The Rover-Landers of BC

Howdy people :)

Does the tranny fluid ever need to be changed on a manual Disco '97? I ask because I don't know :) I was curious about doing my own transmission fluid change... I want to get my hands dirty :)

I have heard some conflict amongst enthusiasts, and service tech's regarding transmission fluid changes. One side has said that the transmission fluid never ever needs changing, while the other side has that it does need to be changed, and it has been mixed between the various parties. As an example, with my VW Jetta Trek (manual transmission) I was told that the fluid needed changing at a lube shop, and the dealer and manufacturer specified that that model never ever needed a transmission fluid change. Talk about confusion to the lay person!

I noticed the Disco is not shifting into the gears as smooth as it was a couple of months ago. I have read the shop manual and it says that if shifting isn't smooth, take it in right away to be looked at by a tech rather than adding/changing the fluids.

BTW, it has an R380 in it. If the fluid does need to be changed, what do you recommend for fluid? Someone recommended RedLine ATF to me, any other recommendations?

Thanks :)

Yes, definitely it should be changed.

Redline MTL or Royal Purple Syncromax both available at most racing stores.

I did mine last fall on my Disco II, which is similar but not exactly the same. Filter too. It certainly made it quieter and toned down a slightly abrupt shift between 3rd and 4th. I'm preparing to do it again this fall as I've put on around 50,000 km this year.

There's some interesting points made by the guys on DiscoWeb here: http://www.discoweb.org/forums/showthread.php?t=36230

Also, there's a good thread on getting nearly all your fluid changed here: http://discoweb.org/forums/showthread.php?t=17652 as when just draining and replacing the fluid in the pan you get half or less of the total fluid... I haven't tried this, but it sounds like a good idea.

The only situation where you wouldn't want to change your fluid, in a Land Rover or any vehicle for that matter, is when it is very high mileage, has never been changed and is turning brown. In this situation often the change of fluid and filter results in transmission failure. My father-in-law had this happen after being hard-sold a 25 litre tranny flush at Crappy Tire. First reverse went, then the entire transmission stopped functioning before he got home. Do you think the shop would stand good for it? They wouldn't even refund the cost of labour and fluid...

Anyway, look at the colour of your fluid before you decide, and if its still red and doesn't smell burnt, you are best to change both the fluid and filter, and in the future follow the factory recommendation of 30k miles (the miles is for you, Red 90 :twisted:).

Dave

I thought the book says to use Dextron II auto tranny fluid in the R380- Transmission and nothing else.... at least that was so for a Defender. Are Disco's diffferent?

JD

Uh Dave. He has a manual transmission.

The book used to say ATF..... They now specify MTF-94 which is a low viscosity manual transmission fluid.

Redline MTL or RP Syncromax are much, much better for the R380 (and LT77) than ATF.

Hey Dave,

Thank you for the wealth of information :)

I, like your father-in-law, had a similar experience with a Mr.Lube and a VW Jetta Trek. Mr.Lube pestered me about a tranny fluid change when I needed a quick oil change, and I told them that the dealer and manufacturer said to never ever change the trannsmission fluid, and they said it should be changed. I went ahead and had them change the transmission fluid, and the following week my transmission went "KABOOM!" on the highway coming back from Whistler just past Porto Cove at 3 a.m. with no cell phone reception.

On the positive side, I did learn that even with no cell phone reception, you can still dial 911! That was confirmed by the 911 operator I was speaking to.

Mr. Lube's take on it was that the vehicle left the lot fine (about 10 feet) and since it left the lot fine, they are not responsible and placed the blame in a round about way on me. The fluid that was left (it blew a friggin' hole in the tranny case) was dirty dirty brown.

Lesson learned! I am so very weary of fluid changes because of that experience, and I just don't want to go through something like that ever again.

Duh! Missed the manual transmission bit.

Dave

On the Mr. Lube thing. Did you ask them to show they used an approved lube?? The VWs use a special low viscosity lube and the only approved ones are from the dealer.

red90, thank you for the info as well. The Mr.Lube incident was a mistake, and a bad experience on my part. I have since learned to not go to Mr.Lube or any other similar place and instead rely on literature, enthusiasts, and my tech/mech to get my questions answered and work done.

I still have a memento from the VW experience. I saved a small container of the transmission fluid in a container, and it is sitting on my desk at home as a reminder.

Yes Mr Lube killed my engine in a bad set of mistakes as they first broke one of the wires for the coolant level sensor and thought no problem I'll fix it tonight as I have no coolant problems and then they cross threaded the coolant cap(with the sensor) so it was not screwed down and sealed and it slowly leaked all day (a crappy stormy day) and finaly over heated and this was my first sign of a problem as the sensor was now not working.
The engine blew a head gasket and cracked #3 cylinder and then got no grace and denial from MR lube as the guy that did it was the manager and apparently the highest qualified and would not make that mistake. :argue: :mi5: :banghead: :violent1:

David Ashcroft recommends MTF94 landrover oil for the R380. Anyone know what the equivilant is?

JD

JD wrote:David Ashcroft recommends MTF94 landrover oil for the R380. Anyone know what the equivilant is?

JD

Redline MTL or Royal Purple synchromax are the best choices for someone in Canada....

Both are better than MTF-94.

http://members.shaw.ca/jbarge/MTF.htm

Red,

Not sure that MTL is a supportable option. Ashcroft clearly recommends a good quality ATF and NOT gear oil. I tried MTL in my LT77 and it shifted poorly grinding on almost every shift until the transmission got very hot. I didn't like that so went back to ATF right away. Shifted smoothly ever after.

If Royal Purple meets or exceeds Dextron II or III, then perhaps I'll try it. But NEVER a gear oil again.

JD

Here's a link I've just found. Interesting story.

JD

http://usacanadatrip2007.blogspot.com/2 ... other.html

JD wrote:Red,

Not sure that MTL is a supportable option. Ashcroft clearly recommends a good quality ATF and NOT gear oil. I tried MTL in my LT77 and it shifted poorly grinding on almost every shift until the transmission got very hot. I didn't like that so went back to ATF right away. Shifted smoothly ever after.

Are you certain that it was Redline MTL? There is also Redline MTF, which is too viscous. If you refer to my website, you'll see that Redline MTL has a viscosity similar to ATF.

I've had Redline MTL in my LT77 for 5 years. Shifts smoothly at all temperatures.