All-

Thanks for your time with a new LR3 owner. I have a v8 2005 SE that just hit the 75k mark. Running and shifting really smooth now. Transmission has never been touched. A proper drop the pan and replace the filter transmission service looks prohibitively involved for me to do myself and prohibitively expensive to do on a $10k car. A simple drain and fill (even x2 several thousand miles apart) looks like something I can easily do myself if I get the fill plug out first.

Thoughts on what to do?

 

I guess it’s better than doing nothing. With that said, I would recommend paying to get a proper service done with a metal pan conversion.

A failed trans will make a $10k vehicle a $2k vehicle.

 

Replacing the filter is a waste of time and money in my opinion. That filter will never plug up unless your transmission disintegrates. Dropping the pan only changes the oil in the transmission leaving half the oil in the torque converter. Doing a drain and fill 3 times will give you a transmission with mostly new oil.

 

Just called my Indy shop. They recommended a complete transmission flush for $950 if below 90k and to repeat every 60-75k. A new pan and drain and fill is $1800 and he felt was cost prohibitive and they rarely do it.

 

I too would recommend a proper mega flush with a machine that exchanges all the ATF. Did mine in 2017, have a bit over 100k km since and will do another next summer assuming no one t-bones the vehicle before that.... 🤦‍♂️

 

I agree that the filter is more of a screen than a true filter, still at that mileage if you want it to last do the metal pan conversion and do a double drain and refill at the least. Metal pan is easier to do as you can break the plastic pan to get it out and the metal pan goes in without removing anything.

 

we charge $930 for new metal pan, ZF filter, connector sleeve, and fluid.

 

I’m not an engineer, so I can’t argue the technical side, but In my opinion it’s not a waste of money. Obviously your engine oil filter is a lot cheaper than a trans filter. But I could never imagine a scenario where I would not change the engine oil filter.

The trans has a filter for a reason, also(again my opinion) a trans is more technical than an engine and therefore more sensitive to contamination and clogged filter, etc.

 

If I could get this service for below $1000 with someone I trust, I’d do this. Maybe I’ll shop around. BMWs, Mercedes, and Audis us ZF transmissions, correct? Just trying to figure out who to do this.

 

I called five other “euro” shops and they all advised to leave the transmission alone and refused to work on it. All said I would do more harm than good. Only one offered to do anything, a drain an fill for $600. One said he personally owns/has owned 3 LR3s/LR4s and never changed transmissions fluid on any of them and got over 150k on all of them.