disco II trans service

[jimzigg]

i took my 99 disco II with 104k in to indy mech and had on the list a trans fluid and filter change per robison maintenance schedule. he tells me they only recommend topping off as it is sealed system "good forever". as the trans is one my biggest worries at this mileage shoudl i trust this?

 

[joey]

Heck no.... have the fluid and filter changed... they are hoping you will be back to buy a transmission.

 

[jimzigg]

well i also had another indy (a land rover club member and preferred mech) tell me that the filter was to be changed at like 25 or 30k and that was only one needed and that he could do the trans fluid swap. i guess i am wondering what land rover actually calls for on this?

 

[joey]

It is called lifetime fluid and filter.... the question is what really is the lifetime of a transmission that hasn't had the fluid changed?

 

[Chongo]

Joey is right, I change my transmission fluid every 20,000 miles regardless of fluid type or usage. It’s the contaminated fluids that hurt the parts, the oil itself doesn’t go bad. Changing the filter in the trans is the most important thing to do on all automatic transmissions regardless of make or model, as well as the oil.

Here’s an old post that might be of some help in choosing your oil. Do not use any additives in the oil

http://www.landroverworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=11826


All about oil additives:

http://www.landroverworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=11792



All about oil:

http://www.landroverworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=11763


Good luck and feel free to ask any questions.

Chongo

 

[tempestv8]

i took my 99 disco II with 104k in to indy mech and had on the list a trans fluid and filter change per robison maintenance schedule. he tells me they only recommend topping off as it is sealed system "good forever". as the trans is one my biggest worries at this mileage shoudl i trust this?

I think your mechanic is confusing the 4 speed ZF4HP22 gearbox in the Discovery II to be one of the newer 5 or 6 speed ZF gearboxes that have "lifetime" automatic transmission fluid, maybe simply by the implication that there's no fluid dipstick to check the level.

Unfortunately he's wrong with this particular ZF gearbox - Land Rover do NOT have a lifetime rated ATF in this gearbox. It needs to be changed regularly.

If you let the fluid get too burnt, then it will no longer be able to protect the clutch packs, and the fix for a burnt clutch pack is a gearbox swap out. Not cheap!

So if I were you, I'd be getting the fluid drained and refilled every year if you do a lot of towing, or doing a lot of stop start traffic. It's cheap to replace the fluid.

Also, if you go playing in mud a lot, you'll find the oil cooler will get clagged up on the outside with dried up mud. This will severely restrict air flow through the cooler, and your transmission will run hotter than normal. Be sure to keep the cooler clean.

And did I mention keeping the ATF clean too? Can't be over emphasised.

There's a small particulate filter (more like a screen) that's in the gearbox. Ideally this should be replaced once in a while, but it's not like an engine oil filter which must be replaced with each oil change. I do not change my filter everytime I drop the ATF. I'll only change the filter if the old ATF looks burnt - i.e. dark red colour instead of light pink.

Lawrance Lee
'99 DII V8 auto
Melbourne, Australia