And by things, we mean little pieces of metal from your transmission....haha

 

Changing the transmission fluid did not require any motor lifting or use of unusual tools. It only required removing a heat shield on the bottom of the transmission pan and from there it was drain and refill operation. A member on the disco3 forum did a writeup on how to drain and refill the transmission using the radiator send and return lines in the engine bay, but I think you might as well drain and refill from under the vehicle as that is the only real way to measure the correct amount of fluid.

In regards to the filter, I now see that I was mistaken in saying it is merely a magnet. It seems there are magnets near the drain plug, but they are not the filter. The filter is part of the long neck contraption opposite of the drain plug. Here is a site that sells a similar removable filter that would be used in the metal pan:

BMW E53 X5 N62 4.8L - 24117543550 - Transmission Fluid Filter - ES#2597916

Not only is there an opening on the top of the tube, but also another one on the bottom of the filter, as shown in the third picture. On the plastic pan that has the non removable filter, you can see the second opening about midway down the pan.

 

So once you put the metal pan in the filter is good for life?

I thought it was sort of like an oil filter where you change the oil + filter.

I don't care for the losing 1 quart capacity though. That is not just a "change it more often thing" that is a a guaranteed to run hotter all the time type of modification.

No free lunch man, its going to wear out faster either way. Death by not changing it at all or death by hotter running tranny. Oh we can can mince words over which one is a better funeral

I would like that metal pan better if they found a way to keep the capacity and allow it to come off.

 

LOl, huh... the pan will be good for life... your life, and the life of your transmission. The fluid however, will be out of time...

 

171k on my 2006. Transmision fluid was changed 50k ago by my Indy. Since then I've been topping her off monthly because I was leaking fluid from the ecu connector. The pan was changed out along w the connector two weeks ago.

Gotta say: tons of talk about the fluid to use but I've used whatever they give me at autozone. No problems. I've bought from rover and bmw(5 series uses same zf tranny) and the stuff from autozone looks and smells the same ****ty way. I wonder if anyone has actually had some sort of catastrophic failure from using non rover fluid or if it's just a myth.

 

Below is a link to a number of files related to our ZF 6HP26X tranny. There is a 21 page pdf on replacing the seal related to where the control wires pass thru the case into the Mechatronics unit. I note there are now over 1,200 views of that particular pdf.

Of interest, Ford is now building them under license as the 6R60.

You get a variation of that when you purchase a Raptor and any number of other Ford vehicles. You might also look at the front suspension on a Raptor and see if you recognize it - well it has coils but you can almost see that the air spring would fit as well. The Raptor metal tranny pan is deeper than ours, hence carries more oil, but guess what, no drain holes at all - cost cutting and all.

There is also a pdf in the link related to changing the oil - the most important instruction being to loosen the fill before you undo the drain plug - and per standard LR procedure, the fill is not easy.

DISCO3.CO.UK Photo Gallery - ZF 6HP26 Automatic Transmission in LR3

Perhaps of interest, I am now on my second replacement plastic pan and have 210,000 km (130,000 miles) on my 3; the only tranny problem has been paying for "the procedure".

 

BBYER,

It sounds like you take pretty good care of your LR3.

With 130k on it, how close does it perform to when it was new?

I have a explorer with 195k on it. Never had a car for 200k so hoping it will make it. But rust has done a number on the undercarriage. Michigan is like the worst place to drive a car. SALT SALT and more SALT on the roads. Unless you live in the UP where they use sand cars done last here.

My LR3 looks pretty decent under it. Some rust on but just surface.

Sounds goofy but I might just paint the undercarriage maybe once every few years.

 

I think the engine or tranny might not be as responsive as when new but I regard the vehicle overall as being more reliable than when it was new.

And yes, there has been a lot of preventive maintenance but as such, I have yet had to walk.

I ran my 1992 Buick Roadmaster for over 300,000 miles with not much other than routine maintenance. With a rear wheel drive vehicle such as your Explorer or the Roadmaster, high mileage is quite possible - the problem is of course rust. The LR3 should be the same.

Here on the prairies, it is too cold for salt, hence very little is used; instead rock chips and sand are spread on the roads. We end up with multiple windscreens over the life of the vehicle - well at least they can be replaced whereas the body, not so.

 

One nice thing though, you can lift the body off the chassis, fix / clean up the rust and rustproof it if you get it before it gets too bad. Do you still have stuff like Ziebart up there in the rust belt? I know it used to help a lot to blast the salt off before the temperature gets above freezing, maybe that was a myth.

 

Below is a link to an electronic rust prevention device I installed a few years back. As to if it works, it is probably too early to say as most quality vehicles here survive at least ten years before showing any body rust. At about thirteen years, most pickups will start to show some rust around the rear wheel wells but other than that, the cab will still look good, probably due to the increasing use of plastics.

I do note rust on my spare tyre wheel and the two frame sections left and right of the spare tyre. By rust, I mean discolouration - black paint gone rather than flakes or anything serious.

I note that the two new lower A frames I put on the front end perhaps 5 years ago show discolouration. The nice shiny black paint is for the most part gone now. It has occurred to me that the electronic rust preventer is tied to the body rather than the frame so it would not be fair to regard the rust preventer device as having failed.

DISCO3.CO.UK Photo Gallery - CounterAct Corrosion Control LT-2 install

Yes, Ziebart and the like still exist but they are not on every corner these days. I think with leasing and mostly front wheel drive small vehicles, consumers just see their rides as transportation modules now and expect to just trash them - it is a new world it seems.

My garage is not heated. I think a heated garage in a salt environment guarantees rapid dissolving of any vehicle.

As to vehicle washing in the winter, yes I do attempt to spray the undersides but I regard that as mostly me amusing myself and that I am probably just accelerating the corrosion process by pushing the salty dirty water better into the metal seams.

At least with the 3, a frame off restoration is a lot easier than with most vehicles, and unlike the Defenders, one will not have to buy a new frame - the 3 frame is like on a Kenworth.