Anyone have experience of installing auto gearboxes in 90s I have a friend who's wife has an auto-only licence. He wants a LR (with some encouragement from me ;-), but it must be auto so she can drive it. in my innocence I imagine that I could buy a man 90 Tdi and simply remove the box and drop in the auto box from a Disco.
I've replaced manual gearboxes in 90s before without problems, whats involved in dropping in a auto?
I've done this for SWMBO's 90 and it works well.
Providing you get an auto to match the engine there's not really a great deal to it.
The biggest issue is where to put the gear shift and how to fill the hole in the tunnel where the manual gear stick used to be. The easiest place to put the gear shift is between the seats, mounted into the "access hatch". That does mean you lose the centre seat though. I blocked the hole in the tunnel by cutting a piece of wood to size and recessing it slightly below the lip. Covered in automotive interior trim it makes a nice storage area for mobile phones etc... to sit in. Obviously you need to cut a hole in it for the transfer box lever and appropriate trim.
If you end up with a RR auto rather than a Disco then it will have the Borg Warner transfer box in which case you'll need the gearbox mounting brackets for the BW Xfer box and a longer front propshaft.
If you use the LT230 transfer box (which comes with the Disco or the 90) then you shouldn't have any difficulties with installing the gearbox and should be able to use the existing propshafts.
You will need the extra throttle levers for the kick down cable and you should ensure that the immobiliser circuit is used in the gearbox to stop the vehicle being started in anything other than park or neutral.
The clutch mechanism and pedal can be removed in it's entirety and replaced with a flat plate acroos the hole that's left.
I got a RR auto brake pedal, cut the "pad" off the bottom of the manual brake pedal and welded the RR one on so that the brake pedal has the size and feel of an auto one. To finish the job off you can also then fit a foot rest either from a Disco/Range Rover or from a 50th anniversary 90.
cheers
Dave W.
John
Thanks Richard, your site is better than a Haynes manual!
On or around Tue, 30 Sep 2003 12:30:53 +0000 (UTC), Dave White enlightened us thusly:
On mine, I've fitted it on top of the access hatch. I dunno if there's enough clearance under the hatch for the box the control lever sits in.
longer rear one on my 110 - front one with the RR box I got in the first instance was the same as the 110 front prop. dunno if the 90 front prop is the same as well.
Mind, I did notice the other day that the sump is very close to the front axle (it looks to have touched once or twice), but it's also a car-sourced V8, so it might simply be that it's a different sump.
this would be the better option. You want a 'box from a TDi auto disco.
that bit is important, they're a pain to fabricate. If getting a 'box from a breaker, make sure you get these bits too and make double-sure you get both the torque converter and the various bits to connect it to the engine - there are 2 plates, a spacer and an adapter IIRC for the V8 - adapter has 6 allen bolts and screws onto the crank, then there are 4 bigger bolts which hold the 2 plates and the spacer to the adapter, and 4 more bolts from the TC to the flexplate. The other plate carries the starter ring gear. You need all of those parts. The adapter etc. may be different for the TDi. Why people take an auto box out without it's torque converter is a mystery to me.
Mine ain't wired up yet, over a year after the mod. should do it I guess... the reversing light switch wiring is in the same 4-way connector.
Just as a follow-up to this I asked ashcroft for a quote and they proposed
2500 for a kit and 3000+ (both +vat) fitted. Seemed a bit steep to me, but maybe not...The one in our 90 came from Ashcrofts. I know it would have been cheaper to get one from breakers but I didn't want to have to remove it again after finding it wouldn't work! Richard
On or around Wed, 1 Oct 2003 14:16:33 +0200, "John Stolz" enlightened us thusly:
I've a dead ZF 4-speeder you can use as an exchange :-) no use as is, the "A" clutch has failed resulting in no forward motion.
check out the cost of a gearbox though.
secondhand ZF with a transfer box but minus torque converter cost me 450 quid recently. Add a bit for other bits and bobs to actually fit it, and you're still well short of 2500. Mind you, I assume that for that they supply a recon 'box etc.
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