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Omega Help Area => Omega General Help => Topic started by: osealy on 23 July 2010, 22:28:42

Title: TD slushbox getting worse?
Post by: osealy on 23 July 2010, 22:28:42
At 190K now, Sometimes 3rd is missing? goes from 2nd to neutral (just revs) moving stick to3 fixes it & it may be fine for 100's of miles, changes are smooth other than that. I have a Jpat gasket set also a 2nd hand AR35 but I'm getting too long in the tooth to  change it in the drive, Is it a solenoid/electric issue or something more serious.. Ideas! :-?
Title: Re: TD slushbox getting worse?
Post by: BRIGSPORT on 23 July 2010, 23:02:03
I have just removed an ar25 from my 82k mile td due to it losing its oil from the bottom cover. The oil that came out was black and as far as i know the units are sealed for life so i would say that it is goosed. My car took a few seconds to engage reverse and changed up and down randomly at 50 mph. If its the original box at that mileage i would say its done well.
Title: Re: TD slushbox getting worse?
Post by: osealy on 23 July 2010, 23:14:38
Post how you get on with the swop!
I had a previous TD which took a while to engage reverse eventualy lost reverse, had ingested water through broken breather while driving thru flooded lane!
Title: Re: TD slushbox getting worse?
Post by: TheBoy on 24 July 2010, 10:09:19
Quote
At 190K now, Sometimes 3rd is missing? goes from 2nd to neutral (just revs) moving stick to3 fixes it & it may be fine for 100's of miles, changes are smooth other than that. I have a Jpat gasket set also a 2nd hand AR35 but I'm getting too long in the tooth to  change it in the drive, Is it a solenoid/electric issue or something more serious.. Ideas! :-?
Shagged box. It will likely be hydromechanical, not worth messing with.  Slap the ar35 one. Then get a chip :P
Title: Re: TD slushbox getting worse?
Post by: feeutfo on 24 July 2010, 10:13:39
Couple of hundred quid plus parts should see the box swooped over, IF you can find a mechanic with the experience.
Title: Re: TD slushbox getting worse?
Post by: erubus on 24 July 2010, 12:32:12
my old td did pretty much the same with it's gearbox.  it strted juddering in first and second gear at first and if you used the kickdown or it changed down into 2nd or 1st on the move it would just rev, then eventually catch with an almighty judder.  I got round this by using the snow mode for starting off, and whenever i was ona gradient that needed a low gear.  eventually i was driving along at about 50mph when the revs started to jump, by the time i'd gone another couple of miles i was doing full revs and the car eventually slowed down to a standstill then rolled backwards dwon the hill.  it turned out to be the low clutch had failed first then the strain of using snow mode all the time had made the forward clutch fail.  i couldn't find another g/box so had to scrap the car before i'd even finished paying for it, but if you hae an AR35 sitting it really shouldn't be difficult to swap over, and is a much stronger box.
Title: Re: TD slushbox getting worse?
Post by: osealy on 24 July 2010, 13:25:23
No shuddering at all! Gearchanges are all good, just sometimes no 3rd, been like this for 1year & 20k mls but is becoming more frequent, I had bought a spare elite but I prefer the recaros in the prefacelift.
Title: Re: TD slushbox getting worse?
Post by: aaronjb on 24 July 2010, 13:57:56
Quote
I have just removed an ar25 from my 82k mile td due to it losing its oil from the bottom cover. The oil that came out was black and as far as i know the units are sealed for life so i would say that it is goosed.

Just to dispel a myth that nobody else spotted;  the gearboxes are not sealed units, far from it.  They even have a specified service interval if used for 'heavy duty' use (e.g. towing) - I forget what it is, 60k or 100k? - at which the oil should be flushed and changed by dropping the sump off and then refilling via the fill plug on the side of the box.

So if you've swapped a box in and not checked the fluid level, you really should - otherwise you could well end up doing the job all over again soon.



On the original post I'd have thought that if 3rd was only missing sometimes it's more likely to be a solenoid than clutch bands.. though you've still got to get under there on your back and split the sump off to get at them - if you're paying someone else to do it you may as well get the AR35 swapped in and be done with it.
Title: Re: TD slushbox getting worse?
Post by: osealy on 24 July 2010, 14:08:47
Is the solenoid an easy swop, how do I tell if it's faulty?
I am happy to lie on my back to drop sump just not to change a heavy box on a gravel drive :-/