2001 Disco 2 with 187,000 miles.

So, changed the ATF the other day - Dex III, new OEM gasket and filter. Filled per directions but was never able to get more than 3 qts. in her. At that time I figured most of the fluid was in the trans and torque converter so no big deal. Drove beautifully (better than he has in a while) for a couple of days. Started to drag a little (like a clutch slipping on a manual trans) on Monday on my way home. Just as I'm pulling into my driveway the M+S started flashing. Since then every gear is the same as neutral. In fact, it's easier to push than it used to be so there is no transmission to overcome.

I've dropped the sump a couple of times. The first time I did this I couldn't get the drain plug out so I pumped the ATF out the fill hole. The second time I was going to do the same thing so I opened up the fill hole and ATF shot out as though under pressure. The new ATF appears to have mixed with the old ATF as it was a little dirty (not too dark and not burned smelling). The magnet was clean to begin with and nothing found in each of the subsequent inspections.

Since then I have started from scratch and done the refill per directions. I can get 2.5qts in the sump but nothing else.

The ATF is cool to the touch and is bright red and there are no leaks. It does not appear the pump is drawing the new ATF up and the inability to change gears supports this, I think. I was thinking the pump might need priming but unsure how that could be done and IF it could be done.

Any thoughts from the Disco 2 community?

 

did you fill it while it was running? did you run it thru all the gears while filling it?

 

Drowsap - I did fill it while running. I put the initial 2.5 or so qts in with engine off, however. The RAVE had pretty clear instructions. Idle engine in Park, while adding fluid shift up and down through gears (I had one of my sons take a brief pause in each gear) and then back to Park. Continue filling with engine running until it starts dribbling out. I couldn't get any more in than what it took to fill the sump.

 

This happened to me once but on a chevy avalanche. i couldnt remove the exhaust with out breaking a stud so i was barely able to remove pan but when i did that i disconnected a plug off of a valve body. went in reverse fine but no drive. pulled the pan and saw what i did. plugged it back in and went fine.

 

Sounds like you were having issues "before" you changed your fluid?

 

Motorhead1 - no issues. This was scheduled maintenance. It was likely my imagination that it drove better - new fluids always make you feel that way, right?

 

Nothing better than fresh grease....

 

When you took the fill plug off the first time did fluid come out? It should have.
The second time you did it sounds correct. If you remove the fill plug on a full transmission while it is off, fluid should come pouring out like crazy.

 

Jared9220 - the first time I drained it, no it did not come shooting out. It didn't feel like I was low on fluid or anything though. It wasn't over-revving or anything.

 

If you removed the fill plug with the engine off and nothing came out then it sounds like you were low on fluid to begin with and that may have caused some damage. Also, When you changed out the fluid and filter it may have dislodged some debris that clogged something up. This is why it is only recommended to change your transmission filter once in your transmissions life time and I think it is around 35,000 miles (I may be wrong).

I think your best shot at fixing the problem without a new transmission would be to have the truck towed to a shop and have them hookup a trans flush machine to it. If you do have a blockage then the flush machine might be able to suck it out.

I have used one of these before and you hook up 2 clear tubes to the trans and you can watch all the dirty old fluid flowing through the tubes and slowly changing to nice clear pink color. It is actually really cool to watch it work on really dirty fluid.