Thankyou Biglad............. I can feel the fatherly arm around the shoulder despite me being a pensioner. If you are prepared to read then I am prepared to write. You were good enough to offer some help in my other recent thread of slow to power up in the morning. A further reply started offering what was no doubt sound advice but I could see myself being drawn into a lot of trial and error and cost!
All spin but little sign of power..........
Bought my 2003 TD5 ES 120k as a treat a few weeks ago privately. After picking up and coming down the motorway was disappointed by lots of slip, high revs and little willingness to get into a higher gear despite backoff. 3000rpm at 60 knots later showed that top gear was not kicking in.
Full service couple of days later with autobox oil/filter change. Then we had the 'put into reverse when cold problem' and many seconds before pickup. No 'kick' as I would expect. Checked gb fill and it took another litre but no change in cold starts. Gear changes were however more apparent with top now locking in at 55.
The big problem I still have is that the engine revs very high without the oomph... that you would expect. Trickling along at 30 requires about 2k revs. The slightest backoff and the vehicle slows. The slightest peddle increase and the engine rockets to 2300, 2500 like a windmill spinning but no real power or dramatic speed increase. Its like a badly slipping clutch.
Hitting the peddle hard certainly does provide high spin and drive but nothing like the power and control that I have when top gear is locked in and I accelerate from there.
Also noticed that vehicle is quite happy to slowly roll back when on a slope in drive.
Think I've read most of the associated threads and I'm stuck between the conclusion of a bad box or a disco driver who is not gracefully accepting the workings of an auto.
My latest plan was to invest in a 'full diagnostics' but I get the impression this will provide no guarantee and may merely confirm box is fine, driver is not.
Hence my dilemma. If you are willing to stay with me I'm very happy to do whatever tests you prescribe in the hope of disproving or proving. I do have a caravan but really have no faith in being able to get that 'bite' you need with power and moderate revs.
Obliged for any help.
Ok Criky, fatherly arm fully applied from another pensioner !!
I do understand completely where you are coming from, honestly.
The manual TD5's do drive noticeably differently to the auto's but not always better.
1. TD5's have a generally accepted 'issue' about the way it delivers it's power, namely, sod all below about 2500rpm.
2. Now considor how the auto works, 4 speed auto with Torque Converter (TC) lock-up on 3rd and 4th. So when you are doing for example 45mph on a light throttle load, you will be in 4th gear but not yet in TC lock-up - as a result you get this clutch slipping feeling but does not engender confidence. Get up to 52-55mph and she'll slip into TC lock-up and everything quietens down.
However, imagine we are doing 60mph on a flat road, in TC lock-up and the world is well. What revs are you doing? About 2000rpm (remember point No 1) so we now come to a hill, you put your foot down a bit to compensate and nothing much happens, so you give her a bit more and before you know it you've dropped out of TC lock-up, the engine is sounding harsh at perhaps 3200rpm and it all seems a bit unneccesary.
What I'm hoping is that the hole in the power delivery is the REAL problem - being highlighted by the functioning of the autobox.
This is why I am having my car remapped next tues, specifically to create more torque between 1800 and 3000rpm, this should allow the engine to pull better at the revs we are so often operating at and at which the power deficit gives the autobox a hard time.
If you are prepared to diary forward and pm me after I get back next friday I'll have done a thousand kms so should be able to reassure both of us.
3. Towing - all of the above is only exascerbated by towing and I mean real towing not a little trailer to take your rubbish to the tip. 2 tons plus on the back of a Disco should be nothing at all, but the autobox behaviour leads us to believe that it won't cope. This is entirely unfounded !
To explain, I recently did an 800km round trip towing an empty horse trailer on the way there (so about 1 ton plus loads of windage) and a full load so 2tons + on the return. The weather could not have been worse, it was blowing a hooley and right on the nose all the way - nightmare towing scenario.
Was it a nightmare? Not at all !!!!! However, I learnt a new trick from practical experience rather that just intellectual understanding.
I was on motorways most of the time and was trying to keep above 55mph in D for the obvious TC lock-up reasons but without success so revs flying all over the place especially on hills.
So I decide to try running in 3rd gear with lock-up to see how the rig would feel.
Absolute night and day difference !!!!!!! In 3rd gear lockup I was running at between 50 and 55mph comfortably, romping up hills with no danger of dropping out of lockup - stable revs and loads of drive. At this speeds the revs ranged from 2500 to 2700 so were outwith the hole in the power deliver, so all was well. And I averaged nearly 29mpg on the trip which I reckon, given the conditions, was remakable.
May I suggest you experiment a little with different gearbox settings and see how you get on.
All being well, next week my cars power delivery hole will be removed which should correct the only fault I have with the car, other than that I think she is just marvelous. I've had lots of top line cars in my time but I can honestly say that none of them give me the pleasure I get get driving "Françoise".