transmission overheat message appears on p38
 

High i have a p38 that displays transmission overheat, very slow to take off, fluid comes out of the trany breather and dipstick, seems to build up pressure in trany and disperses out through breather,when you select lower gears makes no different on take off. Almost if it is only selecting drive only. Any ideas out there? Peter

Some things to check might include:

Transmission cooler and lines to/from, for kink, pinch, etc. on the lines and mud or trash blocking fins. Fans working OK on radiator and AC condenser would also be important. You could actually disconnect lines and flush out the cooler, or bypass with rubber hose and clamps with a substitute cooler. Any coolant in tranny fluid or vice versa? Leak from radiator into tranny would not be good.

Will be needing a fluid and filter change, could be gunked up filter. If you are pumping out fluid, the level is not likely to be where it should be.

Helps to have miles on truck, when last filter and fluid chnage done on tranny, etc.

The first thing that comes to mind for me is that there is too much ATF in the transmission. The margin of error for overfilling is small, and it does warn about overfilling in the owners & service manual. Check the fluid levels using the proper method in the owners manual, do what Savannah has suggested and get back with us.

Hi , i 've tried all your good suggestions , but still coming up with the same issues, the latest being if you take off in 1st gear okay then it slips into drive, does'nt seem to go through the other gears before engaging drive, the leaking of fluid only happens when you excellerate and when you come to a standstill. I tried putting a bottle under the breather pipe to catch fluid and it blows bubbles in the bottlle with fluid, seems to be building up pressure and blowing out the breather pipe, also the fluid coming out the dipstick is falling on the manifold, already had a flare up, would really appreciate any help to solve this issue. Regards Peter

Suggest you drain fluid from tranny. If coolant is in there it may not show up on dipstick, but will come out in the drain. Most Rover trans only drain out about 3 quarts of ATF.

If coolant is present, could be cross over from radiator. Before buying new radiator, this could be confirmed by removing tranny lines from radiator, and connecting them together with hose and clamps. You can then run truck for brief periods, and see what comes out the radiator side of the trans cooler. Work around would be after market cooler (new or used), which gets you back on the road; but 4th gear won't engage until fluid gets above 150 degrees on Rovers equipped with a heat switch for same.

Also inspect tranny pan for any large dents, which could also change what happens.

P38 has it owns air cooled cooler on the front of the motor. if its pushing it out then drain it and see what the fluid looks like, make sure there is no kinks in the system.
but fill it accordingly. It takes Dex 3.

p38 overheat problem
 

I really appreciate you guys getting back to me quick, thankyou, tried all of the above, fluid is flowing freely through trany cooler, disconnected and blew high pressure air through ,the problem is still there, would appreciate all the help as car is dangerous to drive with fluid leaks onto manifold ?

You are correct on fire hazard issue. Has a high ignition point, but can burn. If drain and refill to proper level made no change, may be time to drop the pan and change the filter, you may have other parts that come out in the pan. Carry fire extinguisher on test drives. Insurance up to date? Don't park inside garage or car port.

Thanks Sav i'll give it a go

High guys back again, changed filter , put new one in, problem still there, fluid was clean, anymore sugestions ? Peter