Got a 2001 DII, we were driving along just fine - thanks to help from members in this forum - when she suddenly lost all gears like the truck was in neutral It did make a grinding noise a couple of times. I pulled over, realized one of the cooler lines was leaking and towed the truck home. Now, a few days later -- I completely drained the transmission following the guidelines on the Discoweb.org 'tech section' article on tranny fluid replacement.

What's really odd, is that I had probably about 6-7 quarts come out, and I can only get 2 1/2 in there without oil coming out of the filler hole. This is of course with the truck running, etc... I even tried jacking up the front of the truck thinking that it might make a difference.

I was wondering ... could the filter be really clogged? So I pull the sump pan, and filter -- only to find it looks like it's in OK condition. Only oddity was some 'gray goo' material on the magnet in the bottom of the sump, and noticed a bit on the filter too. No metal shavings / etc.. which I take as a good sign.

I flushed the filter in ATF, thinking about just getting a new one... but then I had a thought that the transmission pump may have gone bad, and that's why it's not taking in more than 2 1/2 quarts of fluid after watching 6 - 7 come out. If anyone can shed a light on this, I'll be most grateful! Thanks!

 

HI,
I just did the transmission filter change thing.
I can only get 2.5 transmission bottle's out (quarts) from the drain plug.

Make sure the o-rings on the filter are good. One contacts the upper part of the filter
to the valve body/ pump intake.
The other is for the plastic intake pipe to scoop fluid from the bottom of the pan.
The gray goo is fine metal particles from your transmission wearing.
Get those out.

A few people on here have run the truck in Neutral and then keep pumping transmission fluid into the fill hole.

I did that last night too. I was able to get in an additional 1.5 bottles while in neutral and engine running.
It would have taken more, but I ran out of fluid.

If there are no transmission failure lights on, then you should try to put in a new filter and good fluid.

To completely change it-
I drained it from the drain plug three times.
Then drove for a week.

And, then changed the transmission filter
and added the Lukas transmission stop slip stuff.
I put the Lukas in the PAN before I bolted the pan up.
It is almost impossible to get the Lukas stuff in via a fluid transfer pump as it is too thick.

I did not jack up the Rover. I just crawled under it like a cat.
That was pretty miserable and took hours to change the transmission filter.
DO NOT make the transmission bolts tight that hold the pan on.
You will snap them.
Just snug.
The spacer need to contact the base of the transmission and that's it.
Do not make them too tight. You'll snap the bolts off.

 

Cap, how many miles on the tranny, how often did you change the fluid?
Because of the grey goo, you may have toasted the tranny, best thing you can try and do is to have it power flushed, cross your fingers and see what happens.
Don't drive it the way it is right now.

 

Hey guys,

thanks for the replies. I did drop the sump pan & checked the filter 'o' rings or rubber gaskets, and both (appear) to be in good condition. Filter looks OK too... Cleaned the grey 'goo' on the magnet, and left the pan off just in case I decided to look at it again later today. (I didn't) try running the truck in Neutral whilst filling with fluid, and I guess I'll try that next. Also, may go much slower this time when pumping in the fluid - I had a friend whom works at a tranny shop tell me that this morning I may have pumped the fluid in too quickly with the fluid exchange pump. I think I read on the Discoweb site (tech section) that I could just 'swish' the filter , but may try a replacement kit next if this next round doesn't work.

This paticular truck already has a 2" lift on cookies, so its quite easy to get under it. At first, I tried without jacking up the front but thought that might have something to do with it so tried again with it jacked up. No dice.

Good advice on those bolts. Thanks.

To Answer Mike --- hey buddy, don't know if you remember me from the old forum days but I've had 4 of these trucks now (LoL) and I no longer have the '92 RRC or the other DII. Just this one. We kind of bought it in parts, some kid took it apart looking for an oil leak and never finished the job. I took his word for it being a good truck because everything was REALLY clean. I think the truck has 134k mi, and it's probably never seen dirt let alone wheeling.

This is our first time changing the fluid, as it was (almost) dry when I pulled the plug on her. Not helpful since it's hard to determine how much needs to go in now . I REALLY hope we didn't toast the tranny. It won't go into gear (at all) like it's in neutral, so driving it should be a problem :/ How do we go about doing a 'power flush?' any info on that note? Thanks again guys. And if you've got a lead on a cheap tranny, lol let me know. I don't give up easily.

 

BTW, on the 'gray goo' attached to the magnet -- there wasn't (alot) covering the maget, but enough to slide my finder around the magnet and get about a 2 pea sized gob of it between my fingers. I then swished my fingers around in it and tried to determine if there was a metal piece in there, or something of substance, but there wasn't. Just really fine metal shavings I assume.

Is it not known for the tranny pump itself to fail? .... might just have to spend the $800 to have it overhauled at my friends shop. DOH!

 

If you want to totally burn up your engine, then run the tranny while trying to fill it.
If you want to try and save it, do as I said and get it flushed.

 

There have been a sting of threads on the forums dealing with recent transmission fluid changes that end up with problems... I have been planning to do mine, fluid and filter change, but all these threads worry me! Mike i think you are going to have to hold my hand through this project...literally

 

I first filled my transmission to the fill line in the fill hole.
Once it started to leak out..
I started the Rover.
Put it in Neutral.
Crawled under there and added 1.5 containers more with the fluid transfer pump.
It did cross my mind that someone may jump into the truck and put it into gear
and run me over.
I was also getting chomped on by mosquitoes.

So, NO, I was not stupid and did not start the rover with a dry transmission sump.

I figured it this way..

Discovery I -
You put it in neutral and then fill it to the correct line on the dip stick (With the engine running).
Why should the Discovery II be different?

When I filled it to the lower part of the fill hole and then it was running out
(with the engine off)
then I drove it that way for a week.
I would hear a gurgling noise in the morning when I went into reverse.
Seemed to be LOW on fluid to me.

 

The grey "goo" is 1000% perfectly normal, thats why the magnet is there, to collect all of the goo, which is actually clutch material which gets shaved off little by little everytime the trans changes gears.

Second, what looks like 7qts of liquid on the ground may actually be only 2qts.
Liquid spills always look bigger than they actually are.
Take a measuring cup, fill it with water, now pour it on the cement, watch how much it spreads and how big the puddle looks even though its only 2 cups of water.

Fill the trans like you have been, then try and drive it.
Does it drive fine?
If so check the fluid level again, if still full call it good.
It would be a good idea to change the filter though, you can get it at AutoZone, its like $15.

 

Haven't remotely even thought of doing such a thing Will be getting it flushed, just don't have any info on it for doing it in my driveway so I guess I have to take it to a tranny shop, yes?