I saw a thread recently about transmission fluid leaking after towing by DKW. What causes the box to be "over worked"? Where does the fluid leak, is there an overflow? Should there be a temperature guage on the transmission fluid to warn us of potential problems?
Excuse the stupid Questions, I'm new in this Auto game.
Cheers
Jimmy
Auto transmissions should not be towed for more than a few miles, it wrecks them. Auto transmissions have the oil pump on the engine side, which means when they are being towed with the drive wheels on the ground, the box is rotating without any oil movement.
Auto transmission cars should always be towed with the drive wheels off the ground, in the case of a 4x4 this will ususally require a flatbed, rather than a lift-and-tow.
A lot auto transmissions also have a temperature warning light somewhere. (ie dash) However this wouldn't be working when the ignition is off either.....
Alex
On or around Fri, 14 May 2004 22:12:47 +0100, Alex enlightened us thusly:
the one that leaked was the towing vehicle. I surmise that since it was going slowly and in high range, it overheated.
I believe they say up tot 20 miles at up to 20 mph.
But if you have the transfer box in neutral I would imagine that you can go as far as you like. Do the later Land Rovers actually have a transfer box neutral - ISTR the Range Rover has an electronic selector?
Shouldn't do. Sounds like a blocked transmission cooler or dodgy thermostat.
Alex
I was the one who OPed the Auto trans leak...
Since then things have been fixed,
All is well. The mechanic states "You just overheated the transmission, by towing in "H" and in "D" at that speed (5-10mph). If you were driving faster the airflow and speed would have prevented the overheat." As per the damage to the gearbox, very slim to none since I only drove it 3 or so miles at that speed. He checked the transmission fluid and all was normal. As it overheated it expanded and leaked out.
Anyways thats for the input from all that helped.... DKH
The 1996 disco I was towing turned out to have a "dead" fuel pump at 75K miles. It just died when I was driving "poof". Things were replaced and are fine now.....
Button bashing in practice for another round of Daley Thompson's Decathlon, Austin Shackles left Shakespeare to the monkeys by typing...
If you're towing any LR/RR - just unbolt both propshafts. Takes 5 mins and saves lots of trouble.
Can I put the transfer box gear lever in neutral and then tow? doesn't this disconnect the autobox from the drive chain?
On or around Sat, 15 May 2004 06:52:00 +0200, "Jimmy Sanby" enlightened us thusly:
yes. you can also put the main box in park, then it definitely won't turn.
since the transfer box is splash lubed, it'll be OK.
the problem with autos *AND* the later manuals such as the LT77 and R380 is that they have a pressure-lube system which has a pump driven from the engine side of the 'box.
On or around Sat, 15 May 2004 05:33:05 +0100, weallhatebillgates enlightened us thusly:
well you can, but it's far easier to drop the transfer box into neutral.
except on the new things with electronic selection - I think there's a way to do that on them too though.
Yup, on a P38a Range Rover you have to use a 5a fuse placed into position 11 in the right hand seat fuse box. This slot is normally empty. Switch on ignition and the message centre should go "bing" and display "Transfer neutral". You can now tow the vehicle any distance without damage.
Alan C.
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