Hi Guys, has anyone actually had there auto box oil & filter changed ? Mines done 23k but mostly towing - I have noticed in this cold weather its taking a couple of seconds to select drive and its usually instant. Only lazy when its cold but guess the oil could of done its bit !
Landrover dealer has quoted £448.00 just for the auto box oil change which seems a touch drastic !
i guess the oil is around £100.00 & filters probably £45ish I know its messy to do but gather there is a bit of a procedure to ensuring the correct level on refill.

Just looked into this today,1st thing is it not possible to change the filter unless the box is out.The guy that priced mine priced to double flush it so the oil in the torque converter gets flushed out rather than mixing old with new.Total of 14 ltrs of oil @ £12 per ltr,Price inc labour £300

If it ain't broke don't fix it, especially with that heap of junk you have.

IMHO/Experience: If it aint broke don't fix it = physically broke later rather than just fluid refill later.

In the colder weather, the thicker worn fluid can mean that the valves are taking a little longer to work and select gears. Its not necessarily indicative that the gearbox is gubbed. If the gearbox is slipping under load, or not selecting a gear at all, then thats potentially a more serious issue.

I don't know the layout of the freelander auto ... surprised that its a box out to change the filter job though ... seems a crazy way of doing it.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that fluid changes do more to prolong the life of the gearbox than they do damage it. There are various schools of thought about the pros and cons of changing it or leaving it. My personal experience is new fluid makes the box work better compared to the old fluid before ... and that all oils wear out so will need changed. The wear rate of the oils being very dependant on temps its been worked at ... which if towing will be high, which will reduce life.

On the old RR auto box, you could do a basic reset of the adaptive values it had learned by:

IGN off
throttle pedal to floor including kick down
IGN on to stage 2 ( lights up on dash, but don't turn over)
keep pedal fully down for at least 30 seconds to a minute
IGN off
pedal back up.

This worked a couple of times for me and made changes smoother, but in your case or auto box , may make little difference.

steve t wrote:

The guy priced to double flush it so the oil in the torque converter gets flushed out rather than mixing old with new. Total of 14 ltrs of oil

Fellow Wiltshire fella, i really do not think / hope that we (landrover) have not travelled backwards in time on issues such as this. My Range Rover classic did 126 K miles on its original auto box fluid and my BMW manual 122 K miles on its original gearbox fluid. As such, i really do not think / hope that you will need to change yours after such a low mileage !! FL2 HSE Auto Galway Green
Evoque SD4 Auto Blue.
FL1 HSE TD4 Manual Black - Gone.
RR Classic V8 EFI - Gone

It's not so much travelling backwards, the old gearboxes were much more crude in their operation ... Basically the valve opened or closed to activate a clutch plate on or off. Now gearboxes have variable valving which can finely tune the pressure plates for smooth changes. For example , the l322 4.4 petrol gearbox lockup isn't technically fully locked up In Top gear, the valves tweak the pressures such that it slips 3rpm even on lockup.

To do that, the system needs a very specific fluid characteristic, which if degrades means the system isn't working in its ideal parameters. It tries to tweak valving for an expected fluid , but the reality is the fluid doesn't behave as expected so the gearbox doesn't work properly. Consequence is that clutch plates aren't pressured fully, slip wear can occur, more material from slip wear gets into fluid and gets cycled round to cause more damage as a grinding paste.

Older boxes didn't matter so much, the fluid either pushed plates shut enough or not.

At least that's how I see it, and that is a source if the don't change the fluid nostalgia.

As I say, personal experience for peace of mind with more modern boxes is a regular oil service is likely to do more good than harm and preserve the box life. By regular I'm thinking along the lines of any thing from 24k miles out to about 50k miles as the fluid schedule. Beyond 60k I reckon modern gearbox fluid is done.

If your asking "what about the sealed for life part" ... Think more sealed for warranty which is typically 3years or 60k miles .... As long ad. The box can run that long without needing service, then is a manufacturer likely to care ? Not likely

(From iPhone)