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Had by 850 auto towed - likely to be damaged?

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Old May 1st, 2009, 17:37   #1
Hallsy
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Default Had by 850 auto towed - likely to be damaged?

I must admit that this only being my second automatic car, that I was a little naive about auto transmissions.

When my auto T5 broke down last weekend, I got my brother-in-law to tow me home. We did wonder about being an auto making any difference, but once neutral was selected and the car rolled easilly we thought little more of it.

The car was towed 7 miles at speeds of between 20-40 mph.

I have since been told that towing an auto is not a good idea, and reading around it seems that manufacturer recommendations vary from don't tow at all, to up to 60 miles at 50mph.

I've read my handbook and it says no more than 10mph and 20 miles

Does this mean I have likely caused some serious damage to the auto box?

I have engaged gears since last weekend but haven't driven the car, so can't comment on any knocks/problems.

I assumed that in neutral the drive was fully disconnected, but I now gather than the torque converter doesn't disengage fully and so is running, without having the ATF fluid pumped around. Is that right?

So damage to the torque converter could be caused? How would I diagnose this?
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Old May 1st, 2009, 19:21   #2
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Hi,

sorry to hear that the old girl broke down.

I think that the general concern around towing auto's is the lack of lubrication for the clutch and brake packs which will be slipping when the car is in motion. Normally they are either fully engaged and therefore stationary of fully released and dowsed in auto trans fluid.

Quite frankly, I wouldn't worry about what, if any, damage you have done (in all likelihood, none) until you get the car running again. It's not as if you can undo any damage.

Hope it all turns out OK in the end.
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Old May 1st, 2009, 19:47   #3
Hallsy
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Thanks for that.

The car is running again, after a few hours it was fine.

I have an intermittent misfire now that I am diagnosing before I use the car again.

I'm just really looking for tell tale symptoms of any damage I might have caused when I start using it again.

Seeing as I plan to change the ATF soon, I don't want to shell out on 12 litres of ATF if the box is about to fail, I'd rather wait for it to die completely and get a replacement one.
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Old May 1st, 2009, 20:41   #4
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I think the problem is it overheats the box, hense the low speed towing, i cant honestly see you having done any damage at that distance / speed.
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Old May 2nd, 2009, 05:08   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hallsy View Post
Thanks for that.

The car is running again, after a few hours it was fine.

I have an intermittent misfire now that I am diagnosing before I use the car again.

I'm just really looking for tell tale symptoms of any damage I might have caused when I start using it again.

Seeing as I plan to change the ATF soon, I don't want to shell out on 12 litres of ATF if the box is about to fail, I'd rather wait for it to die completely and get a replacement one.
Talking of 12 litres of flluid, I've been experimenting with syphoning the stuff out.

Had some handy 5mm plasic pipe around and, as everything on this motor was overfilled, sucked the brownish 'oil' near to the end of the syphon and used a big syringe my missus obtained from work, to slowly get about half a ltr out to get it back to normal level.

Now ive got about 6ltr of ATF ready and a cheap Draper syphon pump, I'm gonna try and get most of the rest out via the dipstick tube and refill, give it a day or two and redo till its cherry red again.
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Old May 4th, 2009, 20:12   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NI_Volvo_Nut View Post
I think the problem is it overheats the box, hense the low speed towing, i cant honestly see you having done any damage at that distance / speed.
The problem is there's no ATF being pumped 'round the gearbox, and some components will be in motion. That's a BAD thing for an autobox.

My advice would be to never tow, or allow to be towed your auto. Sure, sometimes it may be a crutch of convenience, but it's not worth it.

Check the colour of ATF. It may be worth flushing it, then driving the car and seeing how the box performs. You may be lucky, there may be no discernable damage. But on the other hand...
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