Thread: Auto Transmission for Puma

Ok. I have had a chat to Davies Performance Landies and have been talk out of the Ashcroft Auto conversion. The reason apparently the conversion leaves you with a loss of power, and overheating when towing. It's apparently the 300tdi disco 4 speed auto.

Then I had a phone call back today from Wholesale Automatics in Melbourne and he's spoken with Ascroft and will bring in the adapters, get a local box and rebuild it (so new box) and they are already a Compushift dealer. He has quoted me 14K drive away with warranty.

He has a different opinion to DPL and does not think it will overheat, as you can change the settings with the Compushift to suit the type of driving you do. As far as a loss of power he says it is minimal "barely noticeable" were his words. He said around 5% or less power loss but an increase in torque with the lock up torque converter. He seems to think it will be a good thing.

The question is, will the old TDi box be a good reliable auto conversion. I need to speak with people who have already had this conversion done. I'm thinking UK forums, does anyone have any suggestions?

Any 300 TDi auto Disco owners that could comment, it would be appreciated.

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There's a tdi 110 ute at LVS at the moment with an auto, and redneck.woman91 (Steph) on this forum has a tdi auto 110 ute.

DPL got it wrong it they think the box is from a 300Tdi Discovery, as they are a purely mechanical box, no need for a Compushift.

I have a Discovery Tdi and fitted an auto box to it, no problems in over 100,000km of driving. Main problem was a turbo "upgrade" that only gets boost over 2200rpm, problem being the torque converter doesn't let it get to 2200rpm so easy as it stalls around 2000rpm

When I did a gearbox change in my Jaguar XJ-S from a GM400 to a 4L80E, I had the torque convertor changed to a "high stall" - around 2400rpm. I would do a similar thing on the box, and programme the lock up to come in earlier. I used a PCS controller rather than Compushift, it is much more programmable.

The ZF box must be out of a TD5 or a Range Rover, and they seem to be OK with a fair bit of power.

Ah I could be wrong there, DPL just said it was the old Disco box and he didn't seem to impressed. The box is the Discovery D2 and Rangie P38 auto.

Are these good box's

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Originally Posted by isuzutoo-eh

There's a tdi 110 ute at LVS at the moment with an auto, and redneck.woman91 (Steph) on this forum has a tdi auto 110 ute.

Mark, is the TDi a 300 ?

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Steph's is a 300tdi and a DPL conversion, not sure about the one at LVS.
I drove Steph's 110 around Mt Walker and back to Sydney via Bell's Line of Road, quicker up the hills than my naturally aspirated County! I don't have any experience beyond those two drives.
The 110 at LVS has the shifter where the centre console should be. Steph's shifter is on the transmission tunnel.

Wholesale Automatics have a good reputation and their conversions for Toyota transmissions are favoured in the USA (but they complain about the pricing).

From memory, the ZF22 from a Tdi disco can be beefed up with extra clutch plates, etc. However the torque convertor size is limited by the available space in the bell housing, it has the advantage $$$$wise in not being electronic controlled. If going to this trouble, I would think twice before using the 300Tdi auto in a heavier and more powerful Defender.

IIRC the torque convertor size issue is one important reason why Ashcroft use the stronger ZF24 from a rangie. Unfortunately being electronic controlled you would need to add the very expensive compushift.

Some people in this thread are indicating the Disco II has the same transmission as the rangie, but IIRC it is simply an electronic controlled version of the smaller ZF22, not 24 as used in rangies.

This should be on the Ashcroft website, but you may need to dig down a bit to find all. If Ashcroft contradict my ramblings, then be guided by them.

Originally Posted by Chops

So why is it that they don't come out in an auto anyway.

Because it would impact on Disco sales as it would come in cheaper.

Because they already sell all the Defenders they build, and probably can't be bothered building more.....