P38 transmission slow in the cold

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Gunnerhavesome

Gunnerhavesome

Well-Known Member
Full Member
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439
Location
Sevastopol, Crimea.
Hi People, I have had great feed back and help from here previously so on the bludge again for insight and advice.

Have a 2000 P38 4.6 it had been sat in Crimea for 14 months but started and ran great for the past few weeks. (success and happiness was another post) However last few days the weather has turned really cold. The old girl starts great on the first turn but I have noticed that I really need to put the boot down for any acceleration and the sport mode no longer functions. when she gets warm the acceleration picks up but is still not great. Just wondering if this is just a symptom of the transmission oil being cold and a typical problem or if the seals are on the way out. Or is it yet another level of range rover I am unaware of that will not let you put your boot down in cold weather to stop you skidding off somewhere? once again any help or advice from the great and experienced minds on here very much appreciated.
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Gunnerhavesome said:
Hi People, I have had great feed back and help from here previously so on the bludge again for insight and advice.

Have a 2000 P38 4.6 it had been sat in Crimea for 14 months but started and ran great for the past few weeks. (success and happiness was another post) However last few days the weather has turned really cold. The old girl starts great on the first turn but I have noticed that I really need to put the boot down for any acceleration and the sport mode no longer functions. when she gets warm the acceleration picks up but is still not great. Just wondering if this is just a symptom of the transmission oil being cold and a typical problem or if the seals are on the way out. Or is it yet another level of range rover I am unaware of that will not let you put your boot down in cold weather to stop you skidding off somewhere? once again any help or advice from the great and experienced minds on here very much appreciated.
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Acceleration is more a function of the engine than the gearbox. Box maybe lazy until it warms in very cold conditions however. But that should not stop acceleration when all is warm. Do you not have any diag?
 
Any oil in the box? Don't know about the P38 petrol's but diesels are often limited when cold, my Toyota Celica was rev limited and up shifts delayed until warm. If it's seriously cold where you are, the same may apply.
 
wammers said:
Acceleration is more a function of the engine than the gearbox. Box maybe lazy until it warms in very cold conditions however. But that should not stop acceleration when all is warm. Do you not have any diag?
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Thanks for the reply, I don't have any diag and I just don't trust any garage around here. but have noticed quite a few range rovers here now so hopefully I might be able to find someone who knows about them. There used to be a place in Simferopol 2 hours away but since the revolution (no kidding here) it has closed. engine revs fine it's just as if i'm now towing a very heavy trailer to get away.
 
Datatek said:
Any oil in the box? Don't know about the P38 petrol's but diesels are often limited when cold, my Toyota Celica was rev limited and up shifts delayed until warm. If it's seriously cold where you are, the same may apply.
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Thanks for the reply Datatek and thanks again for your previous help some years ago it was very wise and worked.

Oil in the box is fine but since the revolution here and it was bad before, its hard to find a decent garage that knows of range rovers which is surprising considering the amount of them here which has increased a lot since the Russian take over. Have to try and find a good grease monkey and hope for the best that it's just the cold but an oil change wont hurt.
 
Gunnerhavesome said:
Thanks for the reply, I don't have any diag and I just don't trust any garage around here. but have noticed quite a few range rovers here now so hopefully I might be able to find someone who knows about them. There used to be a place in Simferopol 2 hours away but since the revolution (no kidding here) it has closed. engine revs fine it's just as if i'm now towing a very heavy trailer to get away.
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Have you felt if a wheel or wheels are getting hot sounds like you may have a brake sticking partially on. Specially if it's been stood up for a time.
 
Will feel around, but no smell of heat or burning and all was ok for a few weeks so thought if the brakes were going to stick would have done when I first got the old girl going again. But being British you just never know
 
Maybe change the gearbox filter too? and then refill with good quality ATF. While you are under there, do the transfer box too. What comes out can be good 'diagnostics'!
Made a difference to mine. Good luck.
 
here's a question for you.. if you moving along slowly and plant your foot down, firmly, do the revs rise faster than the road speed ? if so, the gearbox is slipping.
 
Gunnerhavesome said:
No that's all fine, feels like its pulling a heavy load
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What is it like if you start off with gearbox in 1 position then move to 2 and so on does it improve? No gearbox fault message on dash? Think you said you had lost sport mode maybe the box is in mechanical limp mode. Which means it is stuck in third gear. Think you need some diag.
 
Will try going through the gears as you suggest and let you know. if it is stuck in limp home mode do you have any suggestions as what I need to do then or is it a definite specialist job?
 
Gunnerhavesome said:
Will try going through the gears as you suggest and let you know. if it is stuck in limp home mode do you have any suggestions as what I need to do then or is it a definite specialist job?
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If it is in mechanical limp mode you need to know why that has happened only diag can tell you that from the fault codes stored in the gearbox ECU.
 
wammers said:
What is it like if you start off with gearbox in 1 position then move to 2 and so on does it improve? No gearbox fault message on dash? Think you said you had lost sport mode maybe the box is in mechanical limp mode. Which means it is stuck in third gear. Think you need some diag.
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Have tried going through the selector and your right stuck in 3rd gear. No D indication on the dash either.
Now all was fine after starting when it had been stood for 14 months. But I think I might have a tired battery and I know P38's are notorious for problems when the voltage is low so maybe have to try a new battery also to see if that resets the fault. I have got no chance of getting any diag here. she is going to be a fingers crossed job.
 
Gunnerhavesome said:
Have tried going through the selector and your right stuck in 3rd gear. No D indication on the dash either.
Now all was fine after starting when it had been stood for 14 months. But I think I might have a tired battery and I know P38's are notorious for problems when the voltage is low so maybe have to try a new battery also to see if that resets the fault. I have got no chance of getting any diag here. she is going to be a fingers crossed job.
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You may wish to take a look at connections to gearbox ECU under the drivers seat if it's a left legger under front passenger seat if it's R/H drive and also connections to XYZ switch at L/H side of gearbox. If you look in my EAS "How to" there is a link to download "RAVE" the workshop manual. You will find wiring diagrams and various things that may help you in that. The mode switch is a momentary switch that grounds a pin on the ECU to indicate a mode change request to the gearbox ECU, that not working and lack of message centre info maybe significant. It may be bad connections to gearbox ECU.
 
Last edited:
Just found this in some old tech data seems to sum your problem up fairly accurately.

CODE: 30 FPOS, Gear position switch inaccurate while running.

EFFECT: Limp home in third or fourth.

DESCRIPTION.

During normal operation the gear position is read from the XYZ switches. This information is also read by the BeCM so it can enable/disable cranking and display the currently selected gear on the message center.

If the lever position does not return the correct selection then the BeCM, TCM and H-GATE will receive incorrect information.

If the wiring between the XYZ switches and the TCM is good but the wiring between the XYZ switches and the BeCM or H-GATE is faulty, no fault code woud set but a gear indication problem would exist.
 
wammers said:
You may wish to take a look at connections to gearbox ECU under the drivers seat if it's a left legger under front passenger seat if it's R/H drive and also connections to XYZ switch at L/H side of gearbox. If you look in my EAS "How to" there is a link to download "RAVE" the workshop manual. You will find wiring diagrams and various things that may help you in that. The mode switch is a momentary switch that grounds a pin on the ECU to indicate a mode change request to the gearbox ECU, that not working and lack of message centre info maybe significant. It may be bad connections to gearbox ECU.
Click to expand...

Many thanks for all this, it is a RHD I will try and download he manual and let you know how I get on.
 
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