Clunk when slowing down

[Tom109]

Mine has a small downshift clunk.
Small; on a side note you should drive my 60s Benz. It is normal for them to clunk harshly from new. Nobody questioned the quality of a Benz back then

When new mine had a demonstrable clunk when the transmission downshifted from 3rd to 2nd.

By 2500 miles, it shifted like any other gear. Give a little time to break in.

I can always tell when the Gren has downshifted to 2nd when slowing gently (8-15mph). Dealer aware. Not getting worse…
Petrol Trialmaster - my brother’s diesel N1 doesn’t do this. (Slightly different ZF box; very different software throughout).

Same for me - occasionally at slow speed, no throttle, clunk when it downshifts to 2nd.

 

[shiv.nandak]

For some modern transmissions an owner can improve the shift quality by going to a flat straight road and from a standing start lightly accelerate until the transmission works through all the gears then let the car slow down through the gears without the brakes. This may have to be done several times to allow the transmission to readapt. The owner can experiment with this and do the opposite, hard accelerate and slow quickly through the gears several times, add a trailer and see how the transmission quality changes when the car is empty again until the transmission re-adapts. Any further mechanical clunking will have to be investigated as it could be loose components in the drive line or steering related.

When I had Bmws you could actually follow a few steps to reset the ZF8 adaptation. I am not sure what the procedure is for the Grenadier, but it may be similar.

* Press the start button once to turn on power (Don't start the engine)
* Press the accelerator down to the floor for at least 5 sec.
* Hit start button once to turn off power
* Remove foot from accelerator
* Wait for min. 2 minutes
* Start the engine and drive

 

[Jayman1]

After 500 miles in my new Fieldmaster, I noticed a clucking sound between the right front wheel well and the steering wheel (US). It does not appear on highway driving, but side road, lower speed. Sometimes when turning or shortly after.
Intermittent, but more apparent. Curious if this sounds familiar

It stopped after 900 miles I have not heard or felt it since.

 

[AWo]

That means

a) it' totally f****d up now
b) it's lost
c) it has never been there


AWo

 

[lightning]

Or the transmission has proactively adjusted itself to smooth out the gear shifting.

 

[Ghempo]

When I had Bmws you could actually follow a few steps to reset the ZF8 adaptation. I am not sure what the procedure is for the Grenadier, but it may be similar.

* Press the start button once to turn on power (Don't start the engine)
* Press the accelerator down to the floor for at least 5 sec.
* Hit start button once to turn off power
* Remove foot from accelerator
* Wait for min. 2 minutes
* Start the engine and drive

@shiv.nandak Thanks for this very helpful information!

I tested it out on my Grenadier last night (at around 1700 miles), and it appears to have worked out my "clunking" issue.

For those of you out there that have experienced intermittent, but somewhat persistent, "clunking" from 3rd down to 2nd gear, definitely try this out!

Cheers!

 

[JackieTreehorn]

l've got a new Defender and it has the same transmission as the Grenadier l believe.
As in. ZF 8-speed.

Occasionally l get a "clunk" that l can feel rather than hear, at low speeds after slowing down then accelerating slightly.

lts when the transmission seems to shift from idle, into second gear.

lts worth checking the oil level in the transmission, as some have found it's a bit low. However it's not straightforward to check and probably something to ask your dealer to look at.

Funny you mention that..... I can's speak to the Grenadier yet because I don't have mine yet (next month), but I do have a 2021 Defender and ever since day one it has made odd clunking or popping noises in the drivetrain, always when creeping around at low speed and low loads, never under acceleration or load.........the theory on TSBs and drivers is that it is the electronic diff (center and rear) doing its thing....

I'm totally fine with a car or truck making noises (we aren't driving a lexus), as long as it is designed to sound like that!!
All I ever wanted from LR was some comfort that this would not become my $5,000 problem when outside warranty.

Vehicles today are so damn quiet, we could hear a pin drop inside the cabin, so in the case of Grenadier, I imagine that sound deadening material was not a priority, so my guess is we are going to hear things going on underneath (which tbh is a good thing, a good operator knows every sound their vehicle makes and when it sounds off)

Back to the point of this thread.......if there is some strange noises, I hope that Ineos will honestly address this and issue a TSB or statement that lets us owners know that it is within spec and totally normal.