D2 tranny gone?

[jham]

2000 D2, 120k.

Driving home tonight and notice a huge cloud of smoke behind me. Pull onto a side road and notice that the transmission isn't kicking in until about 3k rpms. Coast into the apartment complex ( i was close to home) and none of the gears work. I get out, pop the hood, smoke everywhere. There's a trail of red fluid behind me, and the passenger side of the engine bay is COVERED in red fluid. Not throwing a single damn code.

Its dark and the motor is hot, so I'm inside waiting for the morning. Throw me some ideas of what to check for. I'm not exactly a champ and tranny diagnostics...

 

[Rovertrader]

Sounds like you are actually...

 

[jham]

Sounds like you are actually...

don't get it.


anyways, i tried reverse, all gears, and locked the CDL... still nothing. When I can get a buddy over here tomorrow, I'll check for driveshaft movement, etc.

What kind of hose would do this? Transmission cooler line?

 

[JSBriggs]

Sounds like a cooler line let go. Lucky it didn't catch fire. I had one blow on my RRC. Replaced the line, filled it back up with fluid and I was good to go.

-Jeff

 

[jham]

I've combed RAVE, I can't seem to figure it out...

on the passenger side of the cooler, it looks like there are two input lines. the bottom one has a hose, the top one does not. RAVE only shows one input on that side. err, i'll take a picture tomorrow.

judging by the fluid evidence, the magic happened passenger front towards the bottom of the radiator. right around where the tranny line goes into the cooler.

 

[UnfrozenCaveman]

Check the fluid...wait, no dipstick on the S2?...and the rubber sections of the cooler lines - they're between the radiator and the steering box area. There are two sections of 3/8" and one poece of 1/2" hydraulic hose on the D1.

I had one fail in western Nebraska on the way home from the Rally.

AAA flatbedded me to a teeny town, I replaced the hose, filled up the trans and was on my way.

Good Luck,

KAA

 

[R_Lefebvre]

Yup, sounds like you blew a hose off most likely, or possibly ruptured a hose. You'd lose drive once the tranny dumped it's fluid and the torque converter is empty. Since you were close to home, good chance your transmission is fine. I don't have my RAVE in front of me, what kind of connection does it show at the cooler? Clamps, crimp shell,...? There will of course be an entrance and exit for that cooler.

You'll have fun refilling it because IIRC there is no fill tube, so you have to do it from underneath.

 

[jham]

i found the problem - the input line to the cooler popped off. the problem is I can't get it back on correctly. anyone have any tips? no matter how hard i push or pull, it just won't go back on all the way.

 

[R_Lefebvre]

Ok, so they used quick connects. Or quick disconnects, as some people like to call them. I'm not sure who's that is (I engineered these things for a few years, not for LR though), but it's likely there is or was a plastic snap ring inside. It must have melted or wore away. If it melted, you've got some transmission temperature problems you need to solve.

You're probably a little screwed. You're going to need to either buy a new line, or bodge something together. I have seen cases where hoses were pushed onto quick connect endforms and clamped and worked. In fact, a certain number of my vehicles shipped like that due to a parts mix-up <cough>.

There might be a chance you can get a replacement quick connect at an auto parts store, that you would assemble onto a hose. I'm not sure what's out there, but sometimes I'm surprised when I see something on shelves.

 

[jham]

Ok, so they used quick connects. Or quick disconnects, as some people like to call them. I'm not sure who's that is (I engineered these things for a few years, not for LR though), but it's likely there is or was a plastic snap ring inside. It must have melted or wore away. If it melted, you've got some transmission temperature problems you need to solve.

who is "they"? You're talking about the factory, right? Is this the type of connection that's on all D2s?

Nothing melted. I just can't get it to "click" back on.

 

[R_Lefebvre]

They as in the factory. They're probably all like that, but not necessarily. We changed the Explorer from a clamp connection to a quick connect a few months after launch, then went back to clamps for about a month, then a quick connect for the rest of production. That stuff can happen, but I have no knowledge of the Disco specifically.

If it won't click on, either you're not pushing hard enough, or something happened to the snap ring. As I said, it could have melted (inside, you might not see it) or is wore away, might have fallen out. There's really no trick to it, if it won't click on, something is wrong.

Quick connects tend to work well. If they aren't assembled right, they either blow off at the end of the assembly line or during delivery, and are fixed. If they make it that far, they're good, they don't just come apart. Unless something in them melts or breaks, in which case, you need to effect a repair. There's very little chance that it just came apart and you can just clip it back together.

 

[jham]

good to know. the shop is reputable and has my number, and i told them not to rig it. it the whole line needs replacing, they'll do it.