istruggle2gate11 Posted July 1, 2007 Share Posted July 1, 2007 (sticks in first gear) We have noticed many customers reporting this fault starting a few days after an oil and filter change and after researching this using our experience and the expertise of others in the trade we have come to the conclusion that as ATF oil is a detergent type oil, when the oil is changed this will dislodge and stir up settled debris in the autobox which in turn jams the governor valve. In light of this although it sounds controversial it is debateable if changing the oil and filter is a good idea, some say if the box it going to fail it will fail if the oil is good or bad and their advice is leave it alone. I am still undecided but the truth is I get a lot of calls from customers thinking they are looking after the autobox by servicing it and a few days later this fault occurs. The above is copied from Ashcrofts website, I admire the honesty, but it really does leave me between a rock and a hard place! The only oil not regularly changed (not even once) in the last 24 moths is my Auto box oil, ok, cosmetically it looks good, nice and red still, with an oily feel and the gearbox works well. Im just concious that it should be changed. Any other thoughts or suggestions (awaits Mr. Ashtans to see if this has been expanded on at all?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nas90 Posted July 1, 2007 Share Posted July 1, 2007 The above is copied from Ashcrofts website, I admire the honesty, but it really does leave me between a rock and a hard place!The only oil not regularly changed (not even once) in the last 24 moths is my Auto box oil, ok, cosmetically it looks good, nice and red still, with an oily feel and the gearbox works well. Im just concious that it should be changed. Any other thoughts or suggestions (awaits Mr. Ashtans to see if this has been expanded on at all?) My Nas with 4 speed auto has an engine oil change every 6000 miles, diff's are checked every 6000 and if dirty will be changed otherwise every 12000 miles, auto box and transfer box changed every 12000 miles. I had the dirt in the gearbox problem some years ago, the current box was refurbished / fitted by Ashcrofts about 6 years ago and with ATF change every 12000 / 1 year absolutely no problems. The internal gauze filter is the same one fitted by Ashcrofts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jules Posted July 1, 2007 Share Posted July 1, 2007 The above is copied from Ashcrofts website, I admire the honesty, but it really does leave me between a rock and a hard place!The only oil not regularly changed (not even once) in the last 24 moths is my Auto box oil, ok, cosmetically it looks good, nice and red still, with an oily feel and the gearbox works well. Im just concious that it should be changed. Any other thoughts or suggestions (awaits Mr. Ashtans to see if this has been expanded on at all?) My D2 gets serviced every 12,000k we started changing the gearbox auto fluid and filter every service which has made a big difference to the smoothness of the drive. My D2 does 1000 miles a week as is now on 150,000 miles and has a little play but I'm not a gentle driver and it travels the full length of the M3 flat out every morning then nips through traffic on the M25 and M4 which is aggressive driving if you know what London driving is like. I would recommend auto fluid change every service to anyone as it makes a big difference IMHO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimAttrill Posted July 1, 2007 Share Posted July 1, 2007 And of course you can't actually change the auto oil, just dilute the old oil with new. If your oil is 'burnt' and brown, it is a waste of time changing the oil as the box is on its way out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jules Posted July 1, 2007 Share Posted July 1, 2007 And of course you can't actually change the auto oil, just dilute the old oil with new. If your oil is 'burnt' and brown, it is a waste of time changing the oil as the box is on its way out. I got my disco a 60,000 miles on the clock Ok at 70,000miles we found the oil had never been changed and so a new filter and flushed out the brown carp oil out and replaced it. now on 150,000miles and 80,000 miles later still going strong I don't understand why you struggle to change it they have only removed the dipstick not the filler or drain plug. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dollythelw Posted July 1, 2007 Share Posted July 1, 2007 do what the septics do - power flush it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
istruggle2gate11 Posted July 1, 2007 Author Share Posted July 1, 2007 do what the septics do - power flush it? Sounds interesting, proposed method / tools - not heard this one before, we used to do the machine tool coolant sumps with a forced cleaning system, but it wasnt elegant to stay the least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted July 1, 2007 Share Posted July 1, 2007 The only true way to remove all auto box oil it take it off and drain the torque converter as well. Auto box oil change is always a percentage thing, so if yours is brown, then you would have to change the oil several times over a short period of time in order to get as much of the old oil as possible out of the system. Never heard or a power flush - what is it? Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jules Posted July 1, 2007 Share Posted July 1, 2007 The only true way to remove all auto box oil it take it off and drain the torque converter as well. Auto box oil change is always a percentage thing, so if yours is brown, then you would have to change the oil several times over a short period of time in order to get as much of the old oil as possible out of the system. Never heard or a power flush - what is it?Les. hence why we change the oil every three months keeping it as clean as possible end I feel it drives much better because of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dollythelw Posted July 1, 2007 Share Posted July 1, 2007 have a nose on the stinky net - theres companies that offer a drive in service in the states but it seems to involve removing the transcooler and flushing through with fresh fluid along with a fileter change and a pan cleaning session, Ive seen stories from guys doing it at home feeding a big tub of ATF into the suction end of the plumbing and collecting the spent for burning on the camp fire along with some radials environmentally sound disposal the companies seem to involve some kind of pumpy thing PUMPY THING PAGE WITH DEMO VID Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtydiesel Posted July 1, 2007 Share Posted July 1, 2007 The only true way to remove all auto box oil it take it off and drain the torque converter as well. Auto box oil change is always a percentage thing, so if yours is brown, then you would have to change the oil several times over a short period of time in order to get as much of the old oil as possible out of the system. Never heard or a power flush - what is it?Les. The other option would be to get a proper car where the torque converter has a drain plug on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BogMonster Posted July 1, 2007 Share Posted July 1, 2007 I guess the answer is that if you always change it regularly you don't get any sludge building up in the gearbox to get dislodged Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bishbosh Posted July 1, 2007 Share Posted July 1, 2007 When the RR was a v8 I changed the auto box oil. The car had done 60k form new. The oil that came out was clean and I had no problems with that box after refilling. When I changed to a TDi auto I also changed the oil in that box. It too was clean but the box had done 150k. When I refilled it, the box was reluctant to change up from first for the first mile or so. After about a month this symptom went away and the box has been fine since. I think I was lucky that the amount of contaminant left in the box was suffficiently small for the new oil and filter to do their stuff. What I do know now is that I wont change the oil again on this box. My advice is - if the box is high mileage and the oil looks clean then let sleeping dogs lie. If you don't know when the oil was last changed then leave it be. If you know the oil and filter have been changed regularly then perhaps then you might think about changing the oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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