Thread: Is Automatic Transmission Stuffed?

Thanks again everybody, Woko you're a beauty, with that advice about the Maitland contact, I will hardcopy all this info to hand to my mechanic tomorrow. cheers all. I am starting to feel (a bit) happier.

Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

if you get on top of it in a hurry and get the contaminated oil out quick smart you might get another year or 2 out of the box...

I suggest that you replace the TC and skip the flushing. you should also spring for new pump seals as part of replacing the TC.

as a bonus if you replace the TC you eliminate the need for bulk flushing as you are removing the only part of the auto that cant be drained and cleaned.

depending on how pedantic your mechanic is in his choice of oils, how much oil the auto in the freelander holds and how much you can get a TC to suit for you may come out in front in terms of parts and consumables to replace the TC then refill the auto.

of course the labour charge will blow that out but consider that the peace of mind factor..

as an additional bonus when you buy the TC if you buy from some places that specialise in TC's you may well be able to have the TC customised to suit your driving technique and get a heavy duty lockup fitted.

When you state replace the TC, I assume you mean the Transmission Cooler (I am not a mechanic), as I stated in my original post the Cooler has failed and will be replaced anyway.If you replaced the Transmission Cooler wouldn't you flush anyway to clear the rest of the transmission of coolant?

the TC is the Torque converter. I had a brief look around the net and one similar in size (I dont know the freelander specs off of the top of my head) to what should be in the freelander v6 can be had for about $300.

Changing the Torque converter (which is essentially the clutch and heart of an auto) means pulling the box. Its also the bit that holds all the oil you cant get out when you drop the pan to change the filter and the oil.

if you search the forum for the grey box of evil thread you can be demisitfied as to whats what in the box and roughly how they work.

in a nut shell Inside the TC is a clutch the same as whats in the manuals but its a wet clutch its designed to function while in oil. The material is generally highly hygroscopic (it absorbs water really well) and behaves differently when wet with water instead of oil. Generaly it gets "bubbles" in its surface that get ground off when the torque converter trys to lock up. These bits then wind up floating around inside the box. Thats bad and is usually what takes out the box some time after its been drowned and then flushed out.

Persononally,,, I'd forget the change over of the TC, just flush it really well a couple of times, and leave it at that. As soon as you start pulling it apart, you will start the proccess of "natural breakdown" of other components,,things like when they place the TC back into the pump, they may damage the new seal anyway,, which you won't notice untill it's too late, by then water and grime will be in there and will have stuffed the internals anyway,, not to mention the labour costs in the first place. The hardest thing is to make sure they flush it properly in the fisrt place,, some guys just do it better than others

thanks fella's for your advice, some contradictory, I have printed it all off and will discuss it with the mechanic tomorrow, I hope we arrive at a correct descision, again thankyou very much everybody!!

make sure your mechanic uses the correct oil. these gear boxes are sensitive to oil type. the correct oil that LR uses is texaco N402 but there are others Valovine maxlife is equivalent. the level plug is on the bottom of the box and a Allen key from memory 5mm. make sure he uses this one there is a star headed bolt that you may think is a level plug but is a band anchor, if its removed the box will have to be striped to refit

Thanks again Woko, on talking to the mechanic yesterday, he was aware of this and I will be talking to him again this morning!!!

Originally Posted by Chops

Persononally,,, I'd forget the change over of the TC, just flush it really well a couple of times, and leave it at that. As soon as you start pulling it apart, you will start the proccess of "natural breakdown" of other components,,things like when they place the TC back into the pump, they may damage the new seal anyway,, which you won't notice untill it's too late, by then water and grime will be in there and will have stuffed the internals anyway,, not to mention the labour costs in the first place. The hardest thing is to make sure they flush it properly in the fisrt place,, some guys just do it better than others

all of which should be covered by warranty....

and if you don't notice the hemorrhaging of oil out of the bell housing and the loss of drive from no oil in the box caused by the lack of oil in the box then you probably shouldn't be driving.

as I said, replacing the TC removes the need for an extensive flushing procedure as all other components of the box can be drained and flushed as individual entities.


from memory george130 has experienced what happens when the lockup clutch gets contaminated....

look at it this way...

to do the TC or repair the box it has to come out which means

if you do the TC now

you have to get the car to the mechanics (its there already)
the cars off the road (which it already is)
you have to pay to get the box out
you have to pay for the parts.(should be just a TC seals and consumables at this point)

if you flush the box and its not perfect (which you may not find out for quite a while)
you had to get the car to the mechanics (its there now)
youve had the car off the road for the transmission flush (which it is ATM)
you pay for the time to do the flush
you pay for the consumables to do the flush
Then
at some semi random probably inconvenient time, the cars off the road with a dead transmission
you have to pay to recover the car to the mechanics, (its unlikely to break down in his driveway)
you have to pay for the box out
you have to pay for the parts. (which will probabley be a gearbox overhaul, TC and consumables)