auto playing up

hi all
new to the site based in west london have a freelander 1 auto2.5 year2000 have had the car about 5years now ird changed about 18months ago
need some help or pointing in the right direction currently have a problem with reverse some times goes in reverse no problem other times just doesn't seem to engage if you turn engine off and restart will work have also found if we stamp on the brakes a few times it engages ??
have had the oil changed and still does it ? oil was replaced by landrover specialist checked the 2 wired plug leads in engine bay and they seem fine (visual check only) not sure what to check next any help would be really appriecated
kind regards gary

Just replied to yer pm. Could be brake binding. When it happens again put auto into park and lift both rear wheels. See if they turn ok with the handbrake off. Let if know if this solves the problem.

edit: also when you put it in reverse does the revs drop on the dash, and do you feel it slightly jolt as the auto selects reverse?

Hippo said:

Just replied to yer pm. Could be brake binding. When it happens again put auto into park and lift both rear wheels. See if they turn ok with the handbrake off. Let if know if this solves the problem.

edit: also when you put it in reverse does the revs drop on the dash, and do you feel it slightly jolt as the auto selects reverse?

Click to expand...

when its not workingthere is no change to revs no clink and no jolt think it could be something electrical ??

You need to work out if the foot brake operation is fixing the problem temporally, or restarting the engine fixes it.

The easy check is to lift the rear wheels to see if they turn. This will prove if brake are binding. But now you’ve confirmed the engine revs don’t drop when selecting reverse, then this points towards something else.

When you put your foot on the brake and select a gear, with the engine revs on tick over, the revs will drop due to the engine being loaded more. If this doesn’t happen when selecting reverse then reverse gear hasn’t been selected within the auto. This would get me thinking along the lines of a solenoid not switching, causing reverse gear selection to fail. That could be down to an electrical connection. So have a look at the wiring loom and barrel connections as per the link I sent you before. That’s where I would start if it were mine.

http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f9/2003-freelander-f-4-hdc-please-help-163353.html

One thing to rule out, how many miles ago was the auto oil changed. And why was it changed? And was this done by a LR garage (main dealer or independent) which does Freelanders too? If you remove the wrong bolt on the Jatco you can loose reverse gear. I wouldn’t think this was the cause as it’s intermittently working, but something to rule out.

thanks for all the help
oil was changed due to not going into reverse gear ,i checked the barrel connection they were tight once twisted opened all pins looked clean with no water ingress will a gargae change just the solenoids ? thanks again gary

The next step would be to make sure there’s not cuts in the wiring harness. Also open the computer box and check the connections in there. Pic below. Auto computer is the one on the left in the pic. Other is for the engine.

Depends how far you want to go. You could do a resistance check yourself. Info is on ere somewhere. This will prove if you have an electrically faulty solenoid. If could be worn or sticking. You could also try a diagnostic. If there’s anyone near you with a hawkeye they could get to the auto computer. Failing that get it checked on LR’s testbook T4, which some independents have. There are other systems out there but you need one which can go past the engine computer to get to the auto computer, for auto fault codes. This may pick out a sensor that’s causing trouble.

Failing that, unless someone else can think of another way forward, I guess it’s something like a solenoid failure. That would make sense as the fault is intermittent. Unless a worn reverse clutch could cause an intermittent failure like this. Perhaps even something else we’ve not talked about. If you’ve done as much as you can then it’s over to an expert for diagnostic/help, unless someone else has any ideas? (don’t trust any advice vagrent gives)

Also check the led next to the gear lever shows it’s in reverse position, and there’s an R on the dash too. This will prove the sensors around the lever are working. You can also measure resistance of reverse when selected/not selected via the barrel connectors, as you move in and out of reverse. I think that will prove the selection switch in the auto is working (driven off the gear lever movement).

hippo
cant thank you enough for all the advise have checked all the connections so will give it a few days to say how it is
thanks again regards gary

Any luck with this?