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Jimbo
11-08-2004, 08:09 PM
Had a scary moment this Sunday, as you know it was a scorcher or a day and I took the car out for a spin on the test track ( Macclesfield via Congleton, i.e. Axe Edge and the Cat and Fiddle ;) ). The car was nicely dusted down after this so I set about cruising past Bollington, Rainow and was heading into Kettleshume when, after shifting the car into tiptronic, my N light started flashing and stuck itself in 3rd. :wtf:

Stopped in a pub car park, let it cool for a 5-10 minutes in P, but it was still flashing when I shifted back down. I then stopped and started the engine and all was fine again?!?!? Nursed it back home sedately and have had no further occurance since.

Now I know one or two of you had this at Combe, but has anybody ever sufferred the dreaded overheating box on the open road? I wasn't hanging around and it was very hot outside, but I wasn't completely thrashing it , either. :huh:

Brind
11-08-2004, 09:40 PM
Have you checked your gearbox oil?

Jimbo
12-08-2004, 12:08 AM
Have you checked your gearbox oil?

Oo now there's an ominous thought, no mate, I haven't . Was this the cause of yours, Derek? There's no oil patches on my drive, though :sad3:

Spirit
12-08-2004, 07:14 AM
A sure sign of the gearbox overheating I would say, so check your level and if all okay I would get it changed to be safe. I'm sure I read somewhere that if you boil the g/box oil the quality degrades quickly, so better to be safe ?

enigma
12-08-2004, 07:28 AM
The N light has 2 modes of flashing, one is a 2Hz flash which simply means you cooked it, the other is a 1Hz flash which you dont want to see!!

Kieran
12-08-2004, 07:46 AM
...I'm sure I read somewhere that if you boil the g/box oil the quality degrades quickly, so better to be safe ?

Spot on. ATF does breakdown as it overheats and this dramatically shortens it's serviceable life and lubrication qualities. Castle Combe started to barbeque the autobox fluid in my old GLS, and the difference was immediate and noticable - shifts became somewhat more rough and took longer. Soon as I changed it, it was back to buttery smooth again!

zentac
12-08-2004, 10:08 AM
not sure if its the same on the VR4 as the FTO but the FTO uses the bottom section of your radiator as an oil cooler, and they are very prone to blocking which can cause overheating. Its worth checking how the oil is cooled.

Jimbo
12-08-2004, 12:14 PM
Thanks for feedback everyone, very much appreciated.

I'm booked my car in for an oil change and new front brake discs in a couple of weeks (ready for TRAX :-b ), so I'll get them to change the gbox oil too.....

When does this normally get changed, anyhow? Is it just the 45000 service intervals? Mine's getting dangerously close to "The BIG ONE", as it's done 40K now, so the theory about degraded ATF would make perfect sense.

Kieran
12-08-2004, 02:34 PM
...When does this normally get changed, anyhow? Is it just the 45000 service intervals? ....

In my opinion, not often enough if you follow the service schedules. If the VR-4 is anything like the GLS and the V6-24, then it's only at the 'BIG' 45,000/54,000 mile service. To me, this is an absurd amound of time for ATF to survive. Reading on the internet, I settled on every 10,000 for my GLS. It's within the realms of DIY maintenance. Make sure that you instruct the dealer to flush out the old fluid. if they just change the stuff in the sump, it'll leave about 2 litres of knackered ATF in your valveblock and torque convertor housing. As soon as the engine starts, this will contaminate the fresh fluid... I had this happen to me, hence why I started doing it DIY.

Jimbo
12-08-2004, 07:42 PM
Cheers K, I've been given the name of a "reputable" auto-gearbox specialist near me, so I'm planning on nipping down tomorrow lunchtime to see what they say.

Every 10K, eh? OOoohhh, cripes, yet another running cost to add to the list!!! :laugh:

Kieran
12-08-2004, 10:24 PM
Every 10K, eh? OOoohhh, cripes, yet another running cost to add to the list!!! :laugh:

Heh.... It'll cost you about £50 max plus a couple of hours for the job if you DIY it and get some good quality ATF from somwehere like Camskill:)