Need advice pls

i have 2006 td4 automatic 73000 the auto box is the problem it may drive fine for days then it while slowing down won't engage a gear just revs as if in neutral I have to crawl along untill it then goes into gear then carry on my journey it may then continue to do this on journey or not again seems to be on the slowing down of vehicle not speeding up the gear box doesn't work on the manual side going up gears only down as well I put into local garage they changed fluid and cleaned electric plugs etc and worked fine again for few days then problem came back again doesn't do it all the time so difficult to show someone from garage also no fault codes are coming up any advice would really help I'm in Colchester area if anyone can recommend a garage or someone who knows what there doing thanks

As not all the oil gets changed, it may pay to change oil again, even twice! A lot can be diagnosed by the fluid coming out

As @freelance says, all the oil is not changed in one go, takes 2-3 changes. So worth doing again. But it sounds like a sticking valve body.
Also try taking the TCM out overnight so it resets. It's in the L shaped plastic box in the engine bay.
Mike

Power to the auto's computer is removed when the ignition is switched off. Removing the computer won't make a difference.

Hippo said:

Power to the auto's computer is removed when the ignition is switched off. Removing the computer won't make a difference.

Click to expand...

The TCM holds a "memory" of sorts. If you take it out if the system, it forgets this. I have tried this a couple of times and the unit starts to 'learn' again.
This is more noticeable if 2 people drive the car, as it will adapt to who's driving. The wife always used to moan when I'd driven the car for a few days, as it drove 'differently' to normal. When the car became mine, I took the TCM out to clear the settings, put it back in and then drove it so it learnt my driving style and the adaptive settings now are mine alone.
Sounds weird, but it does work.
And it's free to try.
Mike

Thanks for help I'm trying the unplug over night won't hurt to try to see if that does help if anyone knows any one in the Colchester area who is knowledgeable with these faults to look as my local garage is stumped now and advise me to go else where and I'm not going to main agent to expensive thanks

Skinny Mike said:

The TCM holds a "memory" of sorts. If you take it out if the system, it forgets this. I have tried this a couple of times and the unit starts to 'learn' again.
This is more noticeable if 2 people drive the car, as it will adapt to who's driving. The wife always used to moan when I'd driven the car for a few days, as it drove 'differently' to normal. When the car became mine, I took the TCM out to clear the settings, put it back in and then drove it so it learnt my driving style and the adaptive settings now are mine alone.
Sounds weird, but it does work.
And it's free to try.
Mike

Click to expand...

The auto's computer in the Freelander 1 doesn't have the adaptive learning of later more intelligent computers. LR are keen to talk about its adaptive response, but this relates to changing to sport mode rather than normal mode if either sport is selected using the gear lever or when accelerating harshly when first pulling. They refer to adaptation which kind of implies a level of similar intelligence of later set-up's like the Freelander 2 where adaptations include learning characteristics of the driver and auto sensors in order to predict the drivers style. This is a dynamic type of adapting (the real thing) which tries to hone in on preference and precise gear change timing to make changes smoother, as opposed to what the FL1 has, which is better described at best of options 1 to 3, going from relaxed to a bit more responsive, assuming it has it as it's not fully documented. One would assume it's the engine computer doing this if it does actually happen. The auto's computer uses non volatile memory to keep error codes etc when power is removed. In the FL1 it's the engine computer which chooses when to change gear, and the auto computer complies with the request if viable. It's possible to trick your way in to talk to the auto's computer when the FL1 is fob locked but I think this is via CAN wake up on request.

Thinking about this logically it starts and drives ok for many days. So it has the ability to do this as opposed to defaulting to limp mode etc as it's detected a fault. When the fault does happen it's resolved by slowing down. As it's lost drive you don't really have much choice other than slow down. When the problem does occur it's resolved by slowing down, and may or may not happen again on the same trip. So that confirms the auto is in reasonable health compared to some which fail.

I would agree with what peeps said above regarding the possibility of a sticking solenoid. This could be due to dirt of whatever causing the sticking, as well as a solenoid coil going out of spec or wear over time. I'm also wondering if we have more than one problems here. The gear lever will change down manually but not up, when selecting manual mode. Occasionally we come across issues like this which create all sorts of problems you wouldn't expect.

The standard process is to do a resistance check to ensure all sensors and solenoids are within spec. The video below will help with this. The garage may have done this but if they're struggling then performing the resistance test yerself ensures you know for sure if everything is ok.

The garage have already changed the auto oil and checked for codes. It would be good to know if "no codes" means there were no codes as opposed to not being able to read any codes, as they're device can't read them or the computer didn't respond when they know their device works on other FL1's.

You could try changing the auto oil again as already suggested. Quality auto oil will include the prescribed cleaning additives. The Jatco only requires a partial change as per LR and Jatco's instruction but as said above it's an option. A few hundred miles between changes is required to allow the cleaners to work. Too much cleaning in one go from a full pumped change can cause problems. If the oil were burnt I would expect the garage would have advised burnt clutch packs. They would also notice any contamination.

If it were mine I would do the free stuff first. Then do the resistance test to confirm values for yerself.
The lever problem still bugs me. Can you go through the following gear lever sequence and confirm if the dash display reads/responds correctly?

With electric's on only, and in Park, change to R, N, D, 4, 2, 1. Dash will display each character one at a time
Move the lever to D and confirm D on the dash
Move lever to the right and dash should change to SPORT
Move lever left back to D, and dash will display D
Move lever right and dash should change to SPORT
Pull lever back and dash will display 1
Push lever forward and dash will display 2

Does the dash read correctly when the fault happens and you're slowing down? It should still read D if yer in Drive.

resistance check vid

resistance video = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTmdkDuKZ6A

Did it quit a few times today worst yet dashboard reads d for drive and wen pulled across sport mode and m3 if ur in manual mode 3rd gear will go down i.e. M2 but will not go up at all flip back to d auto to do that but dash board does say wat lever is doing.
Today again drive 25 miles fine then on coming to junction slowing down no gears just revs eventually finds a gear and off I go then at a stand still in traffic wouldn't go in to first then sort of jumped into it and off again did this few times coming back down motorway went fine up to 4 gear but would not go into 5 so keepted it at 50 in fourth to go on motorway a few times before reaching home on slowing down corners etc no gear just revs then finds gear and were off again if anyone knows a garage near Colchester area who know wat there doing let me no thanks as I'm no mechanic I'll make things worse if I mess around with it cheers

Sounds like it could have a couple of faults. The problem where it's not engaging gears in D could be bad connections at the box connections. Or possibly a sticking solonoid valve.

The manual select problem could be the sensor in the sector assembly at the bottom of the lever or a bad connection to the circuit board.

Can you confirm... when slowing down and you lose drive, does it have the same problem when slowing using the brakes AND when slowing down with feet off letting is slow down naturally?

Do your foot brakes lights work ok with the engine running?
Do your reverse lights work ok with the engine running?

The loss of drive issue will require the barrel connectors in the pic below checked. You also need to do the resistance test in the video too. Hopefully this would point to a problem sensor or solenoid coil which is out of spec, causing problems. If none of this provides a solution or point of failure then the next step is to get the fault codes cleared in the engine and auto's computer. If you can I would also clear codes in the abs computer at the same time as the abs provides signals referenced by the engine and auto's computer. Some of which can trigger auto problems. Like 2x abs sensors failing at the same time. It's not going to be that but there are other derived signals taken from the brake pedal being pushed etc.

I'm too far away to help with a diagnostic but there may be someone else close with a Hawkeye or similar who may offer help. Failing that you will need to go too someone who knows about auto gearboxes. They should be able to perform the resistance test etc. They will also have the measuring kit to measure line pressures etc generated inside yer auto gearbox by attaching pressure gauges to the auto. This is the next step to know what's happening inside.

Another fluid change may help if a solenoid is sticking. I'm tending to think you don't have a cracked piston or similar as that normal causes failure more often, with loss of drive happening a lot more, or all the time in some cases.

Barrel connectors are located above/in front of the auto. Look down between the battery and front headlight on the passenger side.


DSC01080 PnqqrjE

@gstuart
where was the auto garage you took yer FL1 to before?
for some reason I think it's near the OP

and another thing... when it's slowing down, do you know if it always happens on say gear change 4 to 3, or 3 to 2?

Hippo said:

@gstuart
where was the auto garage you took yer FL1 to before?
for some reason I think it's near the OP

Click to expand...

garage was called dakar

http://www.dakarcars.co.uk/