Hello all, Just bought my Discovery I this week, so this is my first post. It's a 98 LE with 147,000 miles on it, although really nice & clean, when I started looking, I noticed the transmission fluid was redish brown. The previous owner had it for about 2 years, but sais they never changed the tranny fluid in the 20,000 miles he drove it. I called the local British shop & they want almost $500.00 to change the fluid & filter (said they had to drop the exhaust to do the filter change). First off, is that true? Secondly, with cash a bit tight after buying the vehicle, would I be okay just to drain out the fluid I can & running it for a couple of weeks till I come up with the cash to have them do it?

 

Yes you have to lower the y-pipe and remove a cross member, there is a write up in the tech section.
There is a drain plug on the botton of the transmission, drain it, refill with Dexron III.
Buy 6 qts, add 4, start, shift though all the gears, check fluid level, add if needed.
Then make sure you check it the next day after it has sat all night and add as needed.
Takes about 30min to change, the longest part is adding new fluid, the dip stick tube gets really narrow at the bottom and if you add to fast it will overflow.

 

Unless it was serviced regularly the screen has probably never been changed, nor the pan cleaned. It can be a pita the first time but you can do it. I wouldn't spend that kind of cash just on a fluid and screen change. You'll need that for fuel. It's the labor you'll be paying for. If the y pipe hasn't been taken down (loosened) in awhile the studs are the toughest. If you order a stud kit and gaskets you'll be set. Besides the exhaust you'll have to remove the cross member to remove the pan and change the screen. So it all depends on your skills. It's really not a hard job the second time around.

To remove the crossmember most guys use a bottle jack to spread the frame enough so it will drop out otherwise it's pinned in tight and could be an all day project without spreading the frame. Sounds tougher than it is. Takes maybe 20 minutes (for me) with the jack.

Good luck.

 

Ouch!! No time like the present to get to know my Disco up close & personal

 

congrats on the new disco I just recently purchased mine as well a 97 with 122k. This forum has helped me tremendously I discovered my belt was routed incorrectly first and also I just finished the transmission filter change and diff and transfer case fluid to 85/140........ it was a pain but after my first test drive the results are awesome I dont know if its in my mind but the truck responds and feels alot better. Im gonna tackle shocks and tires next week all and all it took about 4 hours to do the work and Im not a mechanic so my advice after experiencing the same situation when I went to a local mechanic whos exact words were "Land Rover? WOW thats exotic." my advice is unbolt the crossmember knock it loose and than drop the y pipe all 8 bolts let it hang and knock the crossmember straight down til you can drop and spin the pan out. Either way it cost me $45 including parts got the parts at O'reillys they had hem on the shelf. Dont pay a mechanic who isnt gonna love your car like you do Buck up Betsy and get greasy! Or be prepared to pay child support for your rover.

 

If after you change the fluid the first time, if it is still brownish do a second drain and refill with changing the filter.
Also go to the sticky at the top of this section and read/do my major service list.

 

If you do not make time to get to know it up close and personal, you will spend lots of cash for someone else to do a lot less than you can do on your own. That is all up to you.

If cash is already tight just from buying it, wait until the gremlins come out of hiding. Very few really good ones are sold but many cheap ones or ones that should be cheap change hands quite often.

You can either jump in and get used to the water or use the BAG principal (Bring another Grand) when you let a shop or dealership fix it for you. And that doesn't include their original estimate cause they usually find lots more once they open her up.

 

Your new mechanic can afford a bigger boat if you become his next regular customer.