Thread: Autotrans on my 2002 auto Td5 disco is overheating and will not drive until it cools

Personally, the 1st thing I’d do is service the trans. I’d buy about 20lt of Penrite fully synth auto trans fluid and give it a good flush. Drain the oil, refill it and run motor going through the gears to make sure the new oil is fully in the system. Then drain. Repeat (because an oil change doesn’t get rid of all the old oil). Keep going until the drained out oil looks like new. This will prob take about 3 or 4 changes. On the last oil change, change the trans oil filter.

Oil is the major cause of problems. Try that 1st, even buying 20lt or so of oil is still cheaper than any other option.

If you’re still having problems after that it might be a clogged up trans cooler.

Whats the cause of the overheating?

Is the Torque converter locking up? easyist way to overheat any auto...

You've really got to get down to the ATF cooler and check it. My suspicions are that it is blocked and not cooling the ATF.

When its hot, the transmission goes into limp mode and locks itself into 3rd gear only until it cools again.

I recommend additional ATF cooler in addition to the factory unit. Check out Davis Performance Landys, thats the unit you want.

Temperature kills the ZF auto - an additional cooler will pay for itself with added transmission life.

A ZF auto overheated, even once, and its on a downward spiral until the internals disintegrate and you are forced to rebuild it. Not if, but when and it wont be long.

When you rebuild it, I recommend A&B transmissions in Melbourne - they are the Australian gurus and it will be like new. No idea re WA.

When you rebuild it, you may be asked to replace the ATF cooler also because they cant guarantee they can clean the gearbox junk out of it which may cause further problems.

Prob $4-5k+

automatic transmission on my 2002 auto Td5 disco is overheating and will not drive again until it cools. (Ps the oil level is fine).
This only seems to happen on the beach when It is working hard.

If you make sure that you are locking the Torque converter if on fast sand by travelling in 3rd up to 71KMH then easing off to a comfortable speed above 50Kmh , then the transmission will not heat up appreciably. You can see the TC locking on the tacho, and the fact that if you put your foot down the revs only change proportionate to the speed.

If in heavy dry sand and/or towing use low ratio and keep the revs over 3000RPM

which is the lock up "stall" point

by selecting the appropriate gear and maybe put the trans in lock to stay in the selected gear.

You may have already damaged the transmission by overheating it as it is probably pretty high mileage by now, but change the fluid a few times and see if that helps.

Regards Philip A

Have you tried driving manually in a lower gear ? are you leaving the gearbox in auto ? are you using low range in the sand ?
Have you got bigger tyres on the D2 ?

Is the sand very soft ?
Is the torque convertor locking up ?

Ian
Bittern

PS have you checked the auto trans cooler pipes aren't kinked or damaged ?

Ian
Bittern

In low range?

Originally Posted by Slunnie

You've really got to get down to the ATF cooler and check it. My suspicions are that it is blocked and not cooling the ATF.

When its hot, the transmission goes into limp mode and locks itself into 3rd gear only until it cools again.

I recommend additional ATF cooler in addition to the factory unit. Check out Davis Performance Landys, thats the unit you want.

Temperature kills the ZF auto - an additional cooler will pay for itself with added transmission life.

A ZF auto overheated, even once, and its on a downward spiral until the internals disintegrate and you are forced to rebuild it. Not if, but when and it wont be long.

When you rebuild it, I recommend A&B transmissions in Melbourne - they are the Australian gurus and it will be like new. No idea re WA.

When you rebuild it, you may be asked to replace the ATF cooler also because they cant guarantee they can clean the gearbox junk out of it which may cause further problems.

Prob $4-5k+

WA Gurus are Auto Trans R Us in Balcatta. Cameron, one of the two owners is a regular in his 4WD on the beach etc. They know their stuff, are good at it and their after sales service is excellent.