L322 Range Rover transmission(?) problems

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stormy2084

New Member
Posts
6
Location
MN USA
Hello,

My wife's 2006 L322 with ~222,000 miles on it recently stopped moving. I don't know the history of the vehicle as I bought it at 180K miles as-is with no paperwork. At the time it had the original transmission pan, which I did replace and refilled just as a precaution. Everything has been fine for about 40K miles until recently when it started to feel like the transmission was occasionally slipping. A couple of weeks ago it backed out of the garage but had to rev a bit higher than usual. Then going forward it did the same thing. I pulled around to the front of the house to where my shop is, and it wouldn't move any further. I tried all the gears, manual shift mode, low 4wd, and nothing would work. Leaving it overnight, I tried again the next day and was able to get it to engage enough to drive it onto my lift.

Doing some research, it seemed to be either a bad torque converter, transmission, or less likely a bad transfer case. I don't have enough experience to determine which of these was the problem, but I knew I had a good donor vehicle. That's another 2006 with ~165K miles on it that hasn't shown any signs of trouble with the drivetrain. I decided that rather than diagnosing the problem, I'd just swap over the entire transmission/torque converter/transfer case in one shot. Note that I wasn't getting any errors related to the transmission on my scan tool.

Removing the first one from the donor took me about 12 hours. The second removal from the keeper truck took about 6 - you learn a lot of things quickly. Also, I could never have done this without a lift. With both transmissions out I swapped the electronics inside the transmissions to avoid having to reprogram later as I'm not sure if my scan tool has that feature. Installing again took another 12 hours. The worst was when I got the new transmission pan all mounted up and torqued to spec I realized I had forgotten to put the filter back in! Anyhow, I got it all back together and filled it (I use Liqui Moly Top Tec 1800). I followed the proper filling procedure by filling, plugging, shifting, running it up to proper temp, and topping off until I get a drip. After all this, I finally put the truck on the ground to see what it would do. Low and behold it moved forwards and back. I made sure all codes were cleared and reset the adaptive transmission and went for a test drive. Things seemed fine for about a half-mile when all of a sudden it felt like things were slipping again. I tried reverse, but same thing - poor engagement. If I revved it some it would kind of go. It felt like it was low on transmission fluid. I tried putting it into 4 Low and with that I was able to limp home if I kept the rpm's low.

I parked just outside my shop to open the garage door (my opener is broken!) and when I opened the door to get out, it started rolling backwards! I jumped back in and rolled backward five feet in park before I put on the parking brake. I was able to limp it on to the lift and first checked the transmission fluid level. It seemed to be right where it should be (temp was around 135 at the time). Next I re-examined the shift linkage. It was very gummed up originally, but I had serviced it when I did the swap and it moves freely and I set it by the book. I also noticed I occasionally get a little grind going from neutral to park. I have tried adjusting the shift linkage a couple of times, but it doesn't seem to change anything.

I'm feeling rather beat up after all this and could use some help on where to go from here. How would you diagnose the issue?
 
(I use Liqui Moly Top Tec 1800) I don't think that is the correct fluid for the box.
Petrol or diesel?
V8 (4.4L) Petrol. It's what Atlantic British sells (https://www.roverparts.com/transmission/transmission-gearbox-oils/LRN13754LM/). I buy the 20L jug off Amazon and haven't had any issues with any of my Rovers.

Update to my own thread: Since I can't sleep, I'm still looking at the truck. I put it back up on the lift and noticed that I couldn't turn the front or rear prop shaft, which makes me think it is in park and the transmission is holding it. So I spun the front left tire which moved freely. However, the right tire did not move. Don't they usually spin opposite? I also noticed a faint grinding sound coming from the front diff. Upon closer inspection, I saw that the front left half shaft was looking like this:

IMG_7267.jpg


That's no good! So now I'm wondering if my front diff is shot and that's been the problem all along? I guess I'm still not sure if that makes sense seeing as it isn't much better with it in 4L (though it did get me back home). The saga continues!
 
Just to highlight the OP has a 2006 model with the ZF 6HP26X transmission. The design of the front propshaft had been changed by that stage to include the front joint, so the Q041 Service Action isn’t applicable to this vehicle.

If you hear the park pawl ratcheting on the park lock wheel when you engage Park it’s because the output shaft is turning with the vehicle stationary. This can only happen if something downstream of the transmission has become disconnected. So, one of the following :

1) The transmission output spline has stripped (fretting corrosion issue)
2) The transfer box is in neutral or has failed
3) Either the front or rear propshafts have failed or become disconnected
4) Either the front or rear final drives have failed
5) One of the driveshafts has failed or become disconnected (e.g. the spline on the joint has popped out of engagement)

The last one (driveshaft joint has popped out of engagement) is by far the most common cause, followed by the first (transmission output spline stripped).

I would recommend that you get someone to (safely) look under the vehicle when stationary and in Drive and they should be able to see the propshaft(s) turning if it’s reasons 3), 4) or 5).

Phil
 
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Thanks for the feedback. I had to travel this week so I haven't had a chance to dig into this further. Bemble is correct about the transmission (and yes, the diff does match the "latest design" picture). I will work through the steps outlined and figure out the root cause!
 
Well, finally had a chance to go over the five items listed above. And the winner is...
"5) One of the driveshafts has failed or become disconnected (e.g. the spline on the joint has popped out of engagement)"

It had popped out. After pulling it all the way out and investigating, one boot had leaked, and the other one was intact, but it felt wobbly. I cut open the good boot and found a broken CV joint. I replaced the entire axle, serviced both diffs and the transfer case, and she drives perfectly again! I'm a bit embarrassed that I got so far into this project under a bad assumption (bad transmission) but it had started slipping on occasion over the past couple of months, so I just assumed it had finally given out. Nevertheless, I can now proudly say I've done a transmission swap and it was probably going to need one sooner or later anyhow.

Interestingly I did find that the radiator was about 75% plugged and the viscous fan was not working properly. I'm assuming it hasn't shown signs of overheating when my wife drives it due to the highs being in the single digits* this time of year. Running in my shop it overheated. So that was kind of a bonus to find it now while I'm working on it rather than this spring when the weather warmed up. Parts have arrived and will do that job tonight. She'd really like to see 300K miles on this truck so I thank you all for your help!

*single digits in Fahrenheit, negative digits today :)
 
2+ week follow-up: 500ish miles. This vehicle is running perfectly. The "new" transmission shifts like butter. I had forgotten how the viscous fan roars on startup - it was clearly bad, but now it sounds just like I the other Rovers! I wouldn't have thought a plugged radiator would cause poor heating but that also seems to be better (and we continue to have sub-zero F temps here). The only remaining issue is some rust around the rear quarter wheel wells - sure wish they had made them out of aluminum back then! Time to up my body shop game if I'm going to keep this thing going to 300K miles. Thanks again to all who replied.
 
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