Auto box temp warning light

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by twr7cx

The cooler location is the weak point of the Td5’s automatic transmission setup. The placement sandwiched around the intercooler, radiator and air conditioning evaporator is a recipe for mud sandwiches and over heating. To resolve, as Slunnie has pointed out, you need to clean up the cooler and ideally instal and additional cooler too (in a location that is easier to clean and perhaps less likely to get as dirty too).

What concerns me about your post is that it happened last Summer, yet you’ve mentioned no maintenance or action taken since - rather it seems that you’ve just kept driving. If the temperature light came on then your transmission oil was overheated - you should have drained and replaced it as soon as possible. To keep driving on it continues to risk damage to your transmission and the broken down oil is more susceptible to overheating again (as has happened).
To give you some perspective, Ashcroft Transmissions in the UK, who are one of the leading rebuilder of these ZF transmissions for the Land Rovers suggest that the factory fitted temperature sensor is set for far too high and that at the temperatures that trigger it the warning light, irreversible internal breakdown has already commenced inside your transmission. For more on the topic read Transmission Oil

EDIT: just read in your subsequent post that you have changed the fluid. Make sure the correct fluid is going in and a full synthetic type.

---

Yes and was also mentioned in original post. The recurrence of the problem happened after fluid changing.

The car has had a cracked head since summer which was only rectified in winter, and is also a second car so doesn't get driven during the week. I'm not being intentionally negligent, just frustrated at the massive man hours and cost in the first 15000kms I've owned it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jjperko

..... I'm not being intentionally negligent, just frustrated at the massive man hours and cost in the first 15000kms I've owned it.

---

This is normal(for Landrover) owning lifetstyle.
In fact, the reality is it's normal for second hand vehicle ownership .. just that some vehicles don't show their faults and ills as obviously as others do.

My bro went through it with his Td5 too. First month or so(hardly 1000k) .. he spent more on rectifying previous owners faults than the car cost and is worth ... but it's worth it considering how nicely it now drives(eg. compared to his GU patrol).

Must be a sucker for punishment! I knew going in it would have its foibles but so far has well and truly lived up to the reputation. Lucky I don't rely on it for transport.

Cannot fault it off road though. For a standard vehicle it easily outperforms my work hilux and cruisers, just not in the getting home stakes.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jjperko

..... For a standard vehicle it easily outperforms my work hilux and cruisers, just not in the getting home stakes.

---

Funny tho: the only vehicles that have left me in the 'not getting home' category have only been the two jap cars I've had(and once nearly my old XF falcon wagon)

MY RRC helped me cover >500K klms mainly around central Aus(I bought it with 100K).
It had it's issues and problems, but always got me home.
My Rodeo seized it's handbrake on 100K from home and the alt stopped working and I only had about 1/2 hr of drive time before it died .. and I had trans issues with the Frontera I used for a short while too.

So far my D1 has been good to me, even tho I have abused it somewhat. I totally buggered up reinstalling the harmonic balancer when doing the timing belt. I know that it got me home whilst slipping from Ouyen way, but more importantly the dunes out in the desert area. 5+ hours yet it didn't let me down(and was totally my fault).
I also drove it for about a week or (nearly) two with a dead alternator. All I did was to make sure I charged the batteries every day or two(where possible).

There's a moral in the stories here tho. the person doing the diagnosis and repair work needs to know what they're doing(ie. my stuff up on the harmonic balancer).

My current issue with the D1 tho are the wheel bearings. I know the problem, I know what I can and can't do. no long drives till I sort them properly.
The stub axles have a bit of wear. Not enough to not get me around, but the bearings obviously don't seat properly and after I adjust them I probably get 1000K before they need adjustment again.
I just need to hold on for a bit more(till I start work) to complete the parts roundup, and just need a couple months of working to get the finances to do so .. so holding on is all I can do. My D1 is my daily driver tho! :D

As said by others .. first thing to do for you is .. pull the fan off the engine, pull the shroud and give the radiators a good hose down with the garden hose NOT with a high pressure cleaner. It may works from the front(to back), but usually works best from back to front.
If the radiator install design wasn't such a shambles, the best way would be to remove it all and clean out. D2 radiator design(in terms of install) has to be the worst I've yet seen on any vehicle.

ps. a few months back I was working for SES doing some deliveries. driving a new Ranger and a 55K klm old Hilux. doing deliveries to regional Vic. 10x more power than my 300 tdi .. but half the refinement.
Had a couple of deliveries to Horsham(Vic), the road to has to be the most diabolical major highway in Aus .. rival some Asian main roads for pathetic condition. Ranger there and back was painful(the say the least).
I've only done that drive once in my D1, and a previous owner has fitted wayyy too hard shocks on it .. but I really don't remember it being so unsettled on the same road. But on drives out to western NSW on their sometimes crappy tracks ride on D1 considering the hard aftermarket suspension was fine.

Once you have your D2 sorted tho .. you won't have any issue relying on it even as a daily [thumbsupbig]

There is also one other thing that can cause the temp to rise and that is a blocked trans filter.