I called LR today as my car is in on thursday to get a look over and an oil change (not a service - just changing it as I bought it from a dealer and I want assurances its good oil) - the guys said to not change the oil for the gear box, but I'd read to do it on any gearbox >100k.

So I'm asking you guys since you are enthusiasts and will know what's a waste of cash and what is not. I just want to not have a bad gear box in a years time and kick myself over a few quids worth of oil. 

I recall from reading here that ZF (?) the manufacturer of the gearboxes said change the oil.

I had mine power flushed by one of the chaps on here.

do it or you will have problems ,the oil inside your box has done a lot of miles and will need replacing  silverRRS 2.7 TDV6 22"WHEELS FULL COLOUR CODE,STEPS,REMAP..gone
Rimini red rrs 2.7 tdv6 steps. Full c code. Recon engine!!loved but!gone ,thank god !!
Gone rr sport supercharged. Loved but 11mpg !!!
current,triumph stag mk2...current bmw 325 sport convertible

Gearbox oil starts to degrade at around 60k miles, so always worthwhile having it done before any irrepairable damage occurs

I keep finding that LR dealers resist doing non-standard work. I've come to the conclusion that they only want to do quick high profit stuff like services. Stuff that takes up a ramp for a few hours is resisted. 2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

anyone here able to carry out this gearbox flush in the Cardiff area ?  RR Sport Supercharged Vesuvius Orange 4.2 V8 First edition

Prefer RR Vouge S/C but they don't do Orange !

Thanks guys, I've it booked for the gearbox too now, they said they never do it, but I insisted I get it done, so they roll eyes and will do my request.

So I'm now wondering what the difference is with a flush and a re-oil? Is a flush an extra solvent added then cleared before the new oil? 

Standard LR gearbox oil change is: empty some out, add some, drive it a bit, empty some out, top it back up to level. Result is that a good proportion of the old oil remains in the gearbox.

A flush is a non-LR system that uses a pump (either externally or using the gearbox's own pump) to replace as close to 100% of the oil as one can do without a full strip down of the gearbox.

The argument for using the latter system is that adding new oil to old oil just ends up in new contaminated oil. It's better than no change but it's not as good as the full change achieved by the flush system.

That's my understanding, anyway  2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

designboy wrote:

I've it booked for the gearbox too now, they said they never do it

I can almost believe them - the oil change is at ten years (I think). Most vehicles of that age will not be getting serviced by a main dealer.

Similarly, I mentioned to my local LR dealer about the possibility of changing the dampers. "Hardly ever need to" was the reply. But as most older vehicles won't be serviced by them it's no surprise they never need to change the dampers - that sort of work will be done by a local general garage or an indie LR specialist somewhere.

I've been tempted to change the spring/damper units myself but I fear the bolts will be a git to undo and also my torque wrench doesn't have a high enough setting for the bottom bolt. Could buy a new wrench I suppose...  2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

I'm glad I did push to get it done, but I've no idea on the cost - anyone know the sort of money extra to do it? I'd seen on ebay kits around £250 but I'm guessing LR will be a lot more. 

Bear in mind that LR call their process something like "double flush" but it's not actually a flush at all.

As for cost, no idea. I would guess you're looking at £400+ from a dealer - oil, filter and labour assuming they do the full work rather than just change a bit of the oil. The filter change is a bit of a faff as it requires a subframe to be removed and the transmission/engine raised slightly to get the old filter out. I'm sure others can give a full description of the required work.

If you have a decent LR indie close by, I think you'd be better to get them to do it (cheaper labour) and also get them to do the "BMW mod". This replaces the plastic "all in one" filter tray at the bottom of the gearbox with a metal tray. The metal tray has a separate filter. This is what BMW have on their version of the same gearbox apparently, and allows the filter to be changed more easily. I think it requires different length bolts but, again, others will know more detail.

I haven't had the BMW-mod done as I have a LR warranty and I reckon they'd use it as an excuse to void any transmission claim. If you don't have a warranty then it's something to think about. 2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

designboy wrote:

So I'm now wondering what the difference is with a flush and a re-oil? Is a flush an extra solvent added then cleared before the new oil?

A drain and refill replaces less than 4 litres of oil, in a gearbox that holds 11 litres. This replaces less than a third of the old oil. But, the new oil is contaminated straight away as it mixes with the existing old oil.
A "double flush" is essentially a drain and refill twice. It is generally believed that a double flush replaces around 50% of the old oil.

A Megaflush/Powerflush, whatever you want to call it, is essentially a dialysis machine for your gearbox. It is a machine connected into the cooler pipework, and uses the gearbox oil pump to push the old oil out, the machine measures the quantity of oil, and automatically replaces it with new oil

The new oil and old oil are kept completely separate from each other

RRSTDV8 wrote:

I can almost believe them - the oil change is at ten years (I think). Most vehicles of that age will not be getting serviced by a main dealer.

any idea's who does this in kent as mines on 155K and has a little judder now and again ?

I was quoted £500 about 3 years ago by my dealer I would go full engine flush if it was me.

Ady 555 wrote:

I was quoted £500 about 3 years ago by my dealer I would go full engine flush if it was me.

How would that help the gearbox?

Cupra wrote:

any idea's who does this in kent as mines on 155K and has a little judder now and again ?

Geoff. is your man. Not very active here, but is on the D3 forum