Freelander 1 TD4 automatic won't go into 5th gear please help

andyfreelandy said:

.

Click to expand...

Sweet thanks for this. It does raise some questions... If 4th works fine (solenoid 4) and 2nd works fine (solenoids 1 and 2) then 5th should engage as well right? Solenoids 1 and 4.... and i do feel it engage... Could the problem actually be solenoid 9 (high clutch solenoid)??? like @Kevm pointed out?

After I reset codes the car tries to shift into 5th but revs go up, not down - could be slipping or not engaging the converter lock - then drops back to 4th. I think i'll replace 1, 4 and 9 just to make sure...

Doing a bit of research, my error code P0735 could be caused by several things:

• Insufficient transmission fluid (not the case)
• Dirty transmission fluid / filter (replaced in April this year)
• Frayed wiring / damaged connectors (wiring is ok)
• Failed transmission pump (wouldn't that cause issues in other gears as well?)
• Torque convertor clutch issue (4th locks up just fine plus the torque converter almost new)
• Solenoid failure
• Internal pressure problems
• Valve body issue
• TCM failure (to test - I have a spare TCM from my NFL freelander, I'll try swapping it in before taking the valve body apart)

So that leaves 4 things to check. I'll start with the TCM, then replace solenoids 1, 4 and 9 and if that fails I'll replace the whole valve body.

Sadly, if neither fix my problem (witch I've seen on other forums and other cars as well (VW, mazda, jaguar - same issue, code P0735, no 5th gear otherwise tranny works fine) I'll be doing a manual transmission swap and selling the car since I can't justify (or afford) spending over 1500 euro on a full tranny rebuild.

Could it be that the gearbox is slipping in 5th and the solenoids are OK?

I had one that slipped in 3rd but nonce I found the fault, cracked reverse drum, it could easily have slipped in 3, 4 or 5th.
I'll find the thread. Not a difficult fix.

OK its VW but I would think mostly the same....don't know if this helps

andyfreelandy said:

Could it be that the gearbox is slipping in 5th and the solenoids are OK?

I had one that slipped in 3rd but nonce I found the fault, cracked reverse drum, it could easily have slipped in 3, 4 or 5th.
I'll find the thread. Not a difficult fix.

Click to expand...

I read about cracked reverse drums, but my car is a 2004 and they supposedly fixed the reverse drum issue for cars made 2002 and later right?

That's the theory. Land Rover are refusing to agree that there is anything wrong with year 2000 Jatco. Even though Jaguar recalled their 2000 models !!!

andyfreelandy said:

That's the theory. Land Rover are refusing to agree that there is anything wrong with year 2000 Jatco. Even though Jaguar recalled their 2000 models !!!

Click to expand...

My 2000 non facelift TD4 had the exact issues you're describing. Would slip in 4th - it would rev up to 4000 rpm. If I feathered the throttle, it would eventually shift into 5th and would run fine. Maybe the drum has a big crack in it or the clutch packs are nearly gone - but the valve body in this gearbox was replaced in 2016 with a new unit and the car has been sitting from 2017 to when I bought it in 2019. It belonged to a good friend of mine and I've known the car since 2010. Drove it with the auto box until march 2022 when the gearbox failed and I swapped the whole powertrain (engine/tranny/transfer case) with a manual drivetrain I got off a wrecked 2001 freelander. The car had 340k km on it. The donor car had 182k km, so it made sense I swap the whole drivetrain and replace consumables.





Oh yeah, after a couple of days I got E4 on the dashboard and it would shift extremely hard, like running over a giant pothole. It would be worse when the car was at operating temperatures and milder with a cold engine.

Hoping I can get lucky and make a good gearbox out of two bad ones. If not, manual swap it is.

Bit confused ! Is the faulty box a 2001 auto box?

If so then a reverse drum could be the issue.

andyfreelandy said:

Bit confused ! Is the faulty box a 2001 auto box?

If so then a reverse drum could be the issue.

Click to expand...

Let me clear that up - I have two faulty boxes - one off my 2000 non facelift TD4 (the ugly one in the pics above) witch I pulled the valve body off. This is the car that would slip in 4th, rev up to 4k and later throw E4 error. I swapped it for a manual drivetrain. The other faulty gearbox is in my 2004 HSE TD4 - the one I'm trying to fix. This one will slip in 5th for a second then shift back to 4th. No error in the cluster, but I read codes and got P0735 5th gear incorrect ratio.

kanecvr said:

This one will slip in 5th for a second then shift back to 4th. No error in the cluster, but I read codes and got P0735 5th gear incorrect ratio

Click to expand...

I'm thinking clutch pack, or piston crack, maybe both.

Nodge68 said:

I'm thinking clutch pack, or piston crack, maybe both.

Click to expand...

I really hope you're wrong.

I'm at the garage right now and swapped the TCM. I installed the TCM from my NFL TD4 and it drove fine for the first 5 minutes, but after less than a km every gear change became very harsh, the same exact symptoms as on the car I got it off of..... Oh yeah and still no 5th gear. Swapped in the HSE's original TCM and it shifts smooth like it did before.

Is it possible the gearbox off my 2000 TD4 is fine but the TCM went bad? Has anyone else experienced issues with the TCM before?

If you have the box out, why not follow the Rebuild Doc I shared earlier, and pull the clutches out & inspect them.

pwood999 said:

If you have the box out, why not follow the Rebuild Doc I shared earlier, and pull the clutches out & inspect them.

Click to expand...

I don't have the box out. The pics I posted above are from when I did the automatic to manual swap on my 2000 non facelift TD4. Right now, I'm working on the car in my profile pic - a 2004 HSE TD4 and it's still in one piece.

I followed the solenoid resistance video posted on page 1 and got perfect values for everything except for Line pressure duty solenoid valve, where instead of 2.6 to 3.2 ohms I get 4.2 ohms, and Lock-up solenoid valve which is supposed to be 12 to 13.2 ohms, but mine reads 14.5 ohms. The rest are perfect.

As for yanking the box out and taking it apart... I've never taken an auto box apart before, nor have I seen them rebuilt by someone else like I have with engines, manual boxes and everything else (my uncle is a retired mechanic) but I have watched videos and it's not a fun looking job. Definitely not something I'd want to tacle myself.

A manual swap is out of the question unless I can find a complete donor car for under 900e since there are a lot of parts needed (I have a thread here on the forum about auto to manual swap) - and instead of spending that much money and taking 10 days off work to dissasemble the donor car, take the powertrain out of my 2004 td4 and swap everything over, then scrap what's left of the donor and fill my garage with leftover parts (again) I'll try and find a specialist that I gen get the gearbox to so it can be repaired. If it will cost me around 1000 euro. Otherwise, I will attempt to sell the car as it is and take the loss. it's clear at this point I'm 1000e in the hole anyway (payed 3500e for the car).

I could be wrong, but unless they are open circuit, they probably still work. Box out is the best way forward.

Can you get a spare Jatco from a scrapper over there ?

pwood999 said:

I could be wrong, but unless they are open circuit, they probably still work. Box out is the best way forward.

Can you get a spare Jatco from a scrapper over there ?

Click to expand...

A second hand box is.... 1000e. I'd rather have this one repaired. As it stands, I have two defective Jatco automatic transmissions, maybe a specialist would be interested in getting one of them off my hands and subtracting from the cost of repairing the other.... And to top it off, there are no specialists in my city - nearest one is 110km away. I'd have to get the car towed there - and I probably will.

Are both cars in use ? If not, take the box out of the unused car, and have a go at the strip down.

Not sure, but you can probably test the solenoids off the box with a 12V supply to make sure they operate & move freely ?

pwood999 said:

Are both cars in use ? If not, take the box out of the unused car, and have a go at the strip down.

Not sure, but you can probably test the solenoids off the box with a 12V supply to make sure they operate & move freely ?

Click to expand...

Well the 2000 TD4 is in use but it's now a manual (complete powertrain swap) - it's original drivetrain (engine, gearbox and transfer case) are sitting on a pallet in my garage - the valve body picture from page 1 is from that gearbox. The box itself is still attached to the engine. Like I mentioned above, issues with it started with not locking in 4th, slipping, then shifting gears brutally like someone was hitting the bottom of the car with a hammer. Thing is, I took the TCM from that car and put it in the 2004 - and the exact same symptoms (harsh shifting, slipping in 4th) transfered over to the 2004 I'm working on now. Re-installing the original TCM got the 2004 to how it was before - no 5th gear.

Even separating the gearbox from the engine is a pain in the butt, not a job I'm willing to do myself unless I know it will fix the problem. And judging by my little TCM swap experiment it just might - but I did some research and it seems the TCM and wiring is slightly different - so I'd have to swap the box and TCM from one car to another to get them to work correctly - but as I mentioned, the TCM from the 2000 TD4 seems to be defective....

Update - swapped over the whole valve body - no change - still no 5th gear. It seems I have a mechanical issue like @Nodge68 suggested....

I made a few calls and spoke with a gearbox specialist that routinely does these jatco boxes. Told him what I did so far and got quoted 500 euro to fix the box - possibly less if he will take my other jatco in trade - so I guess next week when I'm on call I'll borrow a car trailer from one of my mates, hitch it to my old trusty 525d, put the 2004 TD4 on said trailer and get it to the specialist. Now all I need to do is remember where I stored my e39's trailer hitch and get it installed back on the car... Haven't used that since I bought my first freelander back in 2017.

Thank you all for all your help, documentation and ideas - I'll updated the thread when the car is fixed. Have a great week!

nickb834 said:

You need a decent scan tool but I'd suggest checking the solenoid for 5th gear is actuating.

As a shot to nothing, change the ATF - if it's past it's date and it's too "thin" or if it's too hot (oil cooler problems / hot climate?) then the pressure would be too low etc etc.

Without scanning it / testing it - you're never going to know so your only other option is investigate.....

Click to expand...

Hello! I read your comment about what to do if the 5th gear does not work. Wouldn't there be more information on which solenoid triggers the 5th gear if it's not a group of solenoids!?