I just topped off the transmission fluid a few days ago and on my second short drive (after an uneventful test drive) I came to a stop and when I started to accelerate away it slipped out of gear, like I was in neutral. Moving it over to command shift and trying to shift that way had no effect either. I had to coast to a stop and put it into Park and then back into Drive. After that it was fine again.

This has me a bit nervous. I know the fluid is at least higher than it was before, since I added a net half quart or so and filled following the correct procedure. There was a small stain on the pavement where it was parked for the last 24 hours, but it's not large (see picture) and seems like it could have been the fluid that was stuck in the cross member or in the other various nooks and crannies from the refill procedure. The cross member looks mostly dry.

I'm planning on checking the fluid level again this weekend, but is this a symptom of low trans fluid?

 

How exactly did you check the fluid level and/or top off the fluid? You're using the LR fluid or the ZF LifeGuard6 stuff right?

 

In my case, I had a similar thing happen. I had just changed the transmission fluid on my wife's car and had not seated the return line to the transmission cooler properly. It popped off while I was driving, and lucky me, I was just going down the street to a shopping center. At any rate, I pulled into a parking garage and was going to back into a parking space, but when I put the transmission into reverse, I hit the gas and the car started to go back, but then it was just like it popped out of gear and into neutral. I shifted back and forth a few times, and then it finally decided that it would actually engage reverse. I backed into the spot, then got out and that's when I noticed the trail of transmission fluid droplets down the street as well as the puddle quickly forming under my car.

Good day. At any rate, I had the car towed home, fixed my **** up, and refilled/re-leveled the fluid. It's been good since. (FYI, this was on a full size RR).

I don't know if this is what is going on with your car, but it certainly sounds similar. From what I read, it sounds like you did the fill up correctly, but what is that puddle in the picture? Do you think you're leaking fluid from somewhere?

 

You filled while running, Just checking...

 

Yeah followed the procedure exactly, with one mishap. The fill plug came out while loosening it and the engine was off, so a lot spilled out there. I made sure the temperature was correct (30C) and added oil back in with the engine running until it started running out of the fill plug. I added back in more than came out, but only by about half a quart.

I'll have to get under it again this weekend and make sure everything is tight, and perhaps check the fluid again. Since I was working in the area, there's a small chance I affected the linkage somehow which might cause similar symptoms (except still not working when manually shifting...that's the odd part). The puddle looks a little bit too large to be just residual leaking off, but at most maybe half a quart.

These things don't have leaks where it suddenly leaks a lot and then stops right? Like something affected by pressure (shifting from drive to reverse for example).

 

The first thing I would check is that Mechatronics sleeve on the back of the tranny. See if you have any fluid leaking down the back side of the transmission. Nothing should really be affected by pressure since the transmission is vented... unless your vent tube is clogged.

 

Hm, I don't see how that could have caused it. You did use the correct fluid right? I'd assume so since you bothered to follow the correct procedure lol.

I don't think any linkages are in an area where they can be bumped, but as well it's just a "mode" selector linkage I think - everything else is electronic, so "D" is the same as command shift from that perspective.

I don't think there's ANY leak-prone area that would be related to anything near where you were. I mean cooler lines, the data seal, blah blah - there's plenty of places for leaks, but it would have nothing to do with what you did.

I'd say re-do the procedure honestly. I can't think of ANYTHING that would cause that issue except over-fill or under-fill (yes over-fill is an issue, which is why they're so crazy about the amounts). The cases have a defined volume, and the expansion of the fluid can really screw stuff up if there's too much.

Unless you had a relatively large leak with stuff smearing everywhere, the fact that you added about half a quart seems odd to me. That was AFTER you put in what you thought came out initially right?

It's not like it evaporates or anything.. part of me thinks the previous fill may have been correct. Either way, that's the only thing I can think of anyways! That's really strange.

 

I think the fill bolt might have been leaking slowly as there was another small puddle under it today, localized near where the fill bolt is. The sleeve still looks pretty good and no signs of a major leak there.

I re-did the procedure today. Went much smoother without the mess of undoing the fill bolt too soon. Nothing leaked out of the fill bolt, even when the temp went past 30C, so it must have been under filled. I added half a quart more fluid and then it started leaking out. I also really tightened up the fill bolt. I couldn't see any sealing gasket or crush ring on there, is there supposed to be one?

 

My LR tech said when they have experienced unexplained fluid loss, they have punctured the sleeve and fluid will come pouring out. Apparently, the sleeve can hold quite a bit of fluid till it starts spilling out over the top...


$.02

 

Nice - did that fix it?

I need to do this - though my transmission is working pretty well. Occasional thunk if I'm in decel for a while then get back on it quickly (and it's since changed gears) plus the faint howl of TC every now and then, but I'd say that's normal. Thunk could be play in flex disc or something.

Service history says the dealer did some trans stuff (data seal, a cooler line leak, etc) around 45k miles. So I'd assume the fluid is new since then. I guess that's still 68,000 miles on it. Yikes maybe I should just change it.