Dr Tranny for Auto Shudder fix

[~Rich~]

Hi all,
Thought I would share this with you all, my mechanic has had a customer who has had shudder in his auto transmission for 2 yrs!

He regularly tows and it has been getting progressivley worse for him.
I mentioned to my mechanic the use of Dr Tranny to fix the problem.
He ordered some in: Dr. Tranny Instant Shudder Fixx (http://www.lubegard.com/~/C-230/Dr.+Tranny+Instant+Shudder+Fixx)
2 tubes recommended
As well as some of this: LUBEGARD Automatic Transmission Fluid Protectant (http://www.lubegard.com/~/C-112/LUBEGARD+Automatic+Transmission+Fluid+Protectant)
1 bottle recommended
The owner was facing a large bill so they decided no harm trying this fix.
Well it's been 2 weeks for him, the result:
Instant Fix!
Shudder completely gone. ;)
He has even towed again without any signs of shudder, he is over the moon to say the least!

This brings me to my D3!
I have regularly changed my fluids but was feeling that I was possibly developing a slight shudder. ( I am very proactive in looking after my D3 mechanically)
I got my mechanic to put in the Dr Tranny x2 and Lifeguard protectant which on the Disco3.uk forum had recommended the use of 2 of these as well. Well all was good until I had to head away for work to Batemans Bay. On the freeway on cruise control doing 110kph going up hills it did not drop down to 5th, it would labour and then the dreaded "F" Transmission fault limited gears available - 3rd only.
I stopped and restarted probably 5 times to reset the fault. I eventually plugged in my Faultmate and found a couple of codes:
P0730 & P0735 which comes up as "Incorrect gear ratios" for both of them.
I cleared them and drove on, trying semi auto mode to see if I could manually override the issue. Nope, it just confirmed the gear selection problem.
Back home in Sydney and speaking to my mechanic and doing some homework we decided to drain and change the fluid again as well as adaptive gearbox reset and clutch calibration to see if that would fix it.

And - Yes it did, all clear after testing up and back on the F3 to Gosford.

Ok what caused it - we think that the addition of the 2 bottles of Lifeguard Protectant 600ml was probably too much as they had no issues with the other D3 adding just 300ml.
I'm now relieved that I do not need a new transmission!

Dr Tranny is still fantastic stuff if you have shudder. :)

[lpj]

Good to know in case I do develop shudder down the track, but for now it's probably best to follow the old farmers proverb: "If it ain't broken....."

[PeterOZ]

made me shudder :o

[Steve223]

I asked Bruce Davis whether to put Dr Tranny in my gearbox when converting the sumprecently and he advised against it. As I have no shudder I took his advice however if it's a question of new gearbox or trying it I definitely give it a go.

[~Rich~]

I would have to agree Steve, only add if you have a definite shudder diagnosed.

[KOOS BEST]

After I had experienced a shudder under load while towing , my Gearbox was double flushed at 96 000km as well as 108 000 km with the expensive Shell 1375.4 OEM oil, the shudder never went away.
I was told by the agent and ZF i require a new torque converter, and there are nothing they can do further.

Well at 108 000km I walked away from my agent,googled the problem and did according to what I have found out as a last resort.
I then drained the oil, flushed it 3 x times with Fuch ATF 4400 added 2 x tubes of Dr Tranny , and voila!. Smooth as new.

I have now done as of today 40 000 km with Dr Tranny and the Fuchs oil.

I tow an off road trailer here in Africa , and uses the vehicle to launch a boat on the beach regularly.

For the last 40 000km have not experienced any shudder and the Fuchs oil has kept my gearbox smooth as it was new.

Dr Tranny worked for me as well as Fuchs ATF , if it lasted for 40 000km with no issues it will last another 100 000km at least , this mileage is over 60% of towing and touring.

I resolved my annoying shudder at a fraction of the cost quoted by agents.


Ps, apparently the shudder is caused by a glaze forming on the clutches inside the torque converter from extreme working conditions, Dr Tranny has got ethers that removes this glaze.

Dr Tranny also works in the Transfer case , if you have a knock turning right going uphill , it's from the transfer box add 1 x tube of Dr Tranny and it's gone.

Plenty of D3's in Africa has been fixed by adding 2 x tubes in gearboxes and 1 x tube in transfer box.

[doddsy]

Hi

Can someone point me in the right direction of where to get this stuff in Australia please ?

Cheers

Doddsy

[~Rich~]

ProStream in Melbourne.

Dr Tranny's Instant Shudder Fix (http://www.prostream.com.au/s.nl/it.A/id.45/.f)

Contact Us (http://www.prostream.com.au/s.nl/sc.14/.f)

My mechanic buys it off them too.

[doddsy]

Cheers mate, ill check it out today.
Fingers crossed

[doddsy]

Ok checked out the guys, they do sell it but only in boxes of 24! Bit too many for me( hopefully) . Cheap at $11 a tube tho.

Ordered some from blighty $35 for 2 tubes delivered.( del about a week )

[roverv8]

Ordered some from blighty $35 for 2 tubes delivered.( del about a week )


where did you order this please?

[doddsy]

Here mate, these guys are power sellers and very friendly to deal with.


Look at this on eBay:

Dr Tranny Lube Automatic Transmission Instant Shudder Fixx

http://bit.ly/17ie4eG

[roverv8]

thanks, but was hoping to find some in Australia

[~Rich~]

I'll check with my mechanic if they would sell it on. 3 tubes max per sale.

[doddsy]

No probs, i am so used to ordering bits from the uk it doesnt bother me. Sometimes they are here quicker than aussie stock and at 1/3 of the price.

Aussie stock would've been handy ..

[Steve223]

Still have 2 tubes I'm happy to sell pm if still required

[Mwinga01]

Bursons- Moorabbin - I put this in my L322 to prevent the shudder - worked great , unfortunately 3 months later its back, and I'm looking down the barrel of TC replacement. Any referrals as to wo to use and how much$.. Cheers

[herrBlick]

The boys in Dandenong who do MLRs work ...A&M I think ..did mine $6000 ...2 years warranty .... Piece of mind for another 200 thousand kms

[herrBlick]

After I had experienced a shudder under load while towing , my Gearbox was double flushed at 96 000km as well as 108 000 km with the expensive Shell 1375.4 OEM oil, the shudder never went away.
I was told by the agent and ZF i require a new torque converter, and there are nothing they can do further.

Well at 108 000km I walked away from my agent,googled the problem and did according to what I have found out as a last resort.
I then drained the oil, flushed it 3 x times with Fuch ATF 4400 added 2 x tubes of Dr Tranny , and voila!. Smooth as new.

I have now done as of today 40 000 km with Dr Tranny and the Fuchs oil.

I tow an off road trailer here in Africa , and uses the vehicle to launch a boat on the beach regularly.

For the last 40 000km have not experienced any shudder and the Fuchs oil has kept my gearbox smooth as it was new.

Dr Tranny worked for me as well as Fuchs ATF , if it lasted for 40 000km with no issues it will last another 100 000km at least , this mileage is over 60% of towing and touring.

I resolved my annoying shudder at a fraction of the cost quoted by agents.


Ps, apparently the shudder is caused by a glaze forming on the clutches inside the torque converter from extreme working conditions, Dr Tranny has got ethers that removes this glaze.

Dr Tranny also works in the Transfer case , if you have a knock turning right going uphill , it's from the transfer box add 1 x tube of Dr Tranny and it's gone.

Plenty of D3's in Africa has been fixed by adding 2 x tubes in gearboxes and 1 x tube in transfer box.

I don't understand though ...just get the problem fixed ..I couldn't go across the Simpson on the prayer of Dr Trannys snake oil

[~Rich~]

Why not try it - if it saves the gearbox why not?

Having said that I would not use it if I was heading off to the Simpson say within 6 weeks. I'd probably replace the gearbox in that case.

Otherwise if over that time you sure have plenty of time to see if it has infact fixed the issue.

Anyway the shudder if it re occured during the trip would not stop you from getting back home.

[doddsy]

Update, since adding dr tranny all was well.. Then i took my 2.5 tonne van for a spin. The car developed a transmission fault( like rich's) no gear change down from 6th.

Reset a few times and got home with limited gears.

Drained the oil when home, replaced with fuchs 4400 .

Box is now smooth as butter, towed van upto the high country, no problems at all. No shudder, no fault.

It seems adding mr tranny can cause transmission error, i guess the oil was so knackered the mr tranny thinned it too much.

Thanks to "koos best" for the fuchs 4400 tip.

[jonesy63]

Doddsy - how many KM on your Disco and did you replace ATF before adding Dr Tranny?

[doddsy]

D3 has done 215000 km, i had the oil done along with the new sump at 150000km. So 60,000 km the shudder started. I assumed the oil should be ok, and added mr tranny. Which appeared to work( shudder gone ) but under heavy load the fault occurred.
Now changed the oil for fuchs 4400 (. $58 for 5 litres) same as bmw use with the same gearbox.
I wonder if my land rover garge actually did a full flush when it went in, because the old oil was thin as water, and pretty black.

[jonesy63]

Yeah - maybe they never did a double flush.

[~Rich~]

Definitely no point putting Dr Tranny in without new fluid.

[KOOS BEST]

Hi , good to hear the Fuchs 4400 worked, it certainly has worked for me for the last 40 000km plus, although I have also added 2 x tubes of the magic vienna.

I have just returned last weekend from a camping trip in the Kruger National park, towing my off road trailer, she still has NO shudder and box is smooth as new. That is after agents told me it wont work, and I have to use the Shell oil (OEM) only, The OEM oil still produced the dreaded shudder until I discarded this overly expensive oil and added the Fuchs 4400 from advise from guys in Germany.

Well all is well,

We toured the park in a D4 SDV6 (caravan) , D3 V8(trailer) anD mine a D3 TDV6(trailer), had daily encounters with lion, elephant, rhino, leopard, hyeana and many more African wildlife.
Sitting in camp overlooking the Olifants(ELEPHANT) river

[TerryO]

We toured the park in a D4 SDV6 (caravan) , D3 V8(trailer) anD mine a D3 TDV6(trailer), had daily encounters with lion, elephant, rhino, leopard, hyeana and many more African wildlife.
Sitting in camp overlooking the Olifants(ELEPHANT) river

Lions and Leopards! ....is that it! ....you want scary? ...when we go camping over here we have to watch out for wild Echidna's, rogue Bandicoot's and feral Koala's!

You bloody boers have it easy ...;)

[Plane Fixer]

The Kruger is a beautiful place and Oliphants Camp was my favourite.
A sundowner or two was had at the top of the cliff overlooking the river.
At least here the fauna does not have the capacity to eat you, or are in saltwater croc country.

[4evershiva]

hi guys, am a newbie here. When is the right time to drain and refill the transmmission fluid. Mechanic recommends around the 60,000km mark but also says that Land rover recommends only at the 100,000kms. Please advise. its a 2009 D3 Petrol.

[~Rich~]

Every 50,000 for me.
Change the pan to a steel one while you are at it too.

[chilli]

gents...im up exactly the same river here.


Had "lifetime seal" cracked and new pan etc put in with apparent "flush". Got a single system error a few weeks after that but had the shudder. Mechanic whacked in 2 x Dr Tranny and since then I've had same fault reads as ~Rich~ whenever I go for a hard gear change either way. Limited gears available and on the scanner incorrect gear ratio 5th gear etc.
Mechanic has washed his hands off me and didn't return calls etc and I relocated to NSW around same time (chit trip that was).
I've been driving around for 4 months now and as long as I babysit the gear changes (under 2.5k rpm) she goes ok and doesn't trip the fault code. As soon as I put some stress on the gear changes it definitely trips and I just pull over when possible under the "limited gears available" in 3rd and turn on/off and away we go.
Every man and his dog want to replace the tranny.. even over the phone they are making snap calls without even a thought. I read this post and it sounds like this could be my fix as well considering it isn't playing up outside of the fault code??
Rich.. I will even drive up to Sydney from newy to see your mechanic if no one can recommend anyone in or around Newcastle to fix this up for me?

[~Rich~]

Chilli,
Yes that sound exactly like my problem way back at the beginning of this thread.
I had my box drained as mentioned and recalibrated and it's lasted another 50,000 k.
So that would be my first action.

Also read this:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-rrs/125041-disco-3-4-automatic-transmission-faq-23.html#post2288436

But alas the time has come for me to bite the bullet and get it replaced.
This time it will be serviced every 50,000k

[chilli]

Chilli,
Yes that sound exactly like my problem way back at the beginning of this thread.
I had my box drained as mentioned and recalibrated and it's lasted another 50,000 k.
So that would be my first action.

Also read this:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-rrs/125041-disco-3-4-automatic-transmission-faq-23.html#post2288436

But alas the time has come for me to bite the bullet and get it replaced.
This time it will be serviced every 50,000k


Cheers Mate... I might drain and give Fuchs a go. Feels like im pushing you know what up a hill though. How problematic was that 50k you got out of her??

[~Rich~]

Not a problem for at least 40,000k then the shudder and occasional torque converter clutch solenoid stuck open or failed fault code.

[chilli]

P.S mate.. are you really going to drive 10+ hrs to go to Cohuna Auto??

[~Rich~]

No my local LR specialist will do the work.

[chilli]

No my local LR specialist will do the work.



Ah so old mate in Cohuna will do the reco and ship to your local mechanic? Is that right mate. sorry for being a pain but I will probably end up doing exactly the same thing. If your local mechanic is the goods im happy to drive to Sydney and get him to look after my truck. Ive been burnt way too many times and just want someone to look after my rig that I can trust!!

[~Rich~]

He always has a D3 box in stock ready to go, but the trap is the mechanic has to ship mine first to him to service & fit the mechatronics from my box.

[austeve01]

Hi

Can someone point me in the right direction of where to get this stuff in Australia please ?

Cheers

Doddsy

G'day Doddsy

About 2yrs ago I bought Dr Tranny's from Motospecs Drivetech in Stafford Qld.

Cheers
Steve

[Graeme]

My 3.0 D4's box is still spitting the dummy with P2704 when trying to engage 5th after dropping back under load from 6th in both auto and manual mode, even returning to 6th by itself when in manual at less than 2000 rpm. Adaptations were re-learnt after having got clearer instructions on the learning procedure but still no improvement. I have a few more inquiries to make but may fit a new set of solenoids as there's no indication of plate wear, all clutch adaption pressures and timing are identical and it up-shifts and down-shifts smoothly apart from failing to engage when dropping back to 5th.

A USA 2010 RR owner reported the same fault code in the same general circumstances 10 days ago but no diagnosis yet. New solenoids wont be the solution if the prematurely worn stator bush mentioned in the TSB is indeed the cause.

[Dagilmo]

I've had a slight shudder only very occasionally for a while now. Kevin at Rovertech directed me to a tranny place where the guy drove it. Said it wasn't too bad compared to most he drives but recommended a 'mega flush' at $800 or so. I know it better than a repair (thanks Graeme for info in 5 years with D4 thread) but is the mega flush the go or should I just get the fluid changed and some Dr Tranny?

Thoughts?

[scomac]

This Dr Tranny "shudder fix" reminds me of the old "NO SMOKE" I use to put in my 1972 Ford Escort, stop the smoking but reduced the power.(not that it had much to start with)
Not judging, but I wonder if it can cause any lack of performance? Thoughts?

[Graeme]

Note that my D4's box does not shudder and never has. 5th gear now often fails to engage on down-shift after which it either returns to 6th if under light load or free-wheels then goes to limp mode. 5th also now disengages under only moderate load and jumps to 6th so I've taken to manually dropping straight to 4th on hills. I hope it will last until it gets removed in 8 days time.

[Peekazboo]

after reading this forum I had the same symptoms on my D4.. shuddering at around 1600rpm when I put some load on it or was going up hills. I took it to Landrover in Melbourne and of course they said I needed a new transmission (around the 10K quote!!!) BTW my D4 has done 150K (2010 model) and all the time I had it serviced at Landrover they never advised the oil should be changed etc.. Until I read this forum I realised that this is not the case about the "Lifetime no change/sealed Tranny)

I have a great mechanic in Geelong who has done work for me and has been really good at not ripping you off and fair on the costs etc..so I phoned him with this issue and explained about the Dr Tranny and he said he would give it all a go rather than fork out the $10K.. He replaced the pan with the new metal.. flushed it twice and added 2 tubes.. I drove it home today and it drives just like to new.. I know it is early days but as of today I am very pleased with the outcome..

Will keep you posted as to how it goes..

[Gyroman]

I have a 2008 Disco 3 206K kms.. slight shudder.. I'm in Bendigo Vic
What is a "Faultmate"? Can I get one? Does it come with a manual of code meanings?
Where can I get Dr Tranny and is Lubeguard really necessary..


Hi all,
Thought I would share this with you all, my mechanic has had a customer who has had shudder in his auto transmission for 2 yrs!

He regularly tows and it has been getting progressivley worse for him.
I mentioned to my mechanic the use of Dr Tranny to fix the problem.
He ordered some in: Dr. Tranny Instant Shudder Fixx (http://www.lubegard.com/~/C-230/Dr.+Tranny+Instant+Shudder+Fixx)
2 tubes recommended
As well as some of this: LUBEGARD Automatic Transmission Fluid Protectant (http://www.lubegard.com/~/C-112/LUBEGARD+Automatic+Transmission+Fluid+Protectant)
1 bottle recommended
The owner was facing a large bill so they decided no harm trying this fix.
Well it's been 2 weeks for him, the result:
Instant Fix!
Shudder completely gone. ;)
He has even towed again without any signs of shudder, he is over the moon to say the least!

This brings me to my D3!
I have regularly changed my fluids but was feeling that I was possibly developing a slight shudder. ( I am very proactive in looking after my D3 mechanically)
I got my mechanic to put in the Dr Tranny x2 and Lifeguard protectant which on the Disco3.uk forum had recommended the use of 2 of these as well. Well all was good until I had to head away for work to Batemans Bay. On the freeway on cruise control doing 110kph going up hills it did not drop down to 5th, it would labour and then the dreaded "F" Transmission fault limited gears available - 3rd only.
I stopped and restarted probably 5 times to reset the fault. I eventually plugged in my Faultmate and found a couple of codes:
P0730 & P0735 which comes up as "Incorrect gear ratios" for both of them.
I cleared them and drove on, trying semi auto mode to see if I could manually override the issue. Nope, it just confirmed the gear selection problem.
Back home in Sydney and speaking to my mechanic and doing some homework we decided to drain and change the fluid again as well as adaptive gearbox reset and clutch calibration to see if that would fix it.

And - Yes it did, all clear after testing up and back on the F3 to Gosford.

Ok what caused it - we think that the addition of the 2 bottles of Lifeguard Protectant 600ml was probably too much as they had no issues with the other D3 adding just 300ml.
I'm now relieved that I do not need a new transmission!

Dr Tranny is still fantastic stuff if you have shudder. :)

[p38arover]

What is a "Faultmate"? Can I get one? Does it come with a manual of code meanings?


Faultmate is a diagnostic computer made by Blackbox Solutions. They also make the Nanocom diagnostic system.
See Welcome - BLACKBOX SOLUTIONS LTD (https://blackbox-solutions.com/)

[Learner]

Tbh, I think that BBS have almost buried themselves with poor customer service. I think that the almost universal choice is the IID tool in BT or non-BT configurations. Wonderful design and superb customer service.

[Tins]

Tbh, I think that BBS have almost buried themselves with poor customer service. I think that the almost universal choice is the IID tool in BT or non-BT configurations. Wonderful design and superb customer service.

Interesting take. I, for one, have had nothing but great service from BBS. I admit that BT would be great, though.

[letherm]

Interesting take. I, for one, have had nothing but great service from BBS. I admit that BT would be great, though.

I had a BBS Nanocom, which I have sold to a member here, and found the service was very good too. Since bought a GAP IID Tool for the ease of use via bluetooth to drop the car to it's bump stops to help my wife in and out of the car. A couple of clicks and it's done - magic. Service and response here too was very good. There's no doubt that the Nanocom is an excellent tool and so is the IID Tool but the blue tooth compatibility makes the IID so much easier to use IMOH. From memory I bought the Nanocom because the price was a lot lower and it had an excellent reputation. When buying the Gap IID Tool I found that the price difference is a lot closer now making it a much more viable option than before.

Martin

[Bytemrk]

I've used both Nanocom and GAP IID and I'd also say the service experience I've experienced from both companies has been first class.

I chose IID for the D4 as I like the format of the tool and as others have said BT really makes things easier - however I used Nanocom on my D2a and would not have thought about a change as it did all I wanted.