Shudder after major service on D3

[waccampbell]

Hi guys,

This is my first post on here. I've been reading for quite a while now. I recently bought a D3 this year and have driven it from Geelong to Karratha (great drive).

I'm just down in Perth at the moment holidaying with family and decided to take the car into get serviced. I dropped it in on the Saturday and was asked what service interval its up to. So far its done approx 185k. The service man asked that I could do the 180k service or do a 192k major service.

As my partner and I will be driving it back to Victoria mid year (long story with work) I decided to complete a 192k major service. This ended up costing 1200 dollars.

Now we've just driven down to Margaret River for a little holiday and today going up the hill in Perth towards Kings Park from the city, the car was shuddering majorly and losing a lot of power. It's always shuddered a little bit, bit never had a sign of power loss. Just always thought this was a usual thing with 4wd's. Am I wrong?

After reading on the forum, this sounds like a transmission problem. I'll be going back through Perth on Thursday/Friday and I was just wondering if I should be taking it back in the dealership, or taking it somewhere else... i.e. another Land Rover dealership or a transmission specialist? Who are the people to goto in Perth?

I would assume that the 192k major service, or any major service of its kind would include a transmission oil change? Would I be incorrect in believing this?

Sorry guys for the long post. Just been stewing about this all day and have finally got the time to vent a little bit haha.

[101RRS]

The standard service interval for the transmission is 240,000km or 10 years so unless it was requested no work should have been done on the gearbox.

From what you indicated you have has issues for some time and it seems it may be the torque converter slipping.

There is a lot of discussion on this on the forum in this section so do a search and you will find a bit. Also search for Dr Tranny treatment on here as it seems to have had some success in treating your symptoms. However check your service records and if it has had no work on the transmission then I would get a "mega-flush" done - replaces all the oil in the system and maybe a metal transmission pan as a matter of urgency. Will be a little expensive though.

Garry

[RichardK]

Full purge and replacement of the transmission fluid would be a good start, however take it to Automac, McCoy St Myaree, Perth, they are the ZF agents and have done a lot of this work on D3 transmissions.

[PerthDisco]

Automatic Transmissions R Us in Geddes St Balcatta highly recommended also and very experienced with D3 gearbox.

Good luck

[Tank]

First I would go back to the Stealers that charged you $1200 and ask for a list of what they did for the money, explain what is happening and ask them why it is losing power after they serviced it. If they fiddled with the Trans when Garrycol said it shouldn't be done till 240K, ask why, Regards Frank.

[Fatso]

Automatic Transmissions R Us in Geddes St Balcatta highly recommended also and very experienced with D3 gearbox.

Good luck

Got mine done there and happy with the service .

[CaverD3]

Agree with tank.

First I would go back to the Stealers that charged you $1200 and ask for a list of what they did for the money, explain what is happening and ask them why it is losing power after they serviced it. If they fiddled with the Trans when Garrycol said it shouldn't be done till 240K, ask why, Regards Frank.

LR dealership did the service I assume?

Resetting transmission and calibrating the transfer can sometimes help with shudder.

[101RRS]

and ask them why it is losing power after they serviced it.

Of course if it is loosing power it will have fault codes and the EML will be on.

Waccampbell - what dash indications do you have on this.

Garry

[waccampbell]

Sorry for the late reply. Been on a wine tour haha.

I haven't seen any lights or messages come up yet, but there was a definite loss of power coming up the hill. It was revving in between 1000rpm and 2000rpm back and forth constantly. It just didn't want to go up the hill.

On the way down from Perth my partners sister was driving the vehicle and said that she noticed it shuddering when coming in around 3rd gear.

The service was done with a LR dealership and don't get me wrong, I'm not implying they've done something wrong. I would just think that after a service, everything should be working nicely haha. How long would it take usually for a major service? I dropped it off at 8am and it was ready by 12pm.

Either way, when I'm passing through Perth on Thursday/Friday I will be taking to transmission specialist in Myaree. Rang them this morning and they said just to bring it in and they'd get someone to take it out and see what they could find. Hopefully it does play up whilst they have it and they can find the problem.

And sorry for not introducing myself anywhere. My name is Will and I'm currently living in Karratha. I'm 26yrs old and work for a oil and gas company. (not the place to introduce, but its weird when mentions my avatar name when this is such a friendly forum)

[Discophil]

Hi Will, I hope they manage to find and fix the problem without too much fuss. I am picking up my 05TDV6 after having a new transmission installed after my torque converter gave up, following months of shuddering under load. $7k later....:(

[101RRS]

Sorry for the late reply. Been on a wine tour haha.

I haven't seen any lights or messages come up yet, but there was a definite loss of power coming up the hill. It was revving in between 1000rpm and 2000rpm back and forth constantly. It just didn't want to go up the hill.

On the way down from Perth my partners sister was driving the vehicle and said that she noticed it shuddering when coming in around 3rd gear.

The service was done with a LR dealership and don't get me wrong, I'm not implying they've done something wrong. I would just think that after a service, everything should be working nicely haha. How long would it take usually for a major service? I dropped it off at 8am and it was ready by 12pm.

Either way, when I'm passing through Perth on Thursday/Friday I will be taking to transmission specialist in Myaree. Rang them this morning and they said just to bring it in and they'd get someone to take it out and see what they could find. Hopefully it does play up whilst they have it and they can find the problem.

And sorry for not introducing myself anywhere. My name is Will and I'm currently living in Karratha. I'm 26yrs old and work for a oil and gas company. (not the place to introduce, but its weird when mentions my avatar name when this is such a friendly forum)

Generally speaking if you do not have the EML on or a fault message on the message display then you do not have an engine problem. You may have had a glitch that fixed itself so no display but a fault code will be recorded in the system so you will need to get these read.

Based on the experience of others on this forum I can almost guarantee that your transmission person will tell you it needs a new transmission and or torque converter without any more diagnosis - I hope I am wrong and of course the technician may be right but they tend to repair by replacement these days with little diagnosis.

The cost for the above will be around $7k or more - why not try a full flush and maybe Dr Tranny first for around $1200. For sure - if this does not fix it you do the $1200 but it is a risk assessment decision.

The 192,000km service is a B service so is replace the usuals such as engine oil, filters etc and a whole lot of checking - nothing on transmission, diffs etc. I would have thought what you were charged is a bit excessive but then the basic oil change service can be over $800. A B service can certainly be done in a morning as there is nothing special in it.

There service schedule for your D3 is attached - have a look at the 192,000 entry and don't forget to take into account the time limits as well. This what they should have serviced the car to unless you asked for additional work or they advised additional work.

Opps added the RRS sched not the D3 one and I cannot edit it - see next post of mine

Garry

EDIT; This file attached is for the Range Rover Sport, D3 service schedule File is the next post.

[101RRS]

Opps added the RRS sched not the D3 one and I cannot edit it - see next post of mine

Garry

See this one for the D3 but is basically the same as the RRS.

[PerthDisco]

My neighbor with a MY 06 has also had the $7k gearbox change and his was dealer serviced from new.

Crazy.

Unless the dealers change their procedures how will this ever stop as surely only a small percentage of Disco owners are active on forums sch as this.

[waccampbell]

I ended up taking it into Automac whilst I was still down. One of the guys took it for a drive and said he could feel the shudder, but it was no where near as bad as some before.

I was also told I should look into getting a wheel alignment. Might do that up here in Karratha and see if it helps.

Next time I'm down that way I'll pop in and get the gearbox serviced anyway, it can't hurt! Here's hoping I won't need to replace the bloody thing. Until then I think I'll just be careful with how I drive it.

Thanks for your help guys.

[101RRS]

Have you done any research on Dr Tranny?? Have a look at the last few posts in the FAQ thread http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-rrs/125041-disco-3-4-automatic-transmission-faq-3.html#post1919022

Might be a good stop gap until you get the box serviced (which I really wouldn't delay).

Is there anyone up in the sticks who can do the wheel alignment properly - there are different views on whether the suspension needs to be put in Tight Tolerance Mode first but that is what the book says - and unless you have the equipment it will need to be done at a dealer or a good independent with all the computer stuff.

Garry