Thread: Disco 3/4 Automatic Transmission FAQ - 6 Speed

Originally Posted by Ralasa

Hi Gary did mine recently , I did a complete dyi flush , I bought a small 12 volt pump of ebay , disconnected the top hose on the oil cooler replaced it with a clear plastic hose , just to see what direction the flow went , then ran a hose to a bucket to catch the old fluid, setup the pump to pump in the new fluid in , oh I drove the car around for awhile to get it up to temp, so then start up the car ran through the gears then left it in drive, oil comes out quick so i put a clamp on to restrict it a bit , while the 12 volt pump pumps in new fluid , I stopped it after the old fluid started to change to clean fluid , I used about 14 ltrs , then reconnected the hose back to the cooler , then with the car in drive remove the plug for filing on the transmission and top up until it comes out , if you don't have it in drive and running oil will pore out, also i put 2 tubes of DR Tranny in it , runs sweet now, cheer Pete
here the pump i used
Excellent 12V Motor OIL Diesel Extractor Scavenge Suction Transfer Change Pump | eBay

Stores like Autobarn, Repco and Supercheap should have little pump bottles for getting oil into awkward places such as diffs. I bought mine from Autobarn.

try something like this i think they are around $20.00
https://www.stm.net.au/hand-pumps/1-...thumb-oil-pump

They are ok for topping up the transmission , but not fast enough for complete flush, will drain the transmission

As this is a bit of a catch all thread on transmissions....

Has anyone else had the transmission shudder get worse (much worse) following a transmisison oil change?

A few weeks ago I had a service on the D4 (2.7L, 6 speed ZF) and as there was a seal weeping (torque converter) I had the transmission serviced (oil/filter etc) while I was spending money on labor to drop the gearbox out.

Before the service, maybe a very minor vibration detected sometimes, highway speed, low revs.
Say a 1 on a scale of 1-10.
Barely noticable and I'm still not honestly sure it was the car rather than road surface.

After the service, will shudder like running over rumble strips at any speed between about 30-110kph with light load and 1500-2000RPM, at it's worst centred around 1700-1800RPM.
Say a 6 on a scale of 1-10.
Horrible and needs to be driven manually to avoid the speed/load trigger for the shudder.

First I thought maybe an engine mount or similar had given up while they jacked things around (no), then it was suggested maybe the torque converter wasn't bolted back in the same rotational position (has been slipped around by 1 set of holes, no difference).

Anyone else had the same issue?

If it was like this before the service I would have told them to forget the minor weep, just wait until the transmission died and I would spend the money then.

Did the service centre use the ZF oil? If they have used the substitute oil this will be where the problem could be. Been there and done that.
With the other oil it was snatching, flaring, and having harsh changes. I honestly thought I was up for an overhaul, but when the correct fluid was used at the service I now have my silky smooth shifts back.

Originally Posted by SuperMono

Has anyone else had the transmission shudder get worse (much worse) following a transmisison oil change?
.... I had the transmission serviced (oil/filter etc) while I was spending money on labor to drop the gearbox out.
....After the service, will shudder like running over rumble strips at any speed between about 30-110kph with light load and 1500-2000RPM ....
.... Horrible and needs to be driven manually to avoid the speed/load trigger for the shudder.

If it's not an issue of non-genuine oil as mentioned above, then this could be related to the wearing of soft bushes.
There is a specific affected VIN range & the issue can be worsened by an oil change.
I can't find the thread discussing this problem in detail but do recall Graeme had this issue with his.

Regards,
Scott

Worn stator bushes cause clutch E to not engage within the allowed time due to insufficient fluid pressure which triggers a specific fault code indicating clutch E timing failure. IIRC clutch E is used for 4th, 5th and 6th gears. Mine would drop out of 6th prematurely, fail to engage 5th within the allowed time then try to re-engage 6th with a fair amount of shudder trying to stay in 6th, then drop to 3rd and limp mode at the same time. The frequency of the failure increased quite quickly over the space of around 10 days. Driving in 4th using light throttle allowed the vehicle to be used for a further few of weeks.

Edit: It didn't start to fail until a couple of weeks after the oil change.

First post, having recently purchased a 2012 D4 HSE, thought I'd share a recent quote from an indie LR to fully flush the 6HP26A trans with 55KM's on it for my D4

Metal Pan $285
21 Screws for the Pan $95
Gasket $85
Filter $85
Fluid $450 (15L @ $30 P/ltr)
Labour $435 (3.6hrs @ $121 p/hr)

Total $1435

They add Dr Tranny ($35) regardless of the a shudder being present or not.

Struck me as very odd they would break out the Metal Pan Kit as separate items when I know it comes as a kit, also 3.6hrs to do this job seems high.

Only normal'sih thing is the fluid charge.

I know trans fluid tends to smell abit fishy but this quote smelt worse.

As I'm not in the habit of being taken over the table, yesterday I purchased 20Ltr of ZF fluid and a metal sump kit for $530 + $185. Screws where not extra

Maybe 1.5 hrs labour max ?