300tdi Manual to Auto conversion

--ped-- said:

for the cost i fit a new t box seal any time i have the t box off

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Litch said:

Not at all.

If you have a knackered engine which is hauling around an overloaded 110 then yes, I guess it would be sluggish.
My engine is still in excellent fettle (59K miles from new) and my 90 is not carrying loads of unnecessary gear so it is positively sprightly.

Before I did my conversion I was offered a test-drive in a 300TDi auto 90.
The owner was gushing saying that my vehicle would not be as quick as his as he used the engine & gearbox lifted out of a Disco (different pump). To say I was underwhelmed would be an understatement! It was slow to respond and really seemed to struggle with the country lanes where we were driving. I immediately decided that his was not a good conversion as there was no way my vehicle (which I had stepped out of only 5-minutes before) could be transformed into this sluggish vehicle I was now driving.
Pleased to say that when I did my own conversion I was proved correct and there was no comparison with his vehicle and mine. It took me 12-months to make a final decision on the gearing because since new I had been running a 1:2 (Disco) T-box but with the autobox this was slightly too high so I swopped it for the stock 1:4 and it works perfectly (have always run 265/75x16's).

No way I would go back to the old R380 (which was never a great gearbox even when brand-new) and in my opinion, my 90 is a benchmark for how a 300TDi auto CAN perform.

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