L322 L322 help - ZF5HP24 - Struggling Uphill

Hi All,


Desperate for some advice, have searched every thread on all of the online forums and can't find anyone with the same issue as what I have.


I have a 2003 range rover vogue L322 which has the M62 4.4 v8 and the Zf5hp24 transmission - the car currently has 160,000kms on original drivetrain.


I bought car as a non runner, Got it fixed up and back on the road and have realised the transmission is not operating the way it should.


It has all the obvious signs of a failing torque converter, slight vibration under strain/acceleration and makes the infamous cattle grate noise and feels maybe a little down on power than it should have, This is not so much the concern i have, As I am planning to recon the torque converter soon - Also I should point out I had trans serviced by a local land rover independent approx 12 months ago and I have also replaced xyz switch on this car.


The transmission generally drives absolutely perfect on normal flat roads or slight inclines and gear changes happen exactly when they should - with the exception for the bad torque converter symptoms.


The main concern I have is that it may not entirely be the torque converter itself but whether could be valve body, faulty solenoids or just a stuffed trans - I'm just not sure


The issue starts when I'm driving up an incline at any normal driving speeds 40kph-80kmph up a Hilly street for instance (or any steep gradient) the car will shift up gears as its going up a hill (ie it will change from 3rd to 4th) and then will start struggling uphill, it will then start slowing down and will be reluctant to change down to lower gears when it should, It almost feels like its surging if you give it acceleration as it feels stuck in 4th gear, the only way to then keep the speed up is to hit the tiptronic into manual and select a lower gear (ie 2 or 3) or kick down for it to change down gear which will then allow it to speed back up once it's got a little more up the hill it then will change up again to a higher gear all over again.


To put this all simply is that it is reluctant to change down as its going uphill when it needs power and instead will shift up, start struggling and will slow down.


I have asked a friend of mine who is a land rover technician and he has suggested it may be the lock up clutch but I'm just not sure as I can't find anything on any of the forums with a similar issue to suggest this.


I absolutely love this car to pieces, Its my dream car, I shovelled a lot of money into this LM so far, Fixing many things that have failed on it, It sometimes feels like a bottomless pit, Everyone I know has told me to sell it asap, But I just can't, I feel the need to keep fixing it, So I really wish to get it sorted, I don't really want to give up on it.


Any help would be hugely appreciated


Thanks Dion

It's due a rebuild.

No point just replacing the T/C as the lock up clutch wears particles find there way into the valvebody solenoids and the various galleries in the valvebody and gearbox.

Henry_b said:

It's due a rebuild.

No point just replacing the T/C as the lock up clutch wears particles find there way into the valvebody solenoids and the various galleries in the valvebody and gearbox.

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Thanks Henry_b, I was crossing my fingers hoping it wouldn't need a whole trans recon, Though I'm not surprised when it comes to these bmw gen L322

Unfortunately it's a gm box and not a zf... Vauxhall did the same years ago once again with a bmw engine and it ate the ar25 box for tea... The answer was the ar35 from the 3. 0v6. The gm box is great in a lighter car not in a near 3tonner!!!!

Mark Piercy said:

Unfortunately it's a gm box and not a zf... Vauxhall did the same years ago once again with a bmw engine and it ate the ar25 box for tea... The answer was the ar35 from the 3. 0v6. The gm box is great in a lighter car not in a near 3tonner!!!!

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This is the early petrol 4.4 bmw v8 petrol, sure its the ZF box in this, I Beleive the 3.0 bmw diesel td6 has got the gm box?

The bmw period of Land rover certainly has a lot to answer for.

L322.03.VOGUE said:

This is the early petrol 4.4 bmw v8 petrol, sure its the ZF box in this, I Beleive the 3.0 bmw diesel td6 has got the gm box?

The bmw period of Land rover certainly has a lot to answer for.

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Corrected, thank you.. The ZF are normally a good box if looked after

Mark Piercy said:

Corrected, thank you.. The ZF are normally a good box if looked after

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You had me thinking there though, I was thinking could I have been wrong all this time

I've been restoring this range rover for a long time, So it's been a long process.

I think like anything in the bmw generation of Land rover, Parts just have a short service life and understandable too, Probably driven by the cost cutting at the time, The L322 was a tremendous shift from the likes of d2 and p38.

Thanks for your input anyhow.

L322.03.VOGUE said:

You had me thinking there though, I was thinking could I have been wrong all this time

I've been restoring this range rover for a long time, So it's been a long process.

I think like anything in the bmw generation of Land rover, Parts just have a short service life and understandable too, Probably driven by the cost cutting at the time, The L322 was a tremendous shift from the likes of d2 and p38.

Thanks for your input anyhow.

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It's a shame that bmw had to do that as the L3' series where a great development in many ways for the RR and tbh, all the car makers around that period did exactly the same....