Planning on swapping trans pan and fluid change...low profile torx recommendations?

[jwest]

note the external torx. that is the only way to service the drive shafts. Also, brilliantly, they use different sizes. even better, one of them is not in most sets whether it's the socket or box wrench. The socket is a sweet well made Snap On (nobody else big even had one) but the dumb wrench was only findable in the UK ! ***?

I have since that layout photo changed it up but it's a good starting point to think about. I could R/R any strut in 2 hrs trail-side if needed with the most difficult thing being the lifting of both front wheels off the ground and then safe stands to hold it up.

The hgih lift will raise it for sure and lower but there is no way in hell i will be reaching in there or even all that close to a hub with no wheel on for extended time without 2 stands of some sort. I would also then have the removed wheel under the driver side slider as extra measure of safety.

A high lift will raise but has almost no lateral stability whatsoever.

 

[maxx4wd]

maxx4wd,

Are you using the products advertised on British Atlantic? What is the advantage of going the route you're taking?

The main advantage is that they swap the non serviceable stock plastic pan with no real drain plug with the metal x5 pan for added heat dissipation and it has a drain plug so you can swap fluid later for the intermediate fluid change (no need to swap filters every time especially if your say towing etc.) Another advantage is that the next time you do have to take the pan out the filter is removable so you won't have to do any cutting etc. like you do on the stock version to remove the pan.

 

[maxx4wd]

note the external torx. that is the only way to service the drive shafts. Also, brilliantly, they use different sizes. even better, one of them is not in most sets whether it's the socket or box wrench....
...A high lift will raise but has almost no lateral stability whatsoever.

Thanks for super useful list of your field tools and even most service tools back at the garage...like you I have a plethora of tools to do various service needs but this is an excellent guide for the LR specific field set for sure. I might have to steal a little of your field tools and replace a few of mine based on your suggestions as well. Sorry for the late response, we're putting new flooring in the house right now and I'm just bouncing between projects all over the place at the moment.

After a quick peak under to see if the cross member is worth the effort, I'm not sure it really is for a pan swap, especially if I run into any issues- I don't need any additional projects at the moment. I think I'll just pick up a few of the low profile sockets and swap the pan out directly - it maybe a bit of a pain to wiggle it out all but seems way easier then opening a can of worms to pull the cross member if things go south with one of those bolts. I could do it and I do have most of those tools at the house to do it but not sure if it really warrants the effort unless I was replacing some other things while I am at it.

I do like your thought of swapping to the heck head bolts though...especially since I already have the through head wrenches and would only have to source an easy set of stubby hex sockets to get that to work...probably just throw those in the field bag for later too.

Appreciate the time and links - I'll definately grab a couple of those links and make an order tonight..

 

[maxx4wd]

I used Atlantic British. Though I didn't use the gasket they sent.. surprisingly advance has the transmission filter kit so I used the rubber gasket. I didn't have to remove the cross member,I used a saw blade to cut the tube in the filter/pan. Job took me about 1hr 1/2.

I can't recall if I sourced the parts from AB or not - saddly I've had the parts for quite some time and no time to install them. I know when I was looking I parted everything out separately as no "kit" existed but not sure if I ended buying them separately or as a kit later. brain fade is awesome lately. I will check to see what gasket I have though as I do like using a rubber one if I can. did you use anything to hold the gasket to the pan when you put it back in? I could just imagine trying to hold the whole setup and having that gasket move around making life that much more wonderful. thanks for the info.

 

[bbjj]

I can't recall if I sourced the parts from AB or not - saddly I've had the parts for quite some time and no time to install them. I know when I was looking I parted everything out separately as no "kit" existed but not sure if I ended buying them separately or as a kit later. brain fade is awesome lately. I will check to see what gasket I have though as I do like using a rubber one if I can. did you use anything to hold the gasket to the pan when you put it back in? I could just imagine trying to hold the whole setup and having that gasket move around making life that much more wonderful. thanks for the info.

Yes, I used the permatex adhesive spray for gaskets.


Sent from my moto g(6) play using Tapatalk

 

[jwest]

I do like your thought of swapping to the heck head bolts though...especially since I already have the through head wrenches and would only have to source an easy set of stubby hex sockets to get that to work...probably just throw those in the field bag for later too.

Appreciate the time and links - I'll definately grab a couple of those links and make an order tonight..

Glad to help. To clarify, I did not swap the torx bolts to allen key/hex, I changed them to basic 6 point bolt heads. This is the lowest profile access based on the tool because you just need a box wrench, ideally ratcheting. Torx or hex female bolts require at least the bits and usually only come with a very short length "pass through" style bit driver. Still, your basic box wrench is lower profile no matter what.

Hope that clears it up seeing as it can be confusing when a "hex" usually refers to a female head requiring a bit or allen key while "6 point" is a better term for the male bolt head I used.

 

[maxx4wd]

Glad to help. To clarify, I did not swap the torx bolts to allen key/hex, I changed them to basic 6 point bolt heads. This is the lowest profile access based on the tool because you just need a box wrench, ideally ratcheting. Torx or hex female bolts require at least the bits and usually only come with a very short length "pass through" style bit driver. Still, your basic box wrench is lower profile no matter what.

Hope that clears it up seeing as it can be confusing when a "hex" usually refers to a female head requiring a bit or allen key while "6 point" is a better term for the male bolt head I used.

gotcha...plus these bolts are super easy to source just about anywhere as well.

 

[5crows]

The Atlantic British kit came with 7 liters of ZF life guard. On unpack, the kit recommended using a tap (tap and die) to ream out each female hole that the pan bolts seat in, the kit description did not mention or provide one (just a heads up, since you're planning). The bolts provided are longer, and the metal pan is flatter, so the crud accumulated in tops of holes needs to be cleaned to enable ease when seating all the bolts. Even if you reuse the old bolts, the flat metal pan will make them have to seat deeper into the mud, blood, and beer. So buy a 6mm tap and be ready. Could take one out to match thread cut.

Take care to seat the replacement filter properly.

Putting the filler plug back in gets hot, so get some kind of heat shield wrap to cover the catalytic converter.

Couple of observations - stiff shifter problems, not staying in gear, can be linkage related. I also believe the electronics can be problematic. In my case, the dash gear display for Drive would go out, even though the console shifter light was in D. This happened stopping on a hill, putting into drive and other places. Once the dash display 'D' went out, transmission was effectively in neutral. Because I had been working and struggling with new pan, linkage adjustments, wiring harnesses, a wiring connector behind the linkage cable bracket, seemed to be improperly seated. I pushed it back together and the dash indicator lights now display! Not saying its something that will happen to you, but it did to me.

Can anyone elaborate on this transmission wiring? Some is by the linkage and other wires go inside the tranny back.

 

[eloist]

I don't recall removing the cross member when we swapped my filter and fluid out with the AB kit.
IIRC, the most nerve wracking part was hacksawing the filter tube off the old one to get it out. You definitely don't want to gouge any metal with the blade inside the trans itself.

 

[maxx4wd]

The Atlantic British kit came with 7 liters of ZF life guard. On unpack, the kit recommended using a tap (tap and die) to ream out each female hole that the pan bolts seat in, the kit description did not mention or provide one (just a heads up, since you're planning). The bolts provided are longer, and the metal pan is flatter, so the crud accumulated in tops of holes needs to be cleaned to enable ease when seating all the bolts. Even if you reuse the old bolts, the flat metal pan will make them have to seat deeper into the mud, blood, and beer. So buy a 6mm tap and be ready. Could take one out to match thread cut.

Take care to seat the replacement filter properly.

Putting the filler plug back in gets hot, so get some kind of heat shield wrap to cover the catalytic converter.

Couple of observations - stiff shifter problems, not staying in gear, can be linkage related. I also believe the electronics can be problematic. In my case, the dash gear display for Drive would go out, even though the console shifter light was in D. This happened stopping on a hill, putting into drive and other places. Once the dash display 'D' went out, transmission was effectively in neutral. Because I had been working and struggling with new pan, linkage adjustments, wiring harnesses, a wiring connector behind the linkage cable bracket, seemed to be improperly seated. I pushed it back together and the dash indicator lights now display! Not saying its something that will happen to you, but it did to me.

Can anyone elaborate on this transmission wiring? Some is by the linkage and other wires go inside the tranny back.

Good to note on the tap...by any chance do you know the pitch...I will assume its a 6mm x 1.0 pitch (as that's the most common and I should have a tap for that already but I'll make sure I do before starting.) Don't quote me on this but the wiring loom that passes through the circular seal at the front of the tranny controls the internal transmission valves, temp sensor, etc. The wiring loom that passes by the linkage has a few wires on it to control the lockout features and linkage related features (gear selection display, that funky capictor that can lockout your entire tranny if it blows but worthwhile failsafe, and guessing the wire to the brake switch attached to the brake to allow the transmission to shift from park, the intermediate wiring to the esc I'm guessing...maybe even some wiring to the O2 sensor passes through there not sure but if you want the manual I have the whole set on my sharefile and can post the link...again this is off the cuff so don't quote me on it but that's my guess as to what's there...) appreciate the heads up on the loose connector symptoms though as I'm sure it's easier to de-seat that linkage connector then one might think - especially as it can get a little tight in there..will watch for that.