Hi All - am hoping someone can advise. My 08 TDV8 with 98k miles has a slightly odd change from 2nd to 3rd. It seems to 'slip' the torque converter for a while (couple of seconds), before dropping properly into 3rd and behaving normally, but only on a light to medium throttle, full throttle is instant. The change is still completely smooth, you only notice by listening to the engine and watching the tacho.

All other changes are fine, there are no judders or noises and the previous owner recently did a gearbox oil change, which I suspect was nothing more than a sump drain.

How worried do I need to be / what should I do....?

The obvious 1st step is to change the oil and filter ... at the mileage you are at, if the oil hasn't been changed yet, then it will be at the end of its life realistically. Worn out oil can lead to shifting problems. There are a ton of threads on this. The method is fairly simple and can be done at home.

Its a first pass solution that costs a lot less than a rebuild of the gearbox, and in most cases is sufficient to get back to normal running. V8 or else ...

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Mine does exactly this too. Should I be worried? Wurzel what was the outcome Please?

Oil and filter change and a dose of Dr Tranny can do no harm and possibly put the requirement for a new box off for a while.

Jim

Thanks all. Per above it has just recently had an oil change and looking at the invoice, they replaced five litres which I don't think is all of it, but certainly more than is in just the sump?

I had the transmission flushed through and then refilled a couple weeks ago. Has anyone had dealings with Planet Gears in Peterborough? £1250 fitted for refurb transmissions. Done a bit of research and they seem like the real deal. Can't find negative feedback anywhere and they seem very professional.

Seaneb let us know how you get on with gearbox swap if you go for it, seems very good value.

I will. I rang them today- talked to someone called Roy. Extremely knowledgeable guy. Went into detail about the process they go through. Best case scenario it will cost me £850 for a new TC and a few other bits but essentially the transmission rebuilt with most of the bits it had in it (because after testing, diagnosing and stripping it down that was all it needed) and worst case £1800 for a completely refurbed trans with everything replaced (inc valve body etc) except planet gears. All prices +VAT and including fitting. Bare in mind that after completing each stage the trans is refitted and test driven on the road before committing to the next stage.
I've probably got a few details wrong in there but I'm sure you get the general idea. Sounds bloody great to me so I told him I'll probably be meeting him in the new year some time.

For any shift issues with the 6HP26 you should immediately suspect the solenoids.

Click image to enlarge

RRPhil they say that they test everything including valve block and mechatronic. One thing that was pointed out to me which I have since checked is that the vehicle can quite often start off in 2nd gear. This resulted in me thinking that there was sometimes a delay in changing from 2nd to 3rd when in fact the problem is 3rd to 4th.

Seaneb I've since noticed mine changes fine in manual mode with no slurring between 2nd and 3rd - does yours? Is also fine when cold.

No when cold (first few minutes) it will often not change up even though the display says it has. It makes the occasional whining noise too if trying to get a move on up a decent gradient too.

So my car has now been up to Roy at Planet Gears who echoed what my local LR specialist had already said, and that was that there was absolutely nothing wrong with it. Glad to have a second opinion in any case!

The explanation is long and technical but I was being over critical of a particular mannerism of that gearbox, Roy advised there was nothing to indicate the gearbox needed work doing on it and sent the car away with a clean bill of health, as well as not even charging me anything for his time. He's clearly exceptionally well clued up on ZF boxes and I can thoroughly recommend him to anyone who has issues.

One thing he did mention, was that an oil change at 100k miles or so in an otherwise sound gearbox, is likely to cause more damage than good. The gearbox ECU factors in friction surface wear and older oil as the gearbox ages, so in his experience replacing the fluid usually causes more problems than it solves.

In any case thank you to Roy and am glad to have my car back without a hefty bill!

Mine went to Planet Gears in December last year as it was dropping to many Gears on kickdown, slipping badly and going into safe mode.
Roy is a great guy and imo he really knows what he's talking about.
My result was the big bill as when it was stripped it appears that someone had been playing with it before and the were non ZF parts in it etc. Thought the Car was to cheap when i bought it and had been waiting for something to tell me why it was sold so cheap.
Anyway it cost me £2,450 inc the VAT but they changed everything, Gearbox, Converter and new solenoids etc in the Valve block.
Car even went back to him after a 500 mile running in period to be checked for operation and leaks etc.
Car now drives like a dream and even with this bill it's only owes me about the average cost of a 3.6 TDV8 on a 07 Plate so i'm still smiling.

I'd be interested in any more thoughts on the fluid change issue. I hadn't previously come across the idea that changing out the dirty old fluid would do more harm than good, and to be honest seems counter-intuitive to me. Any one else got a view/any experience with this?