AL4 Auto - finally smooth shifting!

jae656

Member
Tadpole
Joined
Sep 23, 2012
Messages
29
Location
Sydney NSW
After driving countless Pugs and Cits with juddery, hard shifting and prematurely failing auto boxes I realised it was something to put up with....until my wife's 306 2.0 litre convertible started going into the infamous limp home mode... not worth rebuilding.... hard to even have the fault codes read.... so after much googling and with nothing to loose....I did an ATF flush with Mobil 1 synthetic ATF....without success....so last throw of the dice...Amsoil synthetic ATF together with 1 bottle of Lubeguard ATF protectant as well as 1 tube of Dr Tranny instant shudder fix and fingers crossed....drum roll... WOW! Just drove a mixed freeway, twitsty back road and peak hour traffic of 150klms...... and the AL4 is shifting like a hot knife through butter! Not quite but you get the idea.... still early days....of course.... but thought I'd share the initial improvement..... will update as the klms increase.....by the way the 306 has done 170klms with full service history from dealer.....we purchased it from original owner with juddery box and inoperative roof....since reset for no cost in 20 minutes....for $1750.00!
 
After driving countless Pugs and Cits with juddery, hard shifting and prematurely failing auto boxes I realised it was something to put up with....until my wife's 306 2.0 litre convertible started going into the infamous limp home mode... not worth rebuilding.... hard to even have the fault codes read.... so after much googling and with nothing to loose....I did an ATF flush with Mobil 1 synthetic ATF....without success....so last throw of the dice...Amsoil synthetic ATF together with 1 bottle of Lubeguard ATF protectant as well as 1 tube of Dr Tranny instant shudder fix and fingers crossed....drum roll... WOW! Just drove a mixed freeway, twitsty back road and peak hour traffic of 150klms...... and the AL4 is shifting like a hot knife through butter! Not quite but you get the idea.... still early days....of course.... but thought I'd share the initial improvement..... will update as the klms increase.....by the way the 306 has done 170klms with full service history from dealer.....we purchased it from original owner with juddery box and inoperative roof....since reset for no cost in 20 minutes....for $1750.00!


Please do.:)
 
The AL4's were crap weren't they?
So was Peugeot's care factor. In reality the machine/ assembly tolerances were too large. If , during rebuild the clearances are closed to the minimum, Hey F###ing presto, the box is a beauty.
Your oil has cushioned the excess clearance, for while!
 
Hey Stew ....I think crap is a bit harsh ...personally I think any auto on anything other than a nice tourquey Vs is crap. .... and Europeans have never done Autos well ... especially 4 cylinder autos! In my experience with both the 4speed SF box that preceded this one in the BX and 405 and the AL4 it was poor or infrequent servicing and / or ignorance regarding the importance of the correct fluid as we'll as our heat that combined to kill them early ....the concept of sealed for life doesn't help! As for an update on our AL4.... after 600klms still shifting nicely.... and if all it will need is a tube of friction modifier every so often to keep it that way ...happy days!
 
Hi fellow AussieFroggers... an update on my Automatic Transmission performance after having it serviced and using Amsoil synthetic ATF together with 1 bottle of Lubeguard ATF protectant as well as 1 tube of Dr Tranny instant shudder fix ...have now added over 2000 klms of mixed freeway, city, stop start and back road (weekend) driving and it is shifting nice and smooth without any hint of the previous shuddering and slipping. Based on my experience with an AL4 Auto that had traveled almost 170klms I can heartily recommend this solution to restore smooth shifting and it seems extend the service life of the transmission.
 
Next engine oil change I think I've decided to drop a change (ie half fluid change) of Penrite synthetic into my Megane DPO.

Renault use a full synthetic Eff fluid which is better than the yellow nonsense PSA use, but its still not great. Mine is at 38000km from new, and usually changes "ok". It was pretty nasty for a while after new solenoids a couple of thousand kms ago, and a part change of Elf fluid in the process - slammed the 2-3 shift in particular, still does sometimes although has settled down.

I agree with above - essentially an ok design, built not terribly well and responds well to the helping hand a high quality fluid can bring.
 
Hi Haakon,
Not sure what box your Megane has but my wife's 2003 Laguna Privilege (V6) was flushed and filled with Toyota Type IV ATF (bought straight from the local Toyota Dealer) at 80,000 klms and it transformed the car. I also use this in my Saab 9-5 Turbo daily driver (same 5 speed Aisin Warner box as the Renault with different ECU program and settings as I understand it but I may have that wrong) and it had the same effect in the Saab.... imperceptible smooth shifts both up and down and no harsh changes at all...
Owning a Citroen BX TZi Auto I discovered the importance of correct fluid changes first hand and the hard way.... was that too was transformed when it was flushed with Castrol Transmax Z a few times!
 
The Megane has the DPO - Renault speak for the AL4. Identical in every respect to the Peugeot except for a different bellhousing and final drive ratio ;-) I wish it was the Aisen 5 speed box...
 
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My son has a two wheel drive scenic,the transmission as always sounded harsh although it operated ok ,his only complaint was a high idle 1500 at start up and 1000 when hot ,we finally got round to changing the oil saturday ,just above 3 liters af dark red oil was drained out ,no daylight shinning through it although it smelt not bad ,replaced with 3 liters of nulon synthetic ,when started the engine idle speed was down to 500 ,never seen before and sounded a lot happier .after a short drive ,checked the level ,no oil from the level plug put the rest of the container in ,most of which came out ,although still a solid color ,we plan to put another 4 liters in it next saturday ,keep you posted/ pugs
 
Good to hear its working for you. Where do you obtain the oils and additives you used? And is the synthetic transmission different in viscosity? I see amsoil have a low viscosity as well as an all purpose synthetic oil.


Via the aussiefrogs App
 
Viscosity seems to be the key. The Nulon is a little thicker than the OE spec ELF synthetic fluid.

Penrite is a smide thicker again, and the Amsoil is the thickest of all.

I'll likely try a load of Amsoil in my 34,000km old Megane2 next service, see what happens. Its never been overly smooth, lik emost of them.
 
Another oil change yesterday ,the oil drained out ,was a bit discoloured the idle was up to 1000 again and had a couple of funny changes on the way to my place, it took 4 litres and we drained out about a half litre when drained to level,after test run , fans were cutting in and out, so temp was about right ,idle down to 500 again ,will give it another week see how it goes .pugs
 
This topic has been well documented over the life of AussieFrogs. Remember, AL4 needs to be type II fluid, not type III as most services provide. Search for posts by AlanS in the Cit section.
 
Not as simple as that, Renault's factory fill is synthetic DIII, PSA's is a semi synthetic DII (ie LT71141)....
 
Let's clear things up here:

Early ZF gearboxes, i.e. 3HP22, 4HP14, 4HP18, 4HP22: use mineral-based Dexron II.

Avoid using semi-synthetic, synthetic-based or synthetic ATF or Dexron III unless specifically approved by ZF.

A list of approved lubricants is regularly maintained by ZF and is available here: ZF - List of lubricants



PSA AL4 and ZF 4HP20: use Esso/Mobil ATF LT 71141 (semi-synthetic).

Renault DP0: use Elf Renaultmatic D3 SYN (synthetic-based).
 
Noting the AL4 and the DPO are the same thing.
 
Hi all.... been off line for a while and nice to see this thread is still going..... I can report that our 306 with AL4 box that was the subject of this thread has now completed over 5000 klms of mixed city / freeway driving including a few 40 degree plus days in stop start Sydney traffic and the box is shifting smoother than ever....and certainly as well as any I have driven....as for the ZF 4 speed in earlier Pugs and Cits as an owner of a 92 BX TZi auto... Castrol Transmax M or equivalent is the ONLY fluid I would use.....anything else just doesn't give the same performance......I still have about 16 litres in the garage for an emergency and waiting to recommission the old girl....
 
Monday, seems to be behaving itself ,e mailed nulon and this is there recommended oil for scenic [all vehicle full synthetic ] ,also contacted elf distributor in bris was quoted $12 a liter ,cheaper than i had expected ,if i had known i probably would have ,gone elf as im sure its cheaper or comparable with nulon, pugs
 
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