Automatic gearboxes

[the gardener]

Can't drive till Easter weekend or work till end of April following an op... when we left the van at Christmas for two weeks the battery flattened, so I managed to talk Mrs G into driving the Yokohama Bullet 2 (2.4 Toyota Camry auto) last week before I went in, she hasn't driven for two years, and yesterday I managed to start the van and get her to take it for a run. Those dual passenger seats are uncomfortable, you can't sit with your legs straight out, but we do have three people in regularly so it stays. To cap it all Mrs G says the brakes are better than YB2 which has just had new discs and pads on the rear and only done 6k on the 'new' fronts. Can you get an auto box on a transit? I'm lazy and like what I call 'point and shoot'.

[FredTransit]

Talk to AndyG! He will fill you in .

[AndyG]

Says it all really
And that was back in the old MK1 days

A proper auto box was an option until the MK6 came out

We had a 3 speed automatic until about 1988 when we changed over to a 4 speed box (overdrive)

When the Smiley was launched in 1994, the UK only ever saw a diesel auto
If you wanted a smiley auto Transit, you had to also take the 85PS Turbo diesel engine and twin batteries
There was no other engine option available
The extra £1,500.00 + vat made it a rare option

In 1997/8 we also saw the launch of the "autoclutch" with the 76PS engine
It was basically a manual van with no clutch pedal


When the MK6 came out in 2000, you had to wait at least a year before seeing the infamous "durashift"
This was also known as the "ASM" (auto shifting manual) Now this had auto change or paddle shift (on steering wheel) manual box
Unfortunately it never even came close to driving like an automatic and proved extremely unreliable

To the point that they never made it available on the MK7

If you are going to buy a second hand proper auto, check that the gear changes are smooth (unless on kickdown )and no revving up between changes
Check that reverse works when hot and that the overdrive isn't slipping
Check the colour and odour of the transmission oil It should be a nice cherry red and not a burnt out brown colour

Personally, given the choice, I wouldn't have a manual ever again, for what and where I use my van (In and around London)

[madmark]

well done andyg

[the gardener]

Thanks AndyG for that comprehensive history, why aren't autoboxes more available on vans, is it gearing, build cost, maintenance / reliability, public acceptance or other issues? I'm on my second auto in a 2.0+ engined car but a lot of my customers have them in small cars now - Honda Civic & Jazz, Nissan Micra, Corsa. I'm off to look at a 2.5V6 Mondeo estate if I can drive next weekend which is 6speed manual which surprised me in that spec.

[Daveyboy]

My mate bought a first generation ex police sprinter 412 which was an automatic.

[AndyG]

Thanks AndyG for that comprehensive history, why aren't autoboxes more available on vans, is it gearing, build cost, maintenance / reliability, public acceptance or other issues?

Well, generally speaking, people always like to "save" money and autoboxes are usually an extra cost option
There are also a lot of narrow minded people with "funny" ideas

When auto boxes started life, they were quite primitive although quite a clever idea
The design was such, that they did sap a noticeable amount of power and therefore did use more fuel
As a result, they weren't generally offered on small engined/low output cars

We have come a very long way with autoboxes so much so that BMC started offering auto on really small cars like the Mini and 1100/1300 range
To compensate for the very small output of these engines, they all had 4 speed boxes (not overdrive)
They proved quite popular and a lot of the "posh" Vanden Plas' left the showrooms with auto

The other problem that the autoboxes reputation suffered, was when they did give trouble, most so called mechanics would suck there teeth and recommend a complete and expensive (and usually not required) compete rebuild
So the owner would have to decide, either get it repaired, or sell it while it still goes

Now, this is the next stage of their reputation suffering
The new owner buys this faulty auto (not having a clue how they work or what signs to look out for) and soon discovers has a problem
Off he goes to his so called mechanic, which bodges it up and of course the owner starts the "autos are no good" syndrome

The Transit auto boxes also kept evolving
We had the 3 speed unit which was upgraded to a 4 speed overdrive with "lock up" torque converter for even greater fuel efficiency and even more relaxed motorway cruising
The overdrive ratio being slightly higher than that of the manual Transit

They never stopped there either
In their search for more efficiency, they went over to the partially electronically controlled version that adjusted the pressure rail of the oil pump so that the box wasn't at "full pressure" all of the time, as this was considered a waste of energy and a further saving to fuel/power can be made

Unfortunately this mod. did lead to the overdrive band burning out (lack of pressure) on some of these boxes (including mine ) and most would be out of warranty by then

Ford did release a mod for this and it's so simple to do, as it doesn't involve the box being removed

Heat generation is the number one killer of auto boxes
And I am looking into additional cooling for mine

One more thing Some people think that autoboxes are just that And for that reason automatically never need attention
Oils have improved over the years, but they would still benefit from an oil and filter change say 40 to 60 thousand mile intervals

Autoboxes have a lot of advantages over a manual box, not least the work load taken off the driver
If I was doing a lot of motorway driving, then this wouldn't really be an issue

[rover]

With all that typing I reckon you could do with an automatic computer

Cooling is definately the key, my box has started giving me trouble (after a trip to Brum last week) with overheating, I have now put a small oil cooler on and ordered a larger one, when I took the pipes off the integrated cooler (cools through the rad) the oil only trickled out and the flow and return pipes were almost cold, I dont think there was much flow through it at all, and that was after an hours running! So if you get a fairly high mileage one I would suggest either renewing the rad or fitting an external cooler

Rover.

[AndyG]

Can't the blockage be blown out

And yes, you are right A nice voice activated commy would be

They have some really nice parts for autos in the States And not too expensive either

They do deep sumps to increase the amount of oil, finned sumps made of ally, to aid heat dissipation, external magnetised oil filters, and thermostatically controlled fan assisted radiators that can be mounted anywhere

[rover]

Can't the blockage be blown out

It may be possible, but considering the rad may be 18 years old (dont know the previous history) the chances of damaging it and cause mixing of fluids is highly likely
The safer option is a standard rad and external oil cooler, or a new rad, but at £125+VAT for a rad or £40 for a cooler and refit my perfectly good standard rad its not really a contest at all

Re the parts from the States, I have recently enquired about a fully recon'd torque converter, total price including delivery would be around £100, and thats a heavy duty unit and you can specify the stall speed you want

Rover.

[Neil]

my mk 2 s auto,same box 25 years thats because its always been serviced ,people just never assume to service the autobox until its too late

[100 T280]

and no revving up between changes

What causes that then? The '85 Granada Scorpio I've got did / does that, on a light throtle between 1st and 2nd, revs its nuts off, loses drive, then drops into gear (although it's not been driven for about 4 years, or started )

[24vtranny]

nearly all new gen,and smily faces here in aus are auto, desial turbo and non turbo,

[rover]

and no revving up between changes

What causes that then? The '85 Granada Scorpio I've got did / does that, on a light throtle between 1st and 2nd, revs its nuts off, loses drive, then drops into gear (although it's not been driven for about 4 years, or started )

If it only does it between 1st and 2nd then the chances are the bands are out of adjustment..

Is it a C3 or an A4ld?

Band adjustment is pretty straight forward

Rover.

[100 T280]

If it only does it between 1st and 2nd then the chances are the bands are out of adjustment..

Is it a C3 or an A4ld?

The first of the A4LDs I had a go at adjusting the (Brake ) Bands, made some difference, but not a lot.