Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Paul T.]

Thanks Kneepad. I'll try that out first thing. 

[Paul T.]

Tried the reset and also helped the stuck button up and down manually whilst pressing the remote on/off. All now perfectly in sync. Many Thanks. 

[hotel21]

The 3.0l isn't known for eating its AR35 autobox, so check fluid level is perfect, then you are in the realms of looking further.

A full description of exacly when it happens will help the experts here offer advice on what could be causing it...

Thanks.

The fluid level should be spot on.This and the filter was changed a month ago along with a good clean out (nothing too bad just the usual grey sludge).

If the car is ever going to misbehave it is when "sport" is selected. In this case, if floored it will pick up okay but will sometimes redline and fail to change up from 3-4th or 4-5th unless you take your foot off the gas. Again in sport mode a clunk/jump can be felt between 2-3rd with the engine spinning in limbo until the gear is found and then "WHACK".

Also in sport, gentle deceleration when approaching lights/junction can result in a huge whack when downchanging from 3-2nd.

I trust the guys who did the ATF and filter change and the car behaves pretty much the same as before the change except the changes are smoother.

Took her out this morning (not in sport), freezing and she was as good as gold even though she was hard driven on the salted empty bypass.

Any clues would be great.

Thanks.

Paul.

Think this is the first place you should be checking.

Correct proceedure is car level, engine running (most important....) after making sure you have run up and down through the gears several times.  Oil should 'just' weep out the filler hole when removed.  If it does not, level is too low and needs topping up.

There is no level stick for the gearbox, unlike the engine.... 

[Paul T.]

Thanks Hotel21. 

The garage that did the gearbox service changed the ATF/Filter on my 02 320CDI and it was a top job (sometimes I can't even feel the gearchanges). However, I know there is a dipstick for that box so the level is checkable.

The faults with my miggy box are the same before and after ATF/Filter change which MAY (as some have already said) suggest a new solenoid is required.

However, your diagnosis may well be spot-on if the garage only replaced the amount of fluid drianed from the box, and that amount was insufficient to enable the box to operate. 

The garage (bodyshop) that did the g/box service are a competant outfit and have been unbelievably kind to me in the last few years (helped me out on two accident claims - one fault and one non-fault) and I'd hate to go back and ask them to take another look at the box. I know that when changing the ATF/Filter on my 320CDI that they ran the engine and went through the gears to flush torque converter...

So is there a way of me establishing the oil level in the box without returning the car to the bodyshop?


I really appreciate the help on this forum and am very grateful to be around fellow miggy owners who are so willing to offer help.   


Many thanks.

Paul.

[Kneepad]

So is there a way of me establishing the oil level in the box without returning the car to the bodyshop?

Indeed there is, however this entails getting under the car and removing the level plug on the driver's side of the gearbox. Fluid should be level with the bottom edge of the hole.
Car must be level when this check is made.   

[Paul T.]

Thanks very much Kneepad. 

[hotel21]

As I described earlier in the thread. 

Remember the engine must be running though otherwise oil will drain out and box will be underfilled. That's most likely where the previous folks have got it wrong and you now have the probs described.

So is there a way of me establishing the oil level in the box without returning the car to the bodyshop?

Indeed there is, however this entails getting under the car and removing the level plug on the driver's side of the gearbox. Fluid should be level with the bottom edge of the hole.
Car must be level when this check is made.   

[Paul T.]

Thanks for that hotel21. 

I think I need access to a 2/4 poster to get the car in the air and level. If the oil level is low where do I refill and what ATF should I use?

Thanks again,

Paul.

[albitz]

Do you have access to a pair of ordinary ramps ?
If you do then you could use them, but the car needs to be on a downhill slope, with the front face down. Then you can drive the car onto the ramps until you reach the point where the car is level, but due to the downhill slope off the road there will be a certain amount of clearance under the front half of the car.
Its much simpler than I have explained it, Im sure.
My driveway has a slope, so I have always used this method to check my ATF.
WARNING - The handbrake must be on and chocks placed under the front of the wheels, also, before you climb under the car ensure the selector is in the P position. The prospect of the car rolling back off the ramps doesnt bear thinking about.
The plug you will remove to check the ATF level is also the filler plug. Its a bit of a faff and different people have devised different methods to make the job easier.
I use a funnel placed in the engine bay with a pipe running from it down through the filler plug into the box.
Dexron 3 ATF is what you need to put in if it needs topping up.
Again - its nowhere near as involved as I might have made it seem , its pretty straightforward really.

[hotel21]

You could always jack (and support) the drivers side whilst removing the filler plug, fill with fluid (engine running) and then lower car back to the level with the plug still out to get correct level?  Then rejack and support and replace plug.  Dont switch the engine off inbetween otherwise you will be wasting your time and fluid....   

[Paul T.]

Thanks fella's! It great to have a helping hand from you guy's.

I dare say I'll be refering back to this advice when I get the chance to check the ATF.

Took miggy out this morning and gearbox well behaved apart from one high revving incident on the way back at low speed where engine was waiting for gear to engage.

I'm pretty sure I could have summoned the clunk/whack at will by selecting sport mode but resisited the temptation.

Cheers,

Paul.