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I have just had a auto gearbox service.

Jon M

Jon M

Active Newbie
E51 Owner
South East
Messages
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Location
Burgess Hill. Sussex
First Name
Jon
Elgrand
E51
Region
South East
I have just had a auto gearbox service
Changed the oil and filter
No nasty surprises
Van has done 100 K
E51 3.5L
£260
Money well spent
Local company in Brighton near the old Goldstone stadium
 
I’ve been quoted £350 + VAT locally for full flush and filter change, probably with me supplying the filter and gasket.
 
I had mine done recently at an auto trans specialist in Adelaide. Cost me $420 AUD, so roughly 210 pounds UK. They billed me for 7 litres of fluid, which I thought was pretty good. The only concern I have is that they apparently found a lot of metal filings in the old oil. Still seems to run okay though ?
 
Hi
When I spoke to the owner he made a point of telling me that the old oil was is good condition.
No burning on the filter and no filings the oil
So I guess mine is in a good condition

Which is the luck draw
 
Mines being done next week 395 +VAT (470) why so much? I'm assuming that's full flush?
 
Good piece of mind. Good one for finding someone competent and willing to do it, too.
 
I've been doing my atf myself in a different way to most.

I was worried about transmission fluid shock as my transmission clearly hadn't been touched for a very long time, if at all, and it's an 04.

It's when a trans hasn't been serviced in its life and has built up settled deposits over those years of work. If you then drain the fluid, usually 6.3 ltrs with the rest in the torque converter, and refill with fresh, the sudden change in alkalinity can stir up those sediments which get into areas they cause functionality problems. When they flush at a garage using the two feeds out to the cooler. The change in flow rate of fresh fluid can also stir up those same sediments with the same result, a sick transmission needing a rebuild.

I have a good vacuum transfer pump. I first checked how much I can get up through the dipstick tube, around 3 ltrs. I inspected it for contaminants/metal fragments, other than colour it was clean, then I put 2 ltrs back with 1 litre of fresh.

Every week since I've removed 1 ltr of fluid up the dipstick then pushed 1 ltr of fresh back down.

Our vans hold about 10 ltrs and I have 20 ltrs of Dexron vi which matches OEM spec. I'm aiming for around 15 1 ltr swaps. Then I'll drop the pan, the 6.3 ltrs available through the drain plug, change the filter, refit and fill entirely with fresh.

Yeah it's a bit of a faff, but I'm time rich and like doing a few jobs.

I do the engine oil the same way. In the sump, the vac pump removes everything in one. I undid the sump plug first time out and barely a drop was left. Doing full oil changes in under 10 mins, no jacks, under trays, tools or getting underneath is relaxing.
 
ollieguy said:
Mines being done next week 395 +VAT (470) why so much? I'm assuming that's full flush?
Click to expand...
470? To change the atf? Is this a complex job then as that is a hell of a lot of Dosh!
 
I just paid £420 including VAT. Living in rural Suffolk I didn’t have a lot of choice. I found a place in Norfolk with a pumping machine but their comms were very poor and there were quite a few poor google reviews with angry exchanges. In the end I went with a fairly local place that does high-end Land Rover restorations/upgrades/rebuilds at mega £ and LR servicing. They were very responsive, even out of hours and the young chap who did it answered all my questions about how he was going to ensure the level was correct. He is coincidently looking for an Ellie to go with his expanding family and used to own a 350z so it all had a good vibe. So yes, it was expensive, I could have traveled further for cheaper and a maybe less inspiring company image but would I be happier? I doubt it. He told his boss that “it is a beautiful car” so all sounds good. I supplied the filter and gasket which I got from Brian a while ago.
 
I understand people looking for piece of mind.
Price is more to do with the amount of oil for the flush and yes the quality.
Anything around £300 to £600
The difference after a change is really surprising.
Me every year I change the engine oil ( ( yip depends on colour, might be 2 or 3) but every year I drop the transmission oil (just the same process as the engine) remove the sump plug, catch old oil, new copper washer, plug back in, put back in ( quantity ) what you took out ( not a full change about 5 lts or so)
It is expensive enough to put fuel in without heavy bills, not trying to preach, just pointing out if YOU change your engine oil !!
 
The way to change my boat engine oil is to pump it out via the dipstick tube but the dipstick is designed for this purpose, it has a threaded connection at the top to attach a pump to and the tube connects to the very bottom of the sump where a drain plug would usually be fitted... and because the dipstick tube attaches to what would normally (on a car / truck) be the oil drain hole there is no oil drain hole (unless you disconnect the dipstick tube). The reason for this is there wouldn't be enough space between the sump and boat hull to slide an oil catching bucket between and you don't want to drain oil into the boat bilge. I wouldn't call it relaxing though lol, my vacuum pump is a manual type and is more effort than just undoing a drain plug. On an Elgrand if you want to change the oil filter you've got to go underneath anyway and it's more difficult to access and change the oil filter than to use the drain plug.

There'll always be some debris in the sump of a slushbox automatic, it's mostly the worn clutch material, kind of forms a paste that sticks to the inside of the sump. A flush won't remove that pasty stuff but when the sump is off you can clean it out by wiping.
 
Last edited:
Lpgc said:
There'll always be some debris in the sump of a slushbox automatic, it's mostly the worn clutch material, kind of forms a paste that sticks to the inside of the sump. A flush won't remove that pasty stuff but when the sump is off you can clean it out by wiping.
Click to expand...

Yip buddy, you guys are far more knowledgeable than me, I'm just a spanner guy.
I have removed the sump, changed the filter, cleaned the magnets, all not a difficult job.
All good, just pointing out if you can change oil!!!
And yes I have drilled a hole in the plastic gard, to save removing it every time I drop the oil, gaffer tape it up when done, pull tape off next time, gaffer tape, when done
 
Our last posts crossed mate 👍

With some of the more expensive prices there's the garage usual hourly rate, quality of oil and a charge to offset the cost of the garage buying the automatic oil change machine.
 
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