Typical Auto Gear Box LifeSpan

[citroeneer]

Guys,

Just wanna know if they're any sort of typical miles before it shows symptoms. Mine's a 2.0 Petrol (I).

[xmexclusive]

Hi Citroeneer

No real hard as fast rules.

Average life seems to be around 125k miles but there have been failures as low as 50k while quite a few have lasted past 200k.
The spread is fairly wide and so are the symptoms. Some go suddenly with no warning others grumble on for years.
The Citroen concept of sealed for life does not seem to work out in practice.
There have been plenty of posts about oil types and changes with most agreed that this helps life.

John

[mouseflakes]

The '93 SED I have just acquired is at just under 160k and still seems to work okay - though I've not used it much yet. The history up to 100k shows ATF changes at 20k intervals.

John, by 'sealed for life' did Citroen intend the ATF never to be changed?

[Dean]

Not in your box mouseflakes, yours will be the 4 hp18Q which takes D2 fluid only and should be changed with the engine oil, the 4 hp20 is the 'sealed for life' unit which it is, if by life you mean 100k and the oil for it would be big money too.
My experiance is much the same as Johns, how longs a piece of string? the main thing when looking for an auto XM with the HP18 is to take out the dipstick and check for nice red clean oil, if it is black walk away. I have a box which is perfect with 170k miles on it but then another i had needed a new valveblock at 88k to cure rough shifting, a valve block swap is (engine depending) an easy 1hr to 3hr job, same goes for the pressure regulator, both can be done with the engine in. If the clutches go its a box out job and big money but this is no different for any type or make of auto they all have clutches and they all wear.
Another big factor is the condition of the coolant, rusty brown coolant and again walk away, the tranny oil cooler is at the bottom of the coolant circuit and will get blocked resulting in the transmission fluid being cooked leading to increased clutch wear and burnt contaminated oil.
These boxes are fairly common and have been fitted in saab's BMW and god knows how many other makes, they are not weak but they are a luxury item and require regular maintanance to keep them tip top, lets face it dont change your engine oil for 30k miles plus whilst sprinkling clutch dust into it on a weekly basis and see how long it lasts!!


D