My car has died - manual conversion time

[Atik]

Had a major gearbox failure today and it looks to be a terminal illness. I drove the car a round trip of 250 miles on Sunday, returning home at 9pm. Then at 8.30am Monday, the gearbox failed on me, after making a few really bad gear changes and spluttering when pulling off. The Amsoil ATF fluid was a weird chalky purple colour which might indicate a problem or a contamination in the gearbox.

After a recovery to Nick's place ( mate) I think I might just break the car for bits and look around for another Leggie VR4.

So, anyone interested in an otherwise decent condition, low mileage Legnum?
Its a 96 P, Hamilton silver, twin exhaust with 6 silencers, most other items stock. Rolling roaded in Sept 08 showing 260bhp and 227lb/ft torque. Engine has done only 55k-60k(ish) miles. Converted at 33k kms and now showing 72k on the clock.

I'm keeping the carbon dash, the Kenwood stereo and the carpets in the car

[elnevio]

Sorry to hear this - gutting!

But why not get another gearbox in it Atik?

[miller]

ah thats crap mate, not good news straight after christmas
Was there any other signs leading up to it?


Mike

[Atik]

I could put in £1k-ish worth of new gearbox/torque converter/Nick's labour etc but the problem 'may' still be present after all that work was carried out. That, to me, is too much of a gamble.

I'm sure Nick will be over at some point to give his view on this, but its not a simple diagnosis. It's definitely a major gearbox issue, but where and how is difficult to answer, so putting a new box still might not fix it for me.

Mike, there were no warnings at all. I drove 250miles the night before and the car felt fine but this morning it just died.

[bradc]

Can't see how putting in a new gearbox would have any possibility at all of still having a problem after the swap. Doesn't sound good though!

Did you have a gearbox cooler? Were you trashing it at all?

[elnevio]

Ah, I see. Still, I thought I'd ask the question before everyone else did!

On to business... do you have any undertray and/or the passenger wheelarch liner?

[Lillywotsername]

Gutted for you Atik....

[Nevman]

Not a good news matey. Hope you will find a new decent one soon.

[Atik]

Can't see how putting in a new gearbox would have any possibility at all of still having a problem after the swap. Doesn't sound good though!

Did you have a gearbox cooler? Were you trashing it at all?

Nick wasnt able to give a proper diagnosis as its not clear exactly what/where the problem is. There is something gone badly wrong though, the ATF is wrong colour/texture. Dont think I have a gearbox cooler, and definitely not thrashing the car. The evening before I drove a steady 60-70mph up the M1/M6 in steady traffic. And in the morning rolling at a steady 20-30mph morning rush hour/school run traffic.

On to business... do you have any undertray and/or the passenger wheelarch liner?

No undertray, and part arch liner available. Its kind of half snapped off/half still there.

[elnevio]

No undertray, and part arch liner available. Its kind of half snapped off/half still there.

Ok, no worries. Thanks for the info.

[Turbo_Steve]

Atik,

Is it Amsoil you've put in there, and did you do a full flush, or have you been topping it up on whatever was in there before?

Sorry mate, you're going to get a few questions relating to the failure, I expect!

As for parts: If I could have your fogs, please, complete with grilles, that'd be grand.

[Kieran]

The Amsoil ATF fluid was a weird chalky purple colour which might indicate a problem or a contamination in the gearbox.

That sounds very much like coolant contamination. FTOs sometimes have the same fault; the standard gearbox cooler (all of them have this) is located in the bottom of the radiator - It's basically just a thin-walled piece of tubing that the ATF passes through - excess heat being conducted into the coolant.

The big clue is the fact that the ATF has changed 'texture' and that it's gone purple.... This is the colour produced when red (ATF) and blue(coolant) mix.

My money's on this little heat exchange cylinder having fractured. You'll probably see some contamination of the engine coolant too.

[Nick Mann]

I did Atiks gearbox oil less than 6 monts ago. It has Amsoil in it and it was a full flush. The oil now has a purple colour to it which I have never seen before. I did as much diagnosis as I could yesterday without starting to take things apart, as Atik wanted to choose his path before spending money on the car.

The pressure from the Torque Converter seems to be a little down when the car is cold. The trouble is as soon as drive was selected the oil pressure dropped off, and when accelerating (with all wheels in the air) the gearbox started to rattle. I didn't have time to tell if the rattle is in the planetary area, or output shaft area before all pressure was lost and the transmission stopped moving at all.

So from a diagnosis point of view:

• The oil is the wrong colour. I don't know why it is purple. Maybe that is Amsoils version of brown on Dexron 3? Maybe it is contaminated with something.
• The oil pressure from the T/C is suspect at best. There could be a solenoid problem letting the pressure drop, but then that doesn't explain:
• The gearbox (when it will move) makes a rattling sound.
• When cold, the car will creep under it's own power. Quite quickly it looses the ability to do that too.

I would say that a good gearbox and a good T/C would correct the problem. I have told Atik how much I would charge to fit it, plus the oil. Then there is still the gearbox/T/C to buy. It is Atiks call how to play it.......

Hope the info is useful to your solution, Atik.

[Nick Mann]

My money's on this little heat exchange cylinder having fractured. You'll probably see some contamination of the engine coolant too.

That is certainly something I can check...... And it is an interesting hypothesis. I'm not sure I can explain the rattle in the box with this as well. When I have managed to get up (The little one has a cold, so we aren't getting any sleep!) I'll check the coolant.

[Atik]

That is certainly something I can check...... And it is an interesting hypothesis. I'm not sure I can explain the rattle in the box with this as well. When I have managed to get up (The little one has a cold, so we aren't getting any sleep!) I'll check the coolant.

Thanks Nick, would appreciate that. Thanks for the suggestion Keiran. I did notice that there was no coolant in the reservoir thingy yesterday...

Still, it wont explain the fact that the gearbox made a nasty grinding noise when in drive. It was also something I definitely felt 'through' the car when it was moving (or struggling to move) under its own power

If I could have your fogs, please, complete with grilles

First dibs for you on those then Steve if I do end up breaking the car.

[Throbbe]

Two words. Manual conversion.




Sorry for your misfortune chap, but if the car is otherwise sound and you're looking at getting another it may be the cheaper option.

[Atik]

Two words. Manual conversion.




Sorry for your misfortune chap, but if the car is otherwise sound and you're looking at getting another it may be the cheaper option.

Thought had crossed my mind, but I prefer the auto, I like being a lazy driver. Otherwise I may have just gone for the conversion. Might still consider it anyway...

[PaddyB]

Crap. Really sorry to hear this - hope you find a solution soon.

[Throbbe]

Thought had crossed my mind, but I prefer the auto, I like being a lazy driver. Otherwise I may have just gone for the conversion. Might still consider it anyway...

I must admit, I think the auto suits these cars perfectly, although I would like to just once do a proper full on 'please don't let me break anything expensive' launch in a manual.

Same comment still stands though. If you're looking at several thousand pounds for a new (unknown) car, you've got to sell a lot of parts before it becomes cheaper than a second hand gearbox. I suppose it's still a case of finding the actual issue (although Kierans contamination theory does sound reasonable)

[Nick Mann]

Well, just to keep the ideas coming in....

The radiator is less than 4 years old and still looks very good. The coolant level was down a bit - nearly 0.5 of a litre required to top the rad to full. However, there is no sign of oil in the water at the top of the rad. There is also no obvious water leak round the radiator area.

I guess it *could* be possible that the water is getting to the oil but not the other way round, if the hole in the rad is small enough, or the pressure in the oil system is less than the pressure in the water system?

It still doesn't answer the rattle in the gearbox though. I'm not talking a slight exhaust heat shield rattle, I'm talking more like a 1/2" ratchet driver being used as a football clacker.