Trial and tribulations

[gov]

Thought I would share my latest tribulations with Disco 32005 S TDV6 approx 20,000 Kms ago hadtransmission serviced and pan replaced, transfer case drained and oil replacedUpper and lower ball joints, Control arm bushes, steering knuckles, tie rodends, wheel bearings, timing belt, the usual disks and pads (standard replace disksevery second pad change), power steering, brake flush and the usual serviceevery 10,000Kms all this because I wanted to make sure if I went away with thecaravan I would be confident of no small issue. Not to be
5kms from Hawker SA mid north transmission went in the big Ftransmission with amber warning light (not over heating) and limited gear change1,2,3 if I was lucky. Turned of the beast and had a drink and it seemed to beOK but I had lost faith in going to much further. Stayed in Flinders Ranges for5 days and went home took the beast to a ZF transmission specialist and this isthe list of errors.
U0155 lost communication with instrument clustermodule
P0730 incorrect gear ratio
P0735 gear 5 incorrect gear ratio
P0729 gear 6 incorrect gear ratio
U0122 three times
P0405 EGR sensor A
P1335
P140D EGR sensor B
P140A EGR sensor C circuit low
P0184
P0183 Fuel Temp sensor A high input
U0010 two times
U0100 lost communication with engine control modulepowertrain module
U0102 lost communication with transfer case controlmodule
U0184
B1b02 low freq coil
B1c57 passive start ignition relay coil
B1D14 interior lamps circuit

So far I have been told approx. $7000 for the transmissionif the control module is not stuffed if so another $4000.
Wish I had traded in on another brand of vehicle 20,000kms inthe past like my wife wanted me too, looks like I will keep the vehicle till itdies completely or I decide to cremate the bloody thing.
I still have a Disco 1 which runs with no problems just notas comfortable or as quick of the mark but slow and steady.

[bbyer]

None of that list of error codes much bothers me. One of them may indicate the problem; the remainder just ancillary to the problem and for the most part, not relevant.

It sounds like your tranny does not want to change gears. It could be just a broken wire between the computer that is located behind the battery and that control unit inside the tranny where all the wires go. Diesel Chev pickups here suffer a similar problem - the wiring bundle chaffs on some metal bits; the diagnostic computers indicate the Allison plant has to put on a second shift.

To me, the diagnosis, "You need to pay lots of money." sounds like many LR dealers here - they only know how to pull and replace; troubleshooting and fixing is unknown.

Look for an independent tranny shop, (not a chain), that has lots of dead Mercedes and Audi's sitting in the yard - those will be the guys who know something about ZF.

All those items you replaced 20,000 km ago, me too over the past year - that is all just proper routine maintenance; the tranny problem will be hard to find of course but not too expensive to repair - it will just a case of finding the right fixer - that will be harder than the actual fix of the tranny.

By the way, check your tail light bulbs and make certain all are genuine Land Rover. Until the dealers and factory understood, they were installing new trannys under warranty because of a defective tail light bulb. That is indicative of how difficult it can be to find a tranny problem and how cheap it can be to resolve it.

[CaverD3]

Who did the tranny work? Did they flash the transmission ECU?

[Ashes]

Do you have a constant problem or does the fault only appear sometimes? Does the fault go away if you restart the car?

[Mully]

Yes indeed.. all sounds very familiar and we even have the same year D3.

Those lost comms msgs are always there... just the nature of the CAN bus really. The transmission fault giving you grief is interesting after having a big service and I have to wonder if it relates to the service at all.... mine did this once (at the start of a trip of course) and the fluid change (+pan mods) stopped it appearing again..if that was even a related cause in the first place and mine appeared to be overheating but was a furfy.

The way these vehicles work, you could have an unrelated fault causing the false tranny error. The suggestions above are all very valid especially about the wiring as I've had rodent damage in the loom behind the battery that presented a lot of various faults for a while.

Good point too about the code clearing after all the work. If you haven't got a Faultmate, you are going to live with the weird and wonderful of the D3 without knowing what is behind it all alas. Without the ability to diagnose this vehicle, I would have gone mad(der) some time ago.

Hope it works out... I've got a '98 D1 also and understand where you are coming from. :)

Cheers.

[Geedublya]

I have my doubts about using this specialist for diagnosis, I would be seeing another specialist before I spent any money on a transmission rebuild.
I suspect you are seeing a communication problem rather than a transmission problem.

The pricing for the rebuild also seems excessive.
The $7000 should include the replacement of the mechatronics module in the transmission, it would seem they are trying to charge you twice.

[CaverD3]

If the module in the transmission is not at the correct temp when flashed it may not take the reflash and cannot be programmed again. hat is why I asked who did the work what they did?

[gov]

I will try and answer the advice that has been given and it has given me some hope that I will not have to cremate the bloody thing:)
I am booking it in at another idependent LR repair for advice and diagnostics and yes I have had the rear tail light bulb replaced by LR so it is worth checking. I am hoping that it could be as you guys have said Flash the tranmission ECU as that was not done.
The fault at the moment is when changing between 3rd and 4th it is very rough almost like its going 3rd to 5th but no warning lights and no big
F.I am hoping that it is a false error but my luck does not run that well with vehicles especially transmissions (EA Falcon more transmissions than services)
I am also getting the battery checked as I understand that also causes issues maybe not these but you never know.
Yes I was told that some of the error messages are always present but I dont normally give enough info so this time I went overboard hoping that you guys would come back with information and encouragement which you all have thanks again.

[gov]

Had 2 other diagnostics done transmission stuffed, was advised very unusual normally its the torque converter but as ususal with my luck no such easy thing. 2 quotes to fix problem between $4,000 to $7,000 depending on what has to be fixed or a second hand tranmission with 70kms of use bolt on complete using my steel pan $5,500 incl labour, reflash and oil.