do).

I've found that most pump jockeys are scared of Land Rovers. Why, I
don't know. Anyway, smell the aroma of motor oil and compare it to the
trans fluid. BTW, wear surgical gloves prior to handling any synthetic
or petroleum based oils and fluids as they are all cancer causing.

What I've done is to replace the drain plugs in both front and rear
axles as well as the engine sump. Land Rover's part number for it is
FTC5208. You didn't say if it was a Disco 1 or 2 because the 2s had it
standard for the sump. I'm looking for the same type of plug for the
manual gearbox and transfer case as well. Mobil Oil offers, as others
may as well, the opprotunity to have the used oil analyzed to help
determine the health of the engine. I haven't used the service yet so I
can't comment on it.

I have gone over to completely synthetic oil and fluids for my Disco 1.
I have seen a marked reduction in temp both water and oil.

I think that I have probably said too much but, what I have said hope it
helps you and your Landie.

--Jeff

Hmmmm..mine did this - athough the failure in the end was more
catostrophic - i.e. it pumped the atf up and out of the filler tube all over
the engine. Essentially it lunched the clutches. The first thing that
happened was a reluctance to change, I had it flushed and it ran okay for a
weeks and then BLAMMO!

--
Neil

Jac Hi,

sorry to hear about your troubles with the autobox.
Have had similar problems after leaving the car standing still for about two
years. Living next to the sea means that the ATF had absorbed lots of
humidity . Have not thought about it and after starting to use the car again
the autobox started to act up, slipping between gears, not engaging forward
or reverse gear and finally starting to whine and whistle.

Following recommendations from fellow listers from here I changed the ATF
and cleaned thoroughly the filter.
The ATF was dark brown and there were a LOT of debris (black powder sludge)
on the filter.
I used cheap ATF to change the autobox's contect three times and cleaned the
filter each and everytime the ATF was changed.
Upon changing the ATF the last time I used very good quality ATF II
(Dextron) and an autobox oil conditioner (Liquid Muscle, Stops Slip) and
since then (about two years now) the autobox works extremely nicely. It
occasionaly feels a little sluggish and delays changing from first to second
gear when the ambient temperature is lowish (around 10 degrees Celsius) or
when the autobox's oil is cold but when everything is in operational
temperature.

So before you decide to take a plunge in the deep and expensive why don't
you try the same approach?

A trick I have been told by the mechanic who has assisted me into changing
the ATF/purging the system was to empty the autobox from the ATF, keep the
plug open but the transfer box in neutral, start the engine and put the
autobox lever in D and let the system operate for a few seconds. Only a few
seconds appeared to have made the torque converter rotate and also empty its
oil since there was oil dripping from the open plug.
I can not take any responsibility for proposing this trick. But it appears
it has assisted into completery removing the debris from the torque
converter and the pump apart from just the autobox which is usually the case
when you change ATF.

Take care and hope this damage you had will be easy and cheap to repair and
rectify.

Pantelis

"Jac" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Just when I was celebration the fact that I had 200th vitually
trouble-free
> kms, bang, or rather nothing goes the box.
>
> A few days ago putting it into gear gave a small jerk, then no response,
as
> if I were in neutral. A cup of tea later all was fine. I did notice a
small
> reluctance to change up, but nothing significant. Then later I noticed a
bit
> of a judder when the converter locks up at about 80k's. Today Im back to
no
> response.
>
> The ATM fuild was usually pinkish from memory. This was the first thing i
> checked, its now got a brownish tinge. Also way over the full mark, parked
> on a level, idling and in neutral. Question is where did this extra fluid
> come from? I've established that it cant be a leak from the transfer box
> into the gearbox. Is it possible that theres a leak from the torque
> converter into the box? The other possibility is that some enterprising
pump
> attendant topped up the transmission instead of the engine oil when my
wife
> was using the vehicle.
>
> I'll try draining and refilling but I have to assume the worst and start
> looking for a good second hand box.
>
>

On or around Mon, 3 Apr 2006 13:05:31 +0300, "Pantelis Giamarellos"
<[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:

>Following recommendations from fellow listers from here I changed the ATF
>and cleaned thoroughly the filter.
>The ATF was dark brown and there were a LOT of debris (black powder sludge)
>on the filter.
>I used cheap ATF to change the autobox's contect three times and cleaned the
>filter each and everytime the ATF was changed.
>Upon changing the ATF the last time I used very good quality ATF II
>(Dextron) and an autobox oil conditioner (Liquid Muscle, Stops Slip) and
>since then (about two years now) the autobox works extremely nicely. It
>occasionaly feels a little sluggish and delays changing from first to second
>gear when the ambient temperature is lowish (around 10 degrees Celsius) or
>when the autobox's oil is cold but when everything is in operational
>temperature.

There's a problem with changing ATF which is that about 30% or more of the
fluid stays in the box and especially the torque converter when you drain
it. It's a huge operation to get it completely empty and flushed - when I
changed mine which had the "A" clutch failure I had to re-use the TC from
the failed box, and I spent about an hour and a gallon of paraffin trying to
flush the old cruddy oil out of it. Trouble is, to do that you have to get
the 'box (or engine) out.

So what happens is you replace the filter (about 25 GBP, last one I got, and
yes, you can clean it, it's only a fine mesh screen, but ICBA) and drain and
refill the sump (about 9 litres I think). The oil capacity from
new-and-empty is about 16l.
--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.net my opinions are just that
"The breezy call of incense-breathing Morn, The swallow twittering
from the strawbuilt shed, The cock's shrill clarion, or the echoing
horn, No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed."
Thomas Gray, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.