Dealer does not recommend changing transmission filter...ever?

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

Joined
Mar 22, 2021
Posts
6
Reaction score
1
Location
New York
I went to my local LR dealer here in Huntington NY for a routine transmission filter service being that my LR4 has 85k miles on it. The service advisor asked me to wait so that he can consult a technician about that service.
He comes back to me saying that the tech says it's a sealed unit and should never be changed. Even if they did they couldn't guarantee that the vehicle would run correctly after that.
I'm not sure that this information is correct. Atlantic British sells this part and even performs the service in a video.
Please advise.

Thanks.
 

mm3846

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2021
Posts
363
Reaction score
178
Location
LI, NY
That service department is actually pretty good in my experience, but they're incorrect. They changed it on my buddy's truck like two months ago when he asked, and you're right it is part of the service. Call back and ask for the service manager, he's a good guy.

Just know its like a $600 service.
 
Joined
Mar 22, 2021
Posts
6
Reaction score
1
Location
New York
Service advisor said it was going to easily be over $2k for the job and mentioned that they couldn't guarantee it would run right or the same. In any case I found an indie shop that looks promising.
 

mm3846

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2021
Posts
363
Reaction score
178
Location
LI, NY
the dealer charges a LOT of hours because they have to drop the crossmember to R&R the factory pan. obviously you've watched the AB videos where they use the Ford pan, but the dealer won't do that.

my truck shifted weird after, but I didn't use ZF fluid. I reset the trans values and its back to normal. Its a ZF 6 speed, its a very common transmission and any shop that does euro cars can do the service and even do (and would probably rather do) the pan swap.
 
Joined
Mar 22, 2021
Posts
6
Reaction score
1
Location
New York
Thanks for the insight.
Don't mean to put down the dealership. Just that the advisor didn't really do things that sat right with me.
 

mm3846

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2021
Posts
363
Reaction score
178
Location
LI, NY
I don’t have any affiliation besides talking to the guys there while they charged me out the ass for an alignment. The tech did work on freeing up a seized bolt that he probably would have normally just cut out and made me buy a new control arm.. so I give them that.

Like anywhere else, it depends on who you talk to. If it’s just a service advisor asking a random tech, you might not get the correct answer. For the trans service, find an Indy that will do the pan swap.
 

Manndolins

Member
Joined
Aug 17, 2021
Posts
12
Reaction score
10
Location
Clarksville, TN
Nashville dealer also highly recommends against it.. says transmission is lifetime sealed.. popular local rover Indy will do it for about $1200. But don’t do pan swap.. they’re usually a good bit cheaper than dealer so can only imagine what dealer would charge if they would do it.
 

ryanjl

Full Access Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2015
Posts
3,019
Reaction score
1,793
Location
KCMO
I have all the parts for the pan swap option, including the fluid, but I just don't have a lot of time to do it myself. I need to find an indy who will use the parts I supply and do the pan swap option. The indy I had do my crossover pipes indicated they had never heard of the pan swap option before.

I'm sure they'd do it, but it would be really hard for them to price out the labor.
 

pantalones

Member
Joined
Jan 15, 2019
Posts
15
Reaction score
25
Location
Central Florida
I had a similar experience with two Central Florida Land Rover dealerships, one told me it was sealed for life and wondered why I wanted to change it, the other flat out said no. Went to a few independent shops, neither was that interested or would return my calls. I finally gave up and went with the AB kit, along with the LubeLocker LLT-F6R80 gasket, skipped the valve body sleeve, overall it wasn't that bad of a job, around 3-4 hours total. I would say it's on par with the full water pump replacement or brake job (rotors, fluid bleed, etc.), not that complicated, just a bunch of steps. The transmission only drained about 4L of fluid, so I waited a few days after the job and drained it a second time, sucks to go through that whole process and only get 50% of the fluid changed.

Great resource: https://www.landroverworld.org/threads/lr4-transmission-fluid-change-pan-swap-option.28828/page-5

I went with the "snap" option for the drain pan filter neck instead of using a hacksaw blade, much easier and faster as the filter neck is pretty weak plastic.
 

Latest posts

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
36,223
Posts
217,601
Members
30,474
Latest member
sawcut
Top