weird problem!

[dieselboy]

hi all, hope you are all enjoying the weather!

i had to drive to work today because there were NIL trains! no bother, 4WD works a charm with ATs

anyhow, i get to the strand and park up, i left it in 4wd as the road had hardly been driven down and wanted to be able to pull away easily.

however, now when i drive, it drives ok, but when i come to a stop it seems to come out of drive although the lever is still in drive..
when this happens, i can press the accelerator and it revs and then all of a sudden goes into drive.

this is very weird. this happens if i am in 4wd or not, and also in 4wd LOW.

i have some theory as to what the problem may be, but im hoping ive given enough info to be told so im not faffin about in the snow (or break down on the way home!)

thanks all!

[nero279]

sounds a bit atf fluidish related to me, if that's ok i guess it could equally be time to check transfer case oil?

[dieselboy]

sounds a bit atf fluidish related to me, if that's ok i guess it could equally be time to check transfer case oil?

this is what i was thinking.. i cant understand why i would have lost oil, but i possible could have burned it from playing around in the snow..

thanks, i will check it at a garage on the way home.. and will forum search for what type i need.
i think i top it up in the ATF dipstick dont i? there is no propper fill hole i believe?

[si tate]

Yes it is through the dip stick mate.
Its dextron II atf what you need.

[dieselboy]

thanks guys. i will take a look at a petrol garage. mot is due soon, so will get them to change it. the car always feels better with a fresh oil change in the gearbox.

[steve s]

reading these posts with interest gearbox oil change is there any point does it improve the cars performance .is it something that i should do. educate me guys

[PDR]

And IIRC you get the gearbox up to normal operating temperature, hold your foot on the brake and move the lever back and forth through P,R,N,D,1,2 several times and then put it in P and check the level with the engine still running.

[darkdezigns]

oddly enough i found today after approx 5 hours driving snow had thawed on a23 so pulled over realised i couldnt remember for the life of me right way to turn 4wd off,soo tried in D,nothing,then N nothing,then P nothing still in 4wd,so pulled away and about 30 secs later disengaged at about 30mph?

[dieselboy]

i think there may be a leak somewhere. although cant see how / why.
i cant see under the truck for the snow, and all the garages / mechanics on the way home were closed.

im not chancing it to work tomorrow in it, so if the trains are screwed like today then i will take it to a place to be looked at..

my questions are: is there any hoses or anything like that that could have blown off.
i drove to work pretty much in constant 4WD since i was one of the first lot out at 7am.

i also pushed a transit up a steep hill because he couldnt get up there - the traffic had backed up a good mile because of this bloke (and someone else in a bmw who had slid at some weird angle on the opposite side of the road.)

i topped up with two bottles of plain atf fluid to see if it made a difference and it did a tiny bit, so either its really empty or there is something else wrong.

i hate it when there are problems i cant fix and i have to wait for..

i need some re-assuring advice!

thank you

[dieselboy]

oddly enough i found today after approx 5 hours driving snow had thawed on a23 so pulled over realised i couldnt remember for the life of me right way to turn 4wd off,soo tried in D,nothing,then N nothing,then P nothing still in 4wd,so pulled away and about 30 secs later disengaged at about 30mph?

hehe you crazy mofo 30 is ok, ive done that a few times with both my trucks, i think its how you disengage that matters bth. cant remember what the speed limit to do that is though.

i forgot how good 4wd was, in this snow with 4wd on if you are trying to pull away you have about twice as much control over a normal car i reckon.
with 4wd on, breaking, pulling away and turning works better

[gwh200]

well tony you have driven several miles in 4wd on normal roads...its not a great idea even if they are completely covered.the bits you can do in 2wd you should have done...and i would leave it where it is till you drop that gearbox fluid.the wrong fluid can screw your transmission

[surfenstein]

i hate to be the bearer of bad news,but if you cant see the leak,just check your rad coolant just in case the heat exchanger has burst and is allowing atf to mix with engine coolant.

[steve s]

ok i drove about 15 miles to work this morning on snow covered roads but on 2 or 3 sections of road i stopped and put it in 2wd can you chainge in and out of 4wd on the move ?or is it best to stop

[BUSHWHACKER]

ok i drove about 15 miles to work this morning on snow covered roads but on 2 or 3 sections of road i stopped and put it in 2wd can you chainge in and out of 4wd on the move ?or is it best to stop

On the move up to 45mph.

[dieselboy]

well tony you have driven several miles in 4wd on normal roads...its not a great idea even if they are completely covered.the bits you can do in 2wd you should have done...and i would leave it where it is till you drop that gearbox fluid.the wrong fluid can screw your transmission

yea i did do that, 2wd when i could. there were no roads that wernt glazed, they didnt even grit the roads round here..

ok thanks for the advice