Thread: D3 transmission oil change Interval and results

So Land Rover first said the Auto box is a sealed for life unit. Then in the real world it became oblivious that the Auto box needs to be serviced due to failures? Have I got this correct?

Originally Posted by ak

So Land Rover first said the Auto box is a sealed for life unit. Then in the real world it became oblivious that the Auto box needs to be serviced due to failures? Have I got this correct?

Not really. The service schedule says that more frequent attention is required for arduous use. If you look at the definition of arduous use in the LR schedule it looks like it is talking about average Australian use including some towing.

My 3 year old sealed for life VW Multivan 6 speed auto lasted 105,000km, with some towing of an 1800 kg caravan in hot weather of about 1000km per year. Luckily VW paid for a new transmission and I paid for labour since it was out of warranty. The VW has a towing capacity of 2500 kg and the engine was 400 Nm.

Like Graeme, I thought that it wouldn't have a problem due to the lock up torque converter in most conditions and like the Landrover, the engine temperature never changed, no matter how hot it was outside. However, I was wrong and the dealer said that the oil was burnt.

Bob

Originally Posted by Torb

My local LR specialist (independant) tells me that my 2005 D3 needs to have a transmission service done for $900.

When I rang a LR dealer in Brisbane they said the D3's don't need that as they are sealed for life, it was only the D1 and D2 that needed regular servicing.

My D3 has travelled about 156,000 kms.

I'm confused!!!

Don't be confused, get your auto serviced its way overdue.

Originally Posted by garrycol

Oh course Tote you have only replaced about a 1/3rd of the oil in the system. I would be tempted to do a total of three changes, 1000km apart to minimise the amount of old oil still in the system.

The alternative would be to drain all the old oil out via the cooler pipes and pump new oil in but that is harder to do.

Cheers

garry

Im with Garry on this,

A simple hose setup and a bucket to measure old output a litre or 2 at a time replacing with new fluid.

You will find clutch material in the fluid as thats the nature of Auto trans and its the smell that is a good indicator of the old fluid.

Originally Posted by BobD

Like Graeme, I thought that it wouldn't have a problem due to the lock up torque converter in most conditions and like the Landrover, the engine temperature never changed, no matter how hot it was outside. However, I was wrong and the dealer said that the oil was burnt.

A sample of mine's oil was visually assessed by the dealer at 90K and reported to be "like new oil". It wasn't tested but at least it wasn't obviously burnt or dirty.

I fixed my transmission shudder by a transmission oil change .The oil was very expensive tho.

I just had my D3 auto fully rebuilt at a cost of $6,000.
We had really bad vibration through the box in 2,3 and 4 gears.
Back to its old self now, but that's to be expected I guess.

Interesting. I have read a ton of these D3 gearbox topics and have been monitoring responses on oil life expectancy.

I am at 180km now, and will be getting a full flush done over the Christmas break and the steel pan.

The gearbox has not been opened yet. And drives perfectly (touch wood). I did have a slight shudder up until the new software update was done, now it is back to normal.

I'll post a topic of the progress and oil afterwards with some paper test samples. It will be very interesting to see what the oil is like.