Thread: Calamity, Concern, or just slit my wrists (Auto Trans Issues)

Also suggest to get your injectors flow tested, cheaper than a hpfp replacement

Originally Posted by ATH

"Generally travelled at speed of 110 kmph," Now now Gavin. If you were travelling at this speed you were breaking the law as it applies in WA. 100 max for ALL towing vehicles. Plus of course the poor vehicle was working hard to tow that thing you have behind it.
No doubt the 2.7 or 3ltr have the power to do it but it must put a strain on the transmission especially on longish distances and in hot weather. Curb that right foot and don't carry so much grog and she'll be right.
AlanH.

You sound like fun.
Having lived in Broome for years every 3 months I drove my D3 Broome to Bunbury return and always sat on 135kph from Broome to just north of Perth and cops would just wave to slow down or flash their lights, never a ticket. Have even been overtaken by Police no lights flashing while doing my 135 for them to disappear in the distance.
No way does towing at 100 or 110 put any strain on a trans worth any note. Thats why the car is rated for 3.5 tonne towing up hill down dale and its rated that only due to braking and weight swinging, not the transmission. I never overheated even in 50C and my daily distances were always 1500-1700kms a hit at 135kph so no its not a trans issue. Its a ZF that goes behind Turbo Fords and other way more powerful cars.
I have rebuilt transmissions for many years not just guessing. I also add myself the Ford pan and flush early and regular, don't ever believe LR sealed for life.

As a couple of others have said, get the fault code YOURSELF not the mechanic. Limp mode does not mean trans most of the time. It is a very strong trans and the engine is weak. Already mentioned that fault code can be anything else like suspension potentiometer ($35 and 5 minutes to change yourself), overloaded on roof rack setting it off, flat tyre even sets it off. Just because it says limp mode on screen dont freak out you are up for a trans listening to ppl who dont know..
Change the trans pan to Ford ZF pan. It allows you to change the trans filter easily and I flush regular as all auto/electronic trans should. It is a cheap upgrade. Shop around for trans fluid. I get it by the 20 litre myself not a shop and take it to be flushed and get it back as it only uses a small amount.
Dont leave improving and what needs addressing up to a shop unless you need to get rid of money is my 5c, devalued to 2c today on the market
.

Had similar issues with my 2.7 after 110K km's. Restricted Performance followed by Gearbox Fault. Under diagnosis, Codes pointed to actual transmission sync issues and got an exchange rebuilt transmission. Gearbox was definitely an issue as it would hesitate on take off etc.

All good for a month or so, then same errors popped up. Restricted Performance followed by Gearbox Fault. Took it back for diagnosis and codes now pointed to fuel pressure issue. Replace HP pump and rails/sensor and it has been fine ever since. Two expensive exercises, but hopefully good for another 100,000k's.

Moral to the story, "Restricted Performance followed by Gearbox Fault" can mean many things. You need to see the codes to work out the actual problem.

Originally Posted by DUCKSNUTS

As a couple of others have said, get the fault code YOURSELF not the mechanic. Limp mode does not mean trans most of the time. It is a very strong trans and the engine is weak. Already mentioned that fault code can be anything else like suspension potentiometer ($35 and 5 minutes to change yourself), overloaded on roof rack setting it off, flat tyre even sets it off. Just because it says limp mode on screen dont freak out you are up for a trans listening to ppl who dont know..
Change the trans pan to Ford ZF pan. It allows you to change the trans filter easily and I flush regular as all auto/electronic trans should. It is a cheap upgrade. Shop around for trans fluid. I get it by the 20 litre myself not a shop and take it to be flushed and get it back as it only uses a small amount.
Dont leave improving and what needs addressing up to a shop unless you need to get rid of money is my 5c, devalued to 2c today on the market
.

Mate, no one has suggested/insisted it's a transmission issue. Certainly not in this thread. As for the steel pan, it's not a Ford part, it's a ZF part (or a copy). The transmission behind the 2.7L in the Territory is not ZF. It is a licensed reproduction by Ford with some minor changes.

As for the codes, Gav never said he was getting a mechanic to read them. He had a Gap IIDTool which he was reading the codes with. It is new to him and he didn't realise the codes weren't saved in the app after reading them and then clearing them while he was trying to get himself home.

The engine isn't weak, it has no more or less major issues than any other similar common-rail diesel of its time. The ZF 6HP26 is a reasonably strong transmission, it however isn't without its faults either.


The driving speed while towing, well, each to their own. If Gav is more comfortable towing at 100, then that's entirely up to him.

Good thoughts regarding HPFP or LPFP. After my recent experience and with the good suggestion of starting very economically, it may be worth replacing the stop light switch first up.
I recently had a faulty HPFP diagnosed and eventually after eight weeks of various delays it was replaced. Drove it out of the shop & the following day the dash lit up with the usual Faulty Trans etc messages. Back to the shop where the diagnostic was plugged in, the "person" climbed under the dash and pronounced the stop light switch faulty.
The stop light switch was replaced a few days later and I have had no further problems after a few thousand kilometres. I will add that between having the faulty stop light switch diagnosed and having it replaced the fault codes did not appear. Similar to the HPFP, in my case, intermittent lighting up of the dash with fault codes.
What came first ? Hmmm

Just a thought, stop light switches are pretty cheap.

Good Luck, Wayne

Excellent advice. Every disco should carry a spare one in the glovebox or replace your working one now and keep old one as spare.

Quite often than not, if you get any form of restricted performance fault relating to the engine, you will also get the auto box faults. Ignore the auto faults until the actual cause is found. The auto faults will then likely disappear.
(there is a very short way of saying this, it just alludes me at the moment).

----
Some background history on the OP of this thread.
Gavin has his Disco serviced on time, everytime without fail. We have already serviced the auto fluid twice and suspect items are done.

The fuel pressure sensor is different to the 3.0lt, different to the 2.7 Territory engine, thread is different (commonly used as a replacement engine for a failed 2.7 in a D3, D4) and works different electrically to what is commonly available, I keep them here for such a purpose.

I perhaps have my doubts as to it being a HPFP, but the symptoms sort of point towards it. I'm honestly not looking forward to that being the issue, as I really do like it when regular customers have more trouble free running than not.

Upwards and onwards!!