Hi everyone,
My discovery 2 has got a automatic gearbox issue (big surprise ik)

So a while ago i was on a long towing run and 2/3 of the way through the gearbox gave out so i had another one fitted.

Now every time it's started the gearbox will not work for a bit. The selector feels normal but with no real feedback like the clunk it normally makes as it engages, no drop in rpm, no response in drive or reverse.
Then when it gets warm it's fine, driving as it should (the clunk included) and it will only do this again after it's been sat for a long time (for me usually overnight)

Also driving home yesterday i put my foot down and it seemed to slip a bit.

I think it hasn't been properly filled (with the engine running) so i will try topping it up tomorrow, but i wondered if anyone else has had a problem like this and if it is a symptom of low fluid.

Thanks

As a side note it has no warning lights and drives perfectly fine (apart from the one little slip it did) after it's spent a few mins warming up

Hi, yes, filling the box as in the book is a god first move, another thing is to reset the TCU's addaptive values with compatible diagnostic tool:

BOSCH AUTO BOX GS8.87.0 - Diagnostic Capabilities (UTILITY)

Reset adaptive values: This function causes the GS887X ECU to reset all adaptive values that
the ECU has learned from the vehicle. The adaptations should be reset if the gearbox mechanical
components or gearbox ECU have been renewed or rectified

EDIT, just reread your first post and forgot the gearbox had been replaced. Was this with a secondhand one? If so, read on. If not and it has been rebuilt, then not so much!!

If it hasn't had a filter change this could also be the issue.
Dropping the sump replacing the filter then refilling with new ATF will partly change it.
It's a bit messy but relatively easy to do.
As you have to top it up with the engine running and the box in neutral or P, after putting it into each gear for a few seconds to fill all the spaces in the box, (full procedure is a bit more than that so ask up her if you don't know it or can't find it and we'll help) try using a garden sprayer, quite a few of us do this and it makes it easier and cleaner! The sort you pump up and has a wand.
Best of luck!

It has had a 2nd hand box and should... Have had an oil change

I think it my not be filled properly...

Just to check what would be the full procedure for a 'top up'

Also what oil should it take? I have been told dextron 3 which would be good as I have some left over from another job?


Also thanks for everyone's replies

Icantthinkofagoodusername said:

It has had a 2nd hand box and should... Have had an oil change

I think it my not be filled properly...

Just to check what would be the full procedure for a 'top up'

Also what oil should it take? I have been told dextron 3 which would be good as I have some left over from another job?


Also thanks for everyone's replies

Click to expand...

Hopefully you are slim enough to be able to get under the truck when it is sat on the floor/road if so no problem. Get under it and loosen off the filler plug it's an allen key socket so needs an allen key, I use one from my kit in a 3/8th drive socket. Just loosen it off so it'll come out quickly and easily once the engine is running.
Prep your plant sprayer by putting a fair amount of ATF in it and pressurising it. Remove the end of the spray arm so you have a bare tube but the trigger is still there and working, point the end of the tube into the ATF bottle and work the trigger until the ATF is coming out. Put the plant sprayer bottle near the drivers door but upright obviously. Put the business end of the spray arm under the truck on a piece of newspaper or summat to keep it clean.
Then get in the truck and run the engine. Once running, run it through all the gear positions slowly but evenly i.e. into D, hold it for a second or two, then three, hold it, then 2 , same thing,then 1, then back the same again then reverse, then park, then neutral etc . Leave it in either P or Neutral. I prefer neutral. Leave the engine running.
Get under the truck. Remove the plug and trigger the sprayer into the box and wait until it runs freely. Release the trigger and then put the plug back in. Stop the engine then check the plug is in tight but not too tight.
Job done.
For a year and a half I had a leak from the gearbox where it joins the torque converter housing so I was doing this a lot. I got so I could do it in about 15 mins with minimum ATF loss. Kept the tools in the door pocket and the plant sprayer in the boot so I could do it at a M way service area.
But seriously, if it is a secondhand box I think you need to change the filter and the fluid. Look at the colour of what comes out. If it is brown not red it needs changing.
Feck it no matter what the colour, for the cost of a filter kit and the ATF, do it anyway. Expect to get ATF dripping down all the time you are under it with the gearbox sump off. This is the ATF that stays in the box.
I am nowhere near a manual or anything but you can find which ATF to put in online.
Plant sprayer like this is what you need doesn't have to be an expensive one.
Amazon product
And you could worse than get this kit.
https://www.jgs4x4.co.uk/discovery-2-automatic-gearbox-filter-kit-with-atf-fluid/
Best of luck with it.

I am assuming you are doing this on your own. If you have a mate or partner it is better but not essential.

Ok that is a very detailed method, thanks, right now I will just top it up and I will be needing it and tackle a filter and change later on. the bottles I have are small and I do have a pump to put it in for now

One thing I didn't get is how do you tell when its full?

It doesn't seem to leak so this shouldn't be a regular thing for me and I think the oil was changed just the guy who did it for me didn't put enough in...

Icantthinkofagoodusername said:

Ok that is a very detailed method, thanks, right now I will just top it up and I will be needing it and tackle a filter and change later on. the bottles I have are small and I do have a pump to put it in for now

One thing I didn't get is how do you tell when its full?

Click to expand...

Sorry, i had to laugh at that!!
Its full when, with the engine still running and you have put it into each gear, held it there for a second or two and left it still running in neutral, the ATF trickles out!
If you don't have it running it will only be about half full.
OK?
Stan

Ok perfect thanks
You are welcome to laugh I'm a muppet (100% of the way ) but in the same way I want to be sure I do it right

i looked in to the fluid and dextron 3 is good for the box and I will get the truck sorted tomorrow and let you know how it goes

And before I start filling I am going to get a little bit of the current oil to check for its colour

Thanks for your method and advice on this it's really helpful

Icantthinkofagoodusername said:

Ok perfect thanks
You are welcome to laugh I'm a muppet (100% of the way ) but in the same way I want to be sure I do it right

i looked in to the fluid and dextron 3 is good for the box and I will get the truck sorted tomorrow and let you know how it goes

And before I start filling I am going to get a little bit of the current oil to check for its colour

Thanks for your method and advice on this it's really helpful

Click to expand...

The first time you do it you think WTF? Isn't there a simpler better way? But I have been told it's cos you don't often need to do it etc etc.
Not true in my case until I got the leak cured.
If it was daylight and warmer I'd go out and tell you the size of allen key needed. It's a big un is all I can remember!

If you fill it and it's no better I expect the box needs a new filter. Once it gets warm the ATF gets thinner and can then flow more easily through the holes that are restricted with sh!t.
some people just take it out, put it through the dishwasher then put it back in!
But there are O rings you really ought to change.

Yeah don't worry I should have the tools in my garage

Ok so does it matter if the box is hot or cold when doing the fluid?
I was scraping ice off it earlier so its one extreme to the other

The only dishwasher I have access to is my parents and I don't think I'll live to see the results, so I reckon I'll buy a new filter when the time comes

Icantthinkofagoodusername said:

Yeah don't worry I should have the tools in my garage

Ok so does it matter if the box is hot or cold when doing the fluid?
I was scraping ice off it earlier so it one extreme to the other

Click to expand...

It needs to be warm but not too warm, which as you say is not easy in this time of the year! I'd just get it running and pop under from time to time until the sump feels a bit warm. Or go for a drive and do it when you come back. I think the latter would be a better bet at this time of year!

Ok I need to drive to my storage to get the atf fluid so that will be perfect to get it warm

Thanks for your advice I will get it done tomorrow and the proof will be the day after when I go to put it in gear after it's been sat overnight

Stanley why dont you pop round a do it for him.....

Some good advice/help here
No one has mentioned about doing the fluid change, running it for a week and then doing it again though.....

frostythor said:

Stanley why dont you pop round a do it for him.....

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Why don't you? You living relatively close to me may well live as far away from him as I do.
Do you object to my giving him advice or something?
Isn't that what the forum is for?
Tw@t.

craigoodwood said:

Some good advice/help here
No one has mentioned about doing the fluid change, running it for a week and then doing it again though.....

Click to expand...

I was waiting for him to have seen what it was like.
Didn't want to over load him with info.
BUT
from post #3

Stanleysteamer said:

Dropping the sump replacing the filter then refilling with new ATF will partly change it.

Click to expand...

Note the word PARTLY.
So yes, OP, if you want to change all the ATF you won't do it in one go. There are ways but I don't think this thread is necessarily the place for it. Simplest thing is to do the maths behind the fact that each time you empty the sump and refill it, what proportion of the total is replaced, and therefore how much of the old stuff is still in there?
Full is 9.1 litres.
You'll be lucky to get half of that out or back in. So dilution of whatever is in there will be 50/50 first time. And so on each time. 75/25, 87.5/12.5, 93.75/6.25, 96.875/3.125, etc, etc. It gets expensive and boring.