problems backing up in 2wd on hills.

[king88mob]

Hiya, first time poster, a Canadian who moved to New Zealand and bought a delica there :)


I've started noticing that my deli doesn't like backing up hills in 2WD. It'll go a little, but then it feels like it pops out of gear and ends up in neutral. If I switch to 4WD and back up there's no problems. Otherwise, the transmission works great going forward. It'll go in reverse in 2wd on the flats, though it always feels a little gutless.

Has anyone else had this problem?

[deli1733]

Is it a standard?

[king88mob]

wow i completely fail at giving relevant information: It's an automatic, no LSD, 1996 starwagon diesel.

[thedjjack]

Is this a transfer case with the full time 4x4 option? If so I put my money on the lockup mechanism in the transfer case is acting up.

First check fluid, and transfer case shifter adjustments.

If you are putting it into low range to backup, you reverse clutches are slipping in the automatic (low range means that it needs a fraction of the power to move it due to lower gears (it is in effect removing the hill)).

Flush the automatic, change filter, check shifter mechanism. Try a tranny shop to see if they can adjust bands or pressure to help.

Cheers

[Super Exceeded]

It's an L300, all the weight is on the front. How steep is the hill?

PS where are you living? I lived in Rotorua and Browns Bay for a short time.

[FalcoColumbarius]

Only 60% of the weight is supported by the front axle, 40% of the weight is supported by the rear axle. This was the observation of Erebus for a typical stock L300 in a previous thread on this topic. This is based on his observations at a TC scale when four or more Delicas weighed in.

See page four and five of the Last Word Café.

Falco.

[king88mob]

So in order: No full time 4x4.

I do need to change the auto fluid at some point, once it gets back from they body shop (I'm getting the van repainted :) )

I'm just putting it in 4H to get it going. The hill in question was pretty steep, and the van had no "run up" area. When there's a bit of flat followed by a gradient it's usually ok.

Where is the filter for the automatic transmission? And is there a guide to changing the fluid? I remember reading somewhere that I needed to do it in two batches?

I live in Wellington, NZ. Used to live in Ottawa, got sick of the cold and decided to come here. DIscovered the country, kite surfing and the rest is history.

[jessef]

It's not the most pleasent job to do and you'll need two people and a safe way to do it (hoist).

Doing a transmission complete flush should be done by a service shop.

If you are not in any area where you can get that done and you want to do a full flush and get rid off all the old oil :

Drain out the oil via the drain plug on the bottom of the AT pan in a container... measure exactly how much comes out.

Now fill it up with the same amount of oil (that just came out) via the dipstick (a small flexible hose w/funnel is best)

Next remove the return pipe from the oil cooler, (its under the radiator and part of it) and place a container under it to catch the fluid.

Get an assistant to start the engine, oil will start to pump out.

Carefully have the assistant cycle all the gears then end up in Neutral and let about 3 litres of oil come out. STOP ! before the oil pick up pipe sucks in air.

Measure exactly what you have removed and then add this much vai the dipstick again.

You have removed about 4 litres on the first sump drain and then 2-3 litres on the second method.

Repeat the above process a second time....

You know removed a further 2-3 litres and you have effectively removed all the old gear oil.

The oil that is comming out of the oil cooler will now look and smell of the new oil.

Measure how much you remove on the second emptying via the oil cooler pipe and add this amount
of new oil to the box.

If all has gone right you will have used about 8.5 litres of oil and the gear box oil level will be correct.

[king88mob]

wow that's some great info! However, it also looks rather daunting and there's a bunch of transmission shops around, so I think i'll take it to a pro. I'm happy to do *some* of the work on this truck, but there's a very specific limit to my skills.

Cheers for that!

[jaggedfish]

Only 60% of the weight is supported by the front axle, 40% of the weight is supported by the rear axle. This was the observation of Erebus for a typical stock L300 in a previous thread on this topic. This is based on his observations at a TC scale when four or more Delicas weighed in.

While I don't dispute Falco's information, I would have to add to this by saying these stats reflect flat ground weight distribution. Reversing uphill changes the weight distribution significantly. When the Calgary group went out to McLean Creek, Madmazda reversed his L400 clear up a fairly large hill with what seemed like relative ease. I tried to do the same in my L300 for the sake of comparison and found a lot more of the weight came forward and unloaded the rear wheels so much that I only got about 1/4 of the way up the hill and barely made in onto the steep section - not even close to Madmazda's mark. Driving forward up the hill, the weight evens out more and gives more traction to all wheels - I managed to come very close to the high mark going forwards.

Still, the problem does sound mechanically suspect but I also wouldn't be too suprised to learn the back wheel(s) is spinning and you just don't know it. Not suggesting you don't know what you are doing - just sometimes very hard to tell unless someone is spotting you from outside. I truly hope it's wheel spin... cheaper to fix.

[king88mob]

I'll give it another go tonight as I'll likely be back at the same beach. I'll get a mate to take a look at the back wheels, I wouldn't be surprised at all if the wheels were slipping at least a little bit, I've taken all the seats out of the back and the back bullbar and the like.

Probably wouldn't hurt to have the transmission checked out though, the van's previous owner wasn't too fastidious with his maintenance.

[Growlerbearnz]

Taking the seats out of a Deli changes the weight distribution quite dramatically- those seats weigh half a ton! NO van I've driven was very good at reversing up hills, the back wheels just don't get enough traction, but the deli when full of seats was better than most.

If you don't have a spotter, I'd try reversing up that hill again, and when it stops moving give it a further 3 seconds of gas. Then roll forward about a foot and go look behind the rear wheels- on one side you'll have a nice warm black clean spot of road where the wheel was spinning.

Hope you're enjoying the humidity!

[nxski]

I'm not sure how helpful this will be, but I have found that with a fully loaded van (6 people in the back) I was slower reversing up hills however did have more purchase. This was tested while reversing up a snow covered hill in Whistler. That being said, I was still able to get the rear to slide out when I gave it a boot-full around an icy corner.