Help me out with Transmission fluid change please!

Got my used 2005 land Rover Lr3 V8 4.4L at around 100K miles, don't know any history of previous maintenance.
Right now is at 110K, change all fluids till this moment except the transmission, should I do it or not?

Some people say if it is high milage and never changed it before (I don't know) better not do it. Can cause more damage then good.

What are your thoughts?

 

I would do it, but that's just me. I'm curious what others will say..

 

I'm planning to do it and upgrade with the metal pan with separate filter. Transmission shift ok but reason I want to do it, first of all maintenance and because I'm having excessive fuel consumption and I read in one thread that changing fluid improved fuel economy

 

Definitely change it. “Lifetime” transmission oil only means until the manufacturer warranty expires.

Unless your running oversized tires on a lifted rig with rooftop carrier and extra weight in the truck, your poor fuel economy is probably due to a bad fuel air mixture as a result of an intake leak, dirty MAF sensor, malfunctioning O2 sensors, or inconsistent spark plug fires. These malfunctions could be happening infrequently and not throw a code as a result.

another alternative is your transmission shift pattern is messed up and your staying in low gears at high RPMs for too long…because your transmission oil is in bad shape

im sure other wiser and smarter rover owners will offer better insight. My advice is free…probably not worth much.

 

I'm ordering the pan and do it.
I'm running larger tires but I don't think is the cause for getting 9mpg, I see people in the forum getting much better.
​​​
SO far I changed spark plugs and coils, clean maf and throttle body.
I had a code for O2 sensor, change it and fuel got a bit better actually. All the other sensors look original so I'll change all of them and see if I get better readings.

Other than that I want to try the transmission and see how it goes.

 

I have spoken to two dealerships and rover specialty shops and a transmission repair shop owner who I know personally as a good friend.

Most seem to shy away from the big job because it includes a reset that makes the transmission think it is brand new and re-learn shifting.

The big issue is that the solenoids are exhausted and never replaced.

That leads to a high rate of failures for transmissions that have not followed the maintenance schedule and are well over due.

A simple drain and top up of fresh fluid can do wonders

I would just measure what came out and replace with fresh fluid.

Just a thought and your results may vary

keep us posted.

 

Got my D3 at 120k miles, have now about 200k miles. I did a (had done) mega flush when I got it. Planning to do one in the fall.

Didn’t have any issues then, haven’t had any issues in the meantime, hopefully none in the future either.

I do know for sure that the ATF hadn’t been changed between factory and getting to 120k.

so, yeah, I’d do it again.

 

Did you replace pan and filter as well or just fluid?

 

I ordered the right fluid and will do just that for now. Drain as much as possible and fill back up. If everything goes well I might change pan and filter after.

 

At the time elected to NOT replace the pan. Also the mechatronic sleeve didn’t seem to leak so no need to change it. I had a shop do the flush 1:1 with conditioner and a PXT machine by tapping in to the ATF cooler lines at the left side front wheel well. The ATF was BG Universal ATF1 which has changed name since, I think. In any case, worked for me. YMMV.

For upcoming ATF replacement I was planning on replacing pan with a metal one, replace filter, replace mechatronic sleeve “just because” and have the shop do the replacement of fluids with machine. The benefit (in my opinion) is that you replace everything, it isn’t just diluting it like when doing DIY.