Discovery 3 Transmission Fault and recommended Perth repairers

[TDV6Robvdw]

Hi guys,
Just returned from an epic road trip from Perth to Tamala Station, Steep Point, Dehnam and Monkey Mia.
Tonnes of driving blacktop and unsealed heavily corrugated roads.
No major issues apart from a totally destroyed tyre.
This is my first major trip whilst having owned the car for around 25,000k of fault free driving.
The car had a full service record at purchase.
The only thing I have done maintenance wise was a full service (did not touch the gearbox) and installed a new primary battery.
The gearbox always had a very slight shudder around the 90k/hr zone.
The gearbox always had a bit of play where if you were going around a round-about and you unsympathically sunk the accelerator heavily with the right foot would clunk and engage. You could/can avoid the clunk by feeding in the accelerator pedal.
The weather was pretty good apart from the last day with a fair bit of heavy water across the road.

When driving back into the first intersection in Geraldton, stopped at the lights and went to accelerate away and there was no drive. More accelerator pedal and the D3 started to pull away with lots of slip.
Got to the next intersection, put the transmission into N and then Park.
With the car running, the gear selector would not come out of Park with or without my foot on the brake pedal.
I quickly turned the car off and on and I could select drive and drove away without any slip.
Got to the local park - kids stretched their legs for a bit.
Got back in the car and then the car started to play up.
Lots of chiming from the dash, warning lights popping up and dissappearing. Battery check light coming on and off. F fault and error message on the dash. Gear shifting a bit clunking.

Filled up the car. Drive restored and no warning lights on the dash or fault messages.

Limped back to Perth on a couple of occasions stopping to turn the car off and on again to restore drive and reset the Fault message (limited gears available). Since getting back to Perth the spurious fault reappears. What I am getting now is static noise through the speakers (never had this before in 25,000k of ownership) kind of like popping. The car makes a weird noise and then the Fault message (limited gears available) appears. When I get to an intersection, the drive is kind of like a heavily worn clutch in a manual car. You have to press the accelerator quite a bit to get the car moving (lots of tooting from impatient people behind), find a place to stop, turn the car off and on and then the fault seems to reset.

I don't have an OBD port reader thing to check the error message. I don't take my car to a regular mechanic as I do the maintenance myself.

As a starting point, I was planning to take the car back to the dealership where I bought the car as they have access to a Bosch diagnostics system and get them to check the error codes. From there make a decision of how to proceed. Changing the oil, pan and filter may not be enough. I was also thinking to remove the underbody protection and check all the plugs and give then a squirt with WD40 etc to ensure a good connection.

Prior to the trip I was planning to change the gearbox oil and plastic pan to a metal one complete with separate filter. At the same time I would replace the connector seal (black and orange released with the white clip). I don't know the transmission oil age or condition.

I am based in South Perth and work around Kwinana / Rockingham area, does anybody have any recommendations of gearbox repairers or mechanics that they would recommend to take the vehicle to? Everyone will have their own experience and comments. I can't justify a full rebuild but would need to have a reliable vehicle. I was thinking torque converter, oil, filter, connector seal.

What could the problem be that the fault can be reset by turning the vehicle off and on? Could something have wiggled loose with the hundreds of kilometres of driving on corrugated roads combined with water ingress?

Cheers [bigwhistle]

[Bulletman]

How many kms on the car ? A oil and filter change would be my first start point . If it still has a plastic sump then i am guessing its never been changed , but i have heard of people re-fitting a plastic sump so i could be wrong.

Also check your selector cable isnt clogged up or come loose or something silly like that.

I dont know perth well enough so cant recommend anyone.

Bulletman

[Ferret]

... does anybody have any recommendations of gearbox repairers or mechanics that they would recommend to take the vehicle to?

Transmissions R Us at Balcatta. Maybe not close to you as you would like but I have used them a couple of times and friends I know with D4s have used them also. Ask to speak to a guy named Cameron about your woes, he is very familiar with Landrover (ZF) stuff.

[gavinwibrow]

Transmissions R Us at Balcatta. Maybe not close to you as you would like but I have used them a couple of times and friends I know with D4s have used them also. Ask to speak to a guy named Cameron about your woes, he is very familiar with Landrover (ZF) stuff.


x2. Cameron is your man.
But I suspect like it or not you might be up for a full rebuild.

[TDV6Robvdw]

How many kms on the car ? A oil and filter change would be my first start point . If it still has a plastic sump then i am guessing its never been changed , but i have heard of people re-fitting a plastic sump so i could be wrong.

Also check your selector cable isnt clogged up or come loose or something silly like that.

Bulletman

Thanks Bulletman - 265,000k on the clock.
I will have a play with the cables.

[TDV6Robvdw]

Transmissions R Us at Balcatta. Maybe not close to you as you would like but I have used them a couple of times and friends I know with D4s have used them also. Ask to speak to a guy named Cameron about your woes, he is very familiar with Landrover (ZF) stuff.

Thanks Ferret. I read a separate post regarding ZF oils etc and Transmissions R Us came up then as well. Cheers

[TDV6Robvdw]

x2. Cameron is your man.
But I suspect like it or not you might be up for a full rebuild.

Cheers

[justinc]

The battery light coming on and off tends to draw me to checking the charging system first. At 265k yes the trans is on borrowed time, however none of the Transmission failures I have come across have ever had a battery light in the equation. Do yourself a huge favour and get a decent scan tool if doing your own work!!!

[DiscoJeffster]

The battery light coming on and off tends to draw me to checking the charging system first. At 265k yes the trans is on borrowed time, however none of the Transmission failures I have come across have ever had a battery light in the equation. Do yourself a huge favour and get a decent scan tool if doing your own work!!!

Exactly what I was thinking. The electrical issues mentioned in the first place might imply alternator issues [emoji2369]

[discorevy]

As above , but also check your battery terminals , brake globes etc

[DiscoDB]

Thanks Bulletman - 265,000k on the clock.
I will have a play with the cables.

If the transmission has never had an oil and filter change then you should probably start to budget for a gearbox rebuild - but start with a flush and filter change plus some Dr Tranny as this can cure shudder problems and buy time.

However, if the problem you are having is intermittent and sometimes it all comes good again - then definitely sounds like an electrical problem. When the D3 goes into fault mode, it can also cause the gear shift quality to change and if the gearbox is already worn then it will make it seem worse.

Start by checking the earth cable mounting point behind the fuse box - it may have worked loose. Then check cables and plugs in general. The transfer box ECU is not well sealed and the plugs corrode out which will generate faults, and others have found broken and damaged cables in all sorts of places.

You definitely need to get access to a fault code reader to see which faults were logged when the F fault came up. I have read one person even had the F fault come up due to a partially blocked fuel filter. The D3 ECU’s can have faults generated in one system cause other unrelated faults in other systems - sort of a one out all out workplace rule. Even a blown brake light globe can cause unrelated ECU faults.

As others have mentioned also replace the brake light switch. A faulty brake like switch will kill the throttle signal - and if intermittent could be the reason for sometimes having no throttle response. Plus it is a cheap part and you will need to replace at some point anyway.

And a silly question - you don’t use left foot braking by any chance? Even just resting a foot over the brake peddle can kill the throttle response.

And all the above is to hopefully rule out needing to get the gearbox rebuilt. Keep posting what you find - eventually you will have that eureka moment.

[TDV6Robvdw]

If the transmission has never had an oil and filter change then you should probably start to budget for a gearbox rebuild - but start with a flush and filter change plus some Dr Tranny as this can cure shudder problems and buy time.

However, if the problem you are having is intermittent and sometimes it all comes good again - then definitely sounds like an electrical problem. When the D3 goes into fault mode, it can also cause the gear shift quality to change and if the gearbox is already worn then it will make it seem worse.

Start by checking the earth cable mounting point behind the fuse box - it may have worked loose. Then check cables and plugs in general. The transfer box ECU is not well sealed and the plugs corrode out which will generate faults, and others have found broken and damaged cables in all sorts of places.

You definitely need to get access to a fault code reader to see which faults were logged when the F fault came up. I have read one person even had the F fault come up due to a partially blocked fuel filter. The D3 ECU’s can have faults generated in one system cause other unrelated faults in other systems - sort of a one out all out workplace rule. Even a blown brake light globe can cause unrelated ECU faults.

As others have mentioned also replace the brake light switch. A faulty brake like switch will kill the throttle signal - and if intermittent could be the reason for sometimes having no throttle response. Plus it is a cheap part and you will need to replace at some point anyway.

And a silly question - you don’t use left foot braking by any chance? Even just resting a foot over the brake peddle can kill the throttle response.

And all the above is to hopefully rule out needing to get the gearbox rebuilt. Keep posting what you find - eventually you will have that eureka moment.

Thanks DiscoDB, I took the car back to the dealer where I purchased the car. They suggested a bunch of your points related to the electronics. I will also check the earth. The Bosch diagnostics highlighted a raft of faults including water in fuel etc etc.
A bunch of the faults were reset to try and log the faults between the reset and now.

Since the reset a few of my work commutes have been fault free. One drive the park brake fault would pop up and down and then stopped.

Yesterday I got the spongey accelerator pedal during two separate trips which reset by putting the car into park and turning the vehicle off and on. On both occasions I could not shift back out of park until turning off the ignition.

When there are no faults the car drives 100% fine but the intermittent nature of the faults that seem to be reset by cycling the ignition cause me to think it’s electrical.

The shudder at 90 k/hr is really minor and a ‘service’ by changing oil, filter, the connector seal and maybe the seals between the valve body and gearbox hopefully will sort that out.

Time to clean some terminals, wiggle some wires and tighten some earths that may have been loosened by the corrugated roads or first decent wet weather stronger than the typical showers.

[DiscoDB]

Certainly sounds electrical. I had a suspension fault which started the same way - initially could be reset by ignition off and back on, then over time it needed a hard reset, sometimes it would just come and go on it’s own accord, and then eventually it stayed faulted continuously.

This is what I found at the transfer control unit....

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200722/caf4578b56146eedc1f64fc26452ff46.jpg

If not found early corroded connectors will destroy the pins on the ECU.

But this can happen almost anywhere on the D3. Water and electronics don’t mix. Plus you can have problems with damaged wiring just due to incredible density of wiring runs throughout the car all packed tightly together.

A collection of horror stories from other people around the world.....

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[PerthDisco]

Autocode are Perth specialist LR electrical fault guys. Nearby Jordan Rovertec mechanics.


European Car Service | Performance Tuning | Diagnostic Fault Finding (https://www.autocode.com.au/)

[PerthDisco]

This is what I found at the transfer control unit....

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200722/caf4578b56146eedc1f64fc26452ff46.jpg

If not found early corroded connectors will destroy the pins on the ECU.

But this can happen almost anywhere on the D3. Water and electronics don’t mix. Plus you can have problems with damaged wiring just due to incredible density of wiring runs throughout the car all packed tightly together.

Worth pulling those plugs and giving a light crc style spray?

[DiscoJeffster]

Worth pulling those plugs and giving a light crc style spray?

Got to Jaycar/Altronics and get some contact cleaner with lubricant. It’ll clean the terminals and the lubricant will stop further corrosion

[DiscoDB]

Got to Jaycar/Altronics and get some contact cleaner with lubricant. It’ll clean the terminals and the lubricant will stop further corrosion

That’s exactly what I did. Highly recommend everyone with a D3 pull the plugs and inspect. Next opportunity I will do the same with any connectors beneath the car.

Some of the photos are from a quick search and show this even happens with the gear selector connector.

Needs to leak more oil like a proper LR to keep everything coated in an oil film.......

[TDV6Robvdw]

Certainly sounds electrical. I had a suspension fault which started the same way - initially could be reset by ignition off and back on, then over time it needed a hard reset, sometimes it would just come and go on it’s own accord, and then eventually it stayed faulted continuously.

This is what I found at the transfer control unit....

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200722/caf4578b56146eedc1f64fc26452ff46.jpg

If not found early corroded connectors will destroy the pins on the ECU.

But this can happen almost anywhere on the D3. Water and electronics don’t mix. Plus you can have problems with damaged wiring just due to incredible density of wiring runs throughout the car all packed tightly together.

A collection of horror stories from other people around the world.....



Wow - what a collection. I spent some time last Friday inspecting, pulling plugs and connectors looking for green corrosion etc. Everything looked pretty good. I cleaned and sprayed various plugs behind the primary battery.

I removed the underbody protection and gave everything a wiggle - everything seemed pretty solid.

I have only had the transmission fault pop up twice after daily driving to work and back and a six hour drive on the weekend. The main fault occurring now is a Park Drive fault. The stereo goes quiet whilst the fault illuminated on the dash and then sound is restored.

Quick question, is there much wiring underneath the passenger carpet/mat? This area got extremely wet during the trip to Denham / Steep Point. I had to remove the mat to allow it and the carpet to dry. I’m curious if there is wiring or a connector in this area that has been water affected.

Cheers and thanks for your advice and recommendations!!

[TDV6Robvdw]

Autocode are Perth specialist LR electrical fault guys. Nearby Jordan Rovertec mechanics.


European Car Service | Performance Tuning | Diagnostic Fault Finding (https://www.autocode.com.au/)

Cheers! I might give them a call.

[PerthDisco]

Wow - what a collection. I spent some time last Friday inspecting, pulling plugs and connectors looking for green corrosion etc. Everything looked pretty good. I cleaned and sprayed various plugs behind the primary battery.

I removed the underbody protection and gave everything a wiggle - everything seemed pretty solid.

I have only had the transmission fault pop up twice after daily driving to work and back and a six hour drive on the weekend. The main fault occurring now is a Park Drive fault. The stereo goes quiet whilst the fault illuminated on the dash and then sound is restored.

Quick question, is there much wiring underneath the passenger carpet/mat? This area got extremely wet during the trip to Denham / Steep Point. I had to remove the mat to allow it and the carpet to dry. I’m curious if there is wiring or a connector in this area that has been water affected.

Cheers and thanks for your advice and recommendations!!

In the passenger footwell outside kick panel there is wiring coming from the switch panel behind the glovebox plus runs down length of car under the LR emblazoned plastic strip at the door entry point

[TDV6Robvdw]

In the passenger footwell outside kick panel there is wiring coming from the switch panel behind the glovebox plus runs down length of car under the LR emblazoned plastic strip at the door entry point

Thanks - I will have a look in this area after looking at the photos you posted this area may be affected

[DiscoDB]

Thanks - I will have a look in this area after looking at the photos you posted this area may be affected

The wiring running down the passenger side under the door sill is a common area for a bad splice with the brake light switch cable.

Check out this post which I just came across:

Discovery 3 Limp on acceleration - Discovery Forum - LR4x4 - The Land Rover Forum (https://forums.lr4x4.com/topic/103875-discovery-3-limp-on-acceleration/)

[DazzaTD5]

The battery light coming on and off tends to draw me to checking the charging system first. At 265k yes the trans is on borrowed time, however none of the Transmission failures I have come across have ever had a battery light in the equation. Do yourself a huge favour and get a decent scan tool if doing your own work!!!

Yeah what he said.

And also yes Transmissions R US to look at your tranny (is the word tranny going to be offensive?)

[rick130]

Yeah what he said.

And also yes Transmissions R US to look at your tranny (is the word tranny going to be offensive?)

Not sure, but all my mates fall about laughing when I say I have to service my tranny.....[emoji849][emoji15][emoji23]

[TDV6Robvdw]

The wiring running down the passenger side under the door sill is a common area for a bad splice with the brake light switch cable.

Check out this post which I just came across:

Discovery 3 Limp on acceleration - Discovery Forum - LR4x4 - The Land Rover Forum (https://forums.lr4x4.com/topic/103875-discovery-3-limp-on-acceleration/)

Thanks!! Interesting problem. I plan to lift the carpet and the plastic door sill plate things to investigate. I does seem to correlate that the electrical issues have subsided as the carpet in the passenger footwell dries out.