Have had our 2006 RRS 2.7D (140k miles) for a couple of months now and always felt like the transmission was a bit "sluggish'.

Nothing major, it held gears and kicked down OK - yet it didn't feel right. So did a bit of digging on the forum and decided to have the ATF flushed/refilled as well as having the oil in the diffs and transfer case changed. Went to Quattro in Riccall, near York having seen their name and positive feedback on here a few times plus their location tied in with a visit to family in the area.

When I got there I asked them to show me what was coming out of the transmission:

Black stuff on the left was what was drained out - gold stuff on the right is what went back in along with additives:

Click image to enlarge

well worth doing on yours

Holy poop......that was manky  Steve.

I think black is the normal colour above 100K

Wow looks like old chip oil  2006 2.7 TDV6 HSE in Cairns Blue.

^^^^^^ I`ve never seen chip oil that colour  Steve.

The black oil was noticeably more viscous than the new stuff - and that was out of a car that had been driven to make progress for an hour so it was still warm and therefore more liquid than it would have been cold.

The other thing is that although the colour of the old oil didn't particularly surprise me its density did - there was no translucence at all.

It definitely needed changing.

Hi map_rrs,
That looks and sounds like a job that was worth doing!
May I ask what sort of cost this was?

Many Thanks. Regards,

Danny

LR reckon the gearbox fluid is ok until 150k. Yours at 140k would suggest that they are wrong and the general wisdom that changes at half that mileage are a better proposition is correct.  2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

Danny1 wrote:

Hi map_rrs,
That looks and sounds like a job that was worth doing!
May I ask what sort of cost this was?

Many Thanks.

RRSTDV8 wrote:

LR reckon the gearbox fluid is ok until 150k. Yours at 140k would suggest that they are wrong and the general wisdom that changes at half that mileage are a better proposition is correct.

map_rrs wrote:

Danny1 wrote:

Hi map_rrs,
That looks and sounds like a job that was worth doing!
May I ask what sort of cost this was?

Many Thanks.

ATF Flush and and Replace - phone and web research suggests it's generally around £250 mark - I was offered and took the option for additives - to be honest I don't know what they are or what they do but they're in there and yes I got properly "up-sold" but the additional £30 seemed like a no-brainer to me.

Transfer Case, Front and Rear Diffs - around £150.

These prices include VAT - I might have been able to reduce the cost with a bit of haggling but sometimes the price reduction isn't worth it in terms of value now or in the future.

Hope this helps - I do think it is good value assuming there aren't other pressing maintenance/safety works to be done.

just had ours flushed on a 55 plate with 182 000 on clock, feels like a new car

Hi Cupra,
I see you are in Kent, can I ask who you used and what sort of cost?
I have been told of a mobile chap in your neck of the woods? Regards,

Danny

Is the transmission fluid easy enough to change at home over a pit. Has anyone done this work themselves on a TdV8 L320? If so please give a run down of what is involved.