Continuing my list of questions, I now have the Disco 1 300Tdi auto and have been attempting to check all its vital fluids. All seems well, but the auto box fluid level seems very high. Does this matter? The handbook is a little vague. I start the engine, put the lever from park to 1 and back, stop the engine and pull the dipstick, wipe and dip again. Is this right? The book doesn't specifically say whether the engine should be running or stopped when dipping for level.
What is good is that I've done my first mpg calculations and am getting just over 28mpg on the mixed driving so far and without trying particularly hard.
The way I have always read the users manual is that you check the oil with the engine running at idle, having moved the selector from "P" through the gears to "1" and back to "P" again.
I'm impressed with your mpg figures - wish I could get that out of mine ;-(
Except that you should end up in N after selecting all gears. If you stop the engine and come back later to check it without running it first you'll probably find the oil is about 1" over the full mark.
On or around Sat, 26 Jan 2008 17:03:03 +0000, Bill enlightened us thusly:
start with it cold, fire up, move it slowly (a second or two in each place) down to 1 and back up to N, leave engine running and dip the oil. Don't check it with engine stopped.
Oh, and in general, don't leave it idling in N or P for extended periods. If you really want to leave it idling, put it in D and the transfer in N.
Thanks to Austin, Steve G and others. Did this before I set off this morning for a long round trip, and it still seems a little deep, but much less alarming than when I checked it with the engine stopped.
Thanks for the advice about idling. I did indeed tend to leave the old Defender idling for most of the afternoon, when moving boats in tractor mode.
I suppose it's because it can vary depending on where and how long it's been parked for instance, as the idea of selecting all the gears is to fill all the pipes and valves etc. before checking what's in the oil pan (sump). If I couldn't be arsed running mine or was short of time I would take a quick look to see if was still an inch above the mark.
On or around Mon, 28 Jan 2008 18:43:47 +1300, EMB enlightened us thusly:
Badger can confirm, this is part of it but there's a specific wear issue which is caused by extended idling in neutral, and from the gear-shifting POV, neutral and park are, I think, the same.
In any forward gear, the main forward drive clutch ("A" clutch) is made. In "N" or "P" it isn't, however there is a known wear issue with two sintered steel piston-ring type shaft seals in the back of the oil pump area that run inside the torque convertor stator shaft. Oil pressure can bleed from the pump past the rear seal causing a slight pressure to be applied to the "A" clutch, causing it to slip but not fully engage. This wears it out relatively quickly. A quick test for wear in the piston ring seals is to ensure the 'box is at normal operating temp, engage "N", and with the vehicle sitting on level ground with all brakes off, raise the rpm slowly. If the vehicle starts to creep forward at all before you get to roughly 3000rpm, then the seals are worn. DO NOT hold the revs up waiting, you will cause wear!! The box will continue to work like this for a long time, as long as you don't let it sit in "N" or "P" for long periods with the engine running. There is a permanent cure, but it involves a box stripdown..... replace seals with teflon ones and do a modification to the "A" clutch drum and valve body. BTW, no brake bands in a ZF, just multiplate clutches (7) and epicyclic geartrains (3, from memory) and sprag clutches (2?)! Badger.
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