Towing with auto disco.

I tow my 1200kg van with the Disco and most of the time I 'm very pleased with how she performs.Hill starts are easy with auto box, after the slight lag the turbo spins up and your off.Only problem Ive found is when cruising at 55/60 on the motorway in lockup as soon as you hit a slight incline it starts to slow down,so I give it more juice and still slows down .As soon as it hits 50 the auto box drops a gear and the engine screams up high revs until I can get speed up to go back into lock up at about 52. Its an early 94 tdi without edc and I believe its only 111 bhp . They changed them to about 120 bhp the following year. Is this normal for the standard set up and would I have to do some performance tweaks to get more power when cruising.

That seems about right, from what I have read about diesel autos towing on the forums. It's time for a little boost in power ie. remove the cat a bit of blanking off which seems to be the common and easy modifications.

Remove the cat and tweak the pump - (bin the EGR if you haven't already!)

My Td5 auto locks up and holds 60 on the cruise control on all but the steepest motorway inclines. Look ahead and dont be afraid to put it into 3rd to keep the road speed up, then back into top when you're above lock up speed.

I could be wrong but it seems to be a "better" situation to be locked and reving in 3rd rather than slipping and reving in top.

Alyn

Alyn said:

Remove the cat and tweak the pump - (bin the EGR if you haven't already!)

My Td5 auto locks up and holds 60 on the cruise control on all but the steepest motorway inclines. Look ahead and dont be afraid to put it into 3rd to keep the road speed up, then back into top when you're above lock up speed.

I could be wrong but it seems to be a "better" situation to be locked and reving in 3rd rather than slipping and reving in top.

Alyn

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Hi Alyn, on TD5 auto, if I understand correctly, torque lockup works on third as well as on top gear, however on Disco 1's ie TDi 300, it only works on top gear.

Incidently, for general info, the change heard at about 50mph is not a gearchange but the TC locking or unlocking. The normal roadspeed for changing from third to top is 28mph unless giving it loads of welly !!

To improve the towing performance of an auto Disco1, de-catt, de-EGR, wash out the intercooler, change the gearbox oil, put in a new airfilter, clean the fuel sedimenter.

They should and will tow a 1200kg van with ease.

I have a V8 auto and find similar things .. generally if I'm trying to have an easy drive of it (sitting in behind the trucks) I end up with exactly this problem.. if I'm pushing it a little (to get somewhere before it gets dark usually) then no problem.. so my advice is.. when it's safe, add a few mph.. keep to 60 - 62 and it seems to work very well

i tow a similar weighted caravan with my 2003 td5 auto, and have noticed the same.
i have found that actually using the gearbox instead of leaving it in drive helps, like wise dropping it into third a little early if you can see an incline coming. this will keep the revs up and should hold the speed.
on the flat there is no issue at all, infact keeping to the speed limit is more difficult, its when you get the long moderate drags it gets mine.
even short steep cllimbs pose less problems.
i do like using cruise control but find it sends the revs sky high when trying to maintain the speed at times. this always makes me feel uncomfortable.
mine has not been egr or de catted but has the box oil changed annually and had the intercooler cleaned two years ago.

mat

Well it looks like I,m not the only one.Whats really embarassing is when a Kia Seddona[pulling a bigger van] overtakes you like your stood still on those long climbs. .We get there ,it just takes a bit longer.

Yep, Danny, I know exactly how you feel...
One day I plan to invest in a bigger intercooler and a fuel pump tweak. I have cleaned the Intercooler and it is de EGR'd but I can't say they really made much difference. I probably should change the auto fluid, that hasn't been done for a while.

rollin danny said:

Well it looks like I,m not the only one.Whats really embarassing is when a Kia Seddona[pulling a bigger van] overtakes you like your stood still on those long climbs. .We get there ,it just takes a bit longer.

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Then of course there's the other Discovery................. thats a V8

is trhis why the auto discos are no good for towing then ,
i had a manual 200tdi and its was great kept it in 5th most of the time towing a 1300kg van at around 60mph

they aregreat for towing... you just need to keep moving...

My old 300 Tdi manual, with a Brunel intercooler, de-cated, de-EGRed and "Tweaked" was absolutely brilliant towing a twin axle Spectrum. The only reason I sold it was because I now need an auto.

I have a mild remap on my Td5, and realy appreciate the autobox................. but it aint as "grunty" as the old un. (Unless I drop to 3rd and hit the mode button.... and see the fuel needle drop like a stone)

Alyn