Gearbox shudder

[NavyDiver]

I Know this has been a hot topic for several of us D3 owners. I have a twist on it -I hope- so hope you do not mind me bring it up again.

New oil in the transmission has been covered in lots of places including:
Disco 3/4 Automatic Transmission FAQ (thanks for a great deal of information)
Slight Shudder from

and more of course. All have good information.

I have put a new pan on and have changed the transmission oil twice now. Problem resolved for a short time but the slight shudder noticed only at some situations while accelerating is back.

My question is when do I need to bite the bullet and service/recondition or replace the gear box?

Will this occasional shudder cause more damage and most importantly should I expect a total tranmission failure and if so when (million dollar question )

My D3 is 2005se with 220,000km on the clock now. I have added or changed snorkel, Dual batteries, new suspension compressor, LLams, 17 inch rims, ARB bull bar and winch, roof rack, LED Light bar, new front control arms, new rear brakes, Auot tranmission oil pan and parking brake.

Even with all above I still feel I am in front with $$$$ given I brought it second hand and I do push it pretty hard at times.

[Graeme]

Do you know if the gbox ecu has the latest software updates? It might be worthwhile paying for updates if it hasn't been updated since it was covered by warranty.

Resetting the gearbox adaptations might make an improvement too, although that requires paying for diagnostics too unless you have a suitable tool. Getting any stored fault codes looked-at might reveal something not up to scratch.

[Nomad9]

Hi Weakest link,
Going by some of the numbers being thrown around for a recon or gearbox repair this decision requires quite a bit of thought. I was amazed at the prices. From what I understand the shudder is or can be caused by the internal oil pump becoming worn, when I spoke to the LR dealer this was and is becoming more common on the higher mileage models. I'm now doing regular oil chnages and hoping for the best. Just a thought.

[gasman]

I had a shudder in mine and was told by an expert in Hornsby (Sydney)that it needed a complete rebuild. $7500.
Then I took it to a guy that rebuilds for the local LR dealer and he fixed it. He replaced the modulators and 14,000 ks later its still good (touch wood).
So moral to the story? Check out their credentials, talk with previous customers before comitting to big dollars, however again, change the oils regularly and not to the service book intervals.

[NavyDiver]

I had a shudder in mine and was told by an expert in Hornsby (Sydney)that it needed a complete rebuild. $7500.
Then I took it to a guy that rebuilds for the local LR dealer and he fixed it. He replaced the modulators and 14,000 ks later its still good (touch wood).
So moral to the story? Check out their credentials, talk with previous customers before comitting to big dollars, however again, change the oils regularly and not to the service book intervals.

Thanks, can find referance to a modulator in [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_transmission"]Automatic transmission - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame] "throttle valve or modulator) to control which ratio is selected on the gearset"

Not much information on throttle valve or modulator in our transmission found any where else.

Back for a 230,000km service next week. I will ask them to have a another look and opionion on this. It is interesting that if I realy floor it or back off while accelerating that the shudder stops. Given a few of us spent a bit flushing and changing gear box oils I wonder if your soultion might be very interesting for many of us.

[Tote]

The part that usually causes the shuddering is the torque converter lockup clutch. this is what disintegrates first and makes the oil black. the torque converter in these transmissions is modulated rather than being locked on or off and this is where the shuddering starts as the clutch tries to lock up and fails and is then released.
There are some people who have had the torque converter rebuilt and had success which is a cheaper proposition than a transmission replacement. A&B transmissions in Melbourne rebuild the transmissions and offer a drive in - drive out service.

Good Luck

Regards,
Tote