A local garage did a drain and refill of ATF on my daughter's 2013 FL2. How many litres would you expect to need to do the refill? Is it different to the earlier auto box which, as I recall, needs about 3 to 4 litres?

You cant change all the ATF in one cycle of drain and fill. The gearbox holds 7L of ATF and only drains approx 3L - the rest is retained (57% of the ATF) within the gearbox and torque converter.

If you drain and fill 3 times and run the engine between fills to mix the old and new ATF, you will replace 82% of the original ATF. So that will take the best part of 10L of new ATF.


BTW there is no difference in ATF requirements of the autoboxes on the FL2. Obviously there is a different (edit: different ATF spec for the later gearboxes but we we're talking about volumes - its the same for all the autoboxes) . Jules

Last edited by jules on 16th Jan 2025 11:16 pm. Edited 1 time in total

I think there are two different specs of fluid depending whether the FL2 is pre and post facelift ( approx. 2011 change )
Not sure if they are interchangeable? FL2 SD4 XS 2013 Orkney Grey

Thank you both.

There are indeed two different ATF specifications for the early and late box. And I’d agree, it will take the best part of 10 litres to do a full change by the drain and refill method.

However, my question was about neither of these but rather, with the later box, if you do a drain and refill, how much ATF do you need for the refill? One drain, one refill, how much?

That will take approx.three to three and a half litres. FL2 SD4 XS 2013 Orkney Grey

Thanks. And no difference in this respect between the early and late gearbox (apart from the ATF)?

Presumably the level determination is done in the same way?

Simon J wrote:

Thank you both.

There are indeed two different ATF specifications for the early and late box. And I’d agree, it will take the best part of 10 litres to do a full change by the drain and refill method.

However, my question was about neither of these but rather, with the later box, if you do a drain and refill, how much ATF do you need for the refill? One drain, one refill, how much?

Simon J wrote:

Thanks. And no difference in this respect between the early and late gearbox (apart from the ATF)?
No difference in volumes

Presumably the level determination is done in the same way?
Yes[/b]

Thanks again, jules. I’d got distracted by your additional comments about multiple drain and refills - apologies.

My problem is that the garage who did a drain and refill on my daughter's car say they used (and charged me for) six litres to replenish the gearbox. So either it was nearly empty when they drained it or they over-filled it, or they’re lying! So I really need to check the level properly in case they over-filled it but I couldn’t find an LR manual for the later cars, only the one on this site for the earlier ones. Hence my question.

And a related question - the LR manual says that to check the fluid level you add half a litre of fluid, get the fluid to the right temperature, cycle through the gears and then, with the engine idling, remove the filler level plug and “a small amount of fluid should drip out of the level plug”.

(The same instructions are given when refilling the gearbox, i.e. after filling until it runs out of the level plug, fit level plug, add half a litre, etc. )

But surely if the level was correct in the first place, all of the half litre should run out?

P.S. What size spanners/sockets are needed for the undertray bolts

The level test should only be done with the fluid at 60c and the engine running so how would you know if the level was correct before you did the test.

The undertray bolts are 13mm

Thanks for the bolt size.

My point about the test method was that IF the level was correct, then wouldn’t all the half litre flow out again? The manual suggests that if you add half a litre “a small amount of fluid should drip out of the level plug” but surely if that would only be the case if the level was just about half a litre short?

Yes.
If all your ATF is at 60C and the gearbox is accurately filled then the additional volume added will come out. But until ATF drains out upon adding ATF you dont know how much was in the gearbox to start with as the level tube always has ATF in it due to the ATF pumping around inside the gearbox.

So if the gearbox was underfilled you'd still expect to see ATF drain out when you first undo the level drain but you wont see more draining when you add ATF until the correct level is reached.

Its a stupid system. A simple dipstick would be so much easier - like we had in the past. Jules

Thanks again. The methodology is clear enough even if the description in the manual isn't quite accurate.

I guess your next question will be - how do you know when the ATF is at 60C.

The diagnostic computers measure ATF temp.

Ive found that the ATF temp (as measured with a thermometer when changing the ATF via the Gibbons method) is pretty near the coolant temp which can be measured by most cheap OBD devices and a mobile phone (eg Torque Pro) - the ATF being heated or cooled by the coolant/ATF heat exchanger nearr the radiator. Jules