Hi, this is a repeat of the item also submitted under the Service and Maintenance section in the hope of covering both members This post has been edited by the site administration team - one thread is sufficient, otherwise it gets messy


I am about to embark on an ATF Service on my wifes Freelander 2 TD4 which now has about 95K miles on it. The Servicing Specs for the car say ATF change at 150K but a local ATF Service expert thinks this is far too long a period especially as the transmission does not have an internal filter. He is suggesting 50-60K. Since I am doing this myself I shall be doing the fluid dilution technique (dumping then replacing and repeating this about 3 times). The ATF Spec for this transmission (Aisin Warner TF80-SC) is ATF that meets the JWS 3309 spec and I have found this available in the UK as Mobil 3309 ATF and Millers Millermatic ATF SPIII (which meets the JWS 3309 spec for Aisin Warner), the price is considerably different for Millermatic.
Has anyone done this change and do they have any comments on the ATF used.

1. It has a filter, only harder to access.
2. Use Mobil, not other "compatible" ones.
3. By using your method, you will be able to drop exactly 3 liters per dump. Put back the same amount.
4. The oil is cheaper, even for Mobil ATF3309. About £100 for 3 changes, like you said. (By the way, how much is a tank full of diesel?... Get my point?) So do this every 30K miles and you'll have a box that will last forever.

PS: Not much of a difference in price for 1L:
http://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-60226-millers-...ii-ws.aspx
http://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-69402-mobil-at...fluid.aspx

Alex,

Thankyou for your thoughts and advice on this, as a matter of interest, how complicated is the renewal of the filter

You need to disassemble the box.

Take a look at this file, item 75.
https://www.freel2.com/gallery/albums/user...0-81SC.pdf

Alex, thanks for the info and the URL link. Strange to think Aisin have made it practically impossible to make the filter accessible via a regular transmission service routine, I can see why my local Landy Specialist treats this box as one without a filter. Perhaps they should have thought of an external filter somewhere in the route to the oil cooler.

The filter, generally, is only a very thin and fine mesh, in one layer and has a very large area.
The autobox is a "closed" system with no exterior contaminants (like in the case of engine oil and filter that are contaminated by the fuel burning byproducts) and therefore the autobox byproducts are very small in quantity (otherwise you really have a problem with the box).
With its very large filtering area, you can say that the filter can be used for life and it's not serviceable.

And you can't put a filter where you said, because, when clogged, you will lower the line pressure that's critical for proper functioning of the box. Lowering the line pressure will lead to improper and weak clutch engagements that will lead to accelerated clutch wear and failure and that will lead to an accelerated filter clogging. A vicious circle.

Alex, point well taken on the drawbacks of such an externally based filter system. I guess with friction based items such as clutches as part of the shifting system within the transmission you are bound to accumulate fine debris over a period of time and it must be beneficial to try and trap this and then remove it by an easily accessible filter. A couple of years ago I serviced my Merc E Class (ZF tranny) and it was a very simple operation to drain the box, drop the pan covering the servos and plugging in a new filter. Its a shame Aisin could find a similar way to do something similar.

I have a similar Aisin box on a VW car. At 70K km (43K miles) I've decided to change the oil and the filter, as the filter on that box is easily changeable, like you said on the ZF box.
The amount of debris accumulated on the original filter after 70K km was so small (almost nothing), that I've decided to leave the original filter in place and change only the oil.
So, I believe, that the "unchangeable" or hard to change filter in FL2 box was and is a calculated move, this, of course, as long as the box is free of defects and works as it should. I think that the filter is there only if the box is malfunctioning and produce a considerable amount of debris and the filter tries, at least, to save the hydraulic block.

Alex, well there we go. The FL2 box is certainly working well at the moment and there were no signs of leaks around the box or the cooler when I did my last engine oil service so I will be satisfied with just the fluid flush and hope that it continues to work well for our planned life use of the car. Thanks for all your responses in the meantime.

Alex. You say to only use Mobil oil (which one?). Is there any reason for this? I was thinking of using this because I can get it for 'free' if I order it through my company. I have contacted them and they confirm it is the oil that I should be using in my FL2. What's your thought on the spec of this oil? http://www.granvilleoil.com/product_info.p...=1&y=1
Would 10 litres be enough for a few flushes?

Last edited by Steve D on 5th May 2015 3:17 pm. Edited 1 time in total

Steve, I'me sure Alex will confirm but the recommended Mobil product for the FL2 transmission is Mobil ATF 3309 which is currently about £12 a litre. If you know where other LR2 owners can get a reduced price deal I would be glad to hear about it since I have to buy about 9 litres.

Yes, Mobil ATF 3309.
Why Mobil? Because it says that is compatible with only JWS3309 (Toyota T-IV) and that's all.
I am circumspect about any multi-norm, multi-compatibility and so on... You can't have it all...
Can you make a food that taste like chicken, fish and lamb in the same time?

''Can you make a food that taste like chicken, fish and lamb in the same time?''

Have you tried some of the take aways over here ????????

Portculislr wrote:

Steve, I'me sure Alex will confirm but the recommended Mobil product for the FL2 transmission is Mobil ATF 3309 which is currently about £12 a litre. If you know where other LR2 owners can get a reduced price deal I would be glad to hear about it since I have to buy about 9 litres.

Well, the oil in my link above is compatible with Toyota JWS3309 and the auto factors I can get it from charges £21.95 for 5 litres. So, 10 litres will come to £44 plus vat, a total of £52.80. Being local to me, they can deliver as well. I use Granville lubricants on most of our vehicles and have never had any problems with them.

I use their 'Ford spec' 5W/30 FS in my engine so as long as the gearbox oil meets the spec, there should be no problem. As has been said on many forums when the subject of oils regularly crops up, vehicle, motorcycle, engine and gearbox manufacturers do not make their own oils and always outsource it to a spec. My son works in the Ford engine plant building new engines and guess what? They come out with FoMoCo, Peugeot and Citroen badges on them so what oil goes in them Ford, Peugeot or Citroen?

OK, do whatever you want, it's your box in the end...

But let me tell you another thing...
I have another Aisin box in the family that equips a VW Polo. Same autobox oil specification as FL2.
What worries me about your oil is that on its specifications says that is compatible with two different types of oils used in two different generations of gearboxes. And VW says that the oil used on these two different generations are NOT compatible...
And more of that, specifications mentioned there are grouped in different categories by other manufacturers.
But hey, who knows, maybe they found a common denominator for these types of oil and now is OK to mix them...

I, for one, will keep apples and peaches apart and not mix them. Indeed, are fruits, but...