Auto Gearbox Question...

[conmai]

Hi all,

As the owner of a previous Bongo and the keeper of a new one, I've a subtle difference in the how the gearbox changes through the gears, don't think it's a biggy but in essence the new Bongo feels 'sloppy' or 'soft' between gear changes, so not sharp or that noticeable, now I'm not sure what would cause this but I do have planned a replacement of the ATF, along with a refurb of the filter and gasket, would this help or is there somehting more sinister going on?


Regards all.......

[roosmith]

If the new box is smooth and changes unoticeably, it sounds like that is the "right" one and the old clunky one is the duffer? Or did I miss the point

[rita]

It would be a good move to change the fluid and filter, does it give you the impression that its like "the clutch is slipping" between gears and no bite.?

What vehicle do you have.

[helen&tony]

Hi
You shouldn't really "feel" gear changes, as long as you don't feel any slipping so Roo is right!.....Sounds like you've a good auto!
Cheers
Helen

[conmai]

All, thanks for your comments...well the gearbox is quiet and seems smooth I'm also thinking that mild slipping is what I'm experiencing, I'm no expert so may need a 3rd party to provide an opinion, I'm also prone to overthinking things, but if we was to assume that there is some slippage what would be steps for me to take?

Thanks all!

[mikeWalsall]

Unless you know the full servcie history there may be a chance the auto tranny fluid is 17 years old ..

Maybe time for a fluid flush / change ..

[roosmith]

If you are unsure, as Mike says, get a fluid change anyway and see what you have afterwards.

[mikeWalsall]

To supplement there income in a similar scenario to refilling A/C ... a lot of small garages are now offering a American style gearbox 'suction' service where the gearbox / torque converter is flushed and refilled by a machine ....

Some thing like this ..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjxmlrbpjTk

[wonkanoby]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsdPAadc9fY

looked quite interesting

[conmai]

Just thought I'd report back...

Well first I took up some slack on the acelerator pedal, straight forward enough...then onto the removal of the gearbox sump and change of the ATF...

No suction pump so was a gingerly approach to removing all 18 bolts! A nice big pan underneath to catch al the browny\black fluid and once all removed I left the drip pan in place for a couple of hours, I also removed the filter for cleaning...
So, on inspection in the sump pan I there was a mass of what I can only describe as a grey\black sludge, with a consistency very similar to wet clay, the magnet could not be seen for the amount of clay that had formed around it...
The sump pan was throughly cleaned along with the magnet, the filter had a good cleaning too with lots of little bits of debris being freed, once all cleaned up I added a very slight smear of sealing gasket to the already in-place gasket (which seemed in remarkably good condition) and fixed the filter and sump pan in place.
I used some Comm Dexron III (5 litres of it) although I only used 4.2 litres, which was what came out or there abouts

Well what I can say, once topped up I took the bongo out for a drive and it felt I like a had a new gearbox, no siftness or sloppy feel, good crisp pickup through all gears, frankly an amazing difference and to top it al no leaks, just need to keep my eye on the level! This is one job that I'd recommend anyone doing if they are not sure on the last time it was done...pretty easy to do from a DIY perspective and complety rewarding ....Cheers all!

[mikeWalsall]

Strange why it was so mucky ..

My auto box as a drain plug .. but I still removed the sump ..

To my surprise it was remarkably clean . no contamination or metal swarf on the magnet ..

I use a semi synthetic Dexron3 ..