Range Rover Vogue 3.0 Td6 54 reg

Problem with Land Rover 2004 Range Rover
Range Rover Vouge 54 reg 3.0 Td6 "gearbox issues"

Hello. My 54 reg range rover vougue 3.0 Td6 has recently been in the garage to replace 2 of the pulleys and a belt. This apparently has been done and after being told the car is ready for collection i then recieved a phone call saying the automatic gearbox is faulty and that the car will not go into drive when it warms up. After further investigation from the garage i was then told the cause of the gear box failure was due to lack of oil in the gearbox, however this seems extreamly strange to me as the gearbox has been working fine for the two years i have owned the car and there has never been any signs of oil leakage. Can someone PLEASE tell me if this is possible to happen just like that or is the garage having me over?

op2:

The Gearbox Failures in the L322 are well documented and unfortunatly can happen just like that.

The Gearboxes were designed to be Sealed for Life, but as far as I can gather, Land Rover have started taking that sticker off the bottom of the box recently.

Do a search on here (not a google search but a site search) you will find many discussions over this very same problem.....

A member, JamesMartin, on here who is an Autobox guru will fill you in much more than I, but I am led to believe the corrective action *could* be to change the gearbox....James could tell you more than I....

Thanks to BMW engineering the automatic transmissions are notoriously underspecified on these models, perhaps it was on the cusp of going bang and all it took was a test drive by a heavy-footed workshop-tech to push it over the edge?

How many miles has it done? Failure at 70-90K is expected. 60K is not uncommon unless the owner gets the fluid changed every 30K. miles

PS Where are you located? Get the car transported to an autobox specialist such as Stephens engineering unless you want it "fixed" by a bunch of clueless spanner monkeys which will end up costing you more than if people who actually understand automatic transmissions work on it - if you're lucky it might only need a clutch pack.

yep - might even find once you get some oil filled up it might be ok, maybe just not going into gear as a safety reason as theres no oil in there ! lol

Thanks alot for your replys. Unfortunatley the problem is still ongoing but the car is now is now with a range rover specialist who is doing a full report of as to what the problem is and how/why it has happend. After speaking to several people about the issue it seems it more to do with the design of the gearbox and apparently it can just fail with no warning :-@ Does any one know should the gearbox need replacing what the best solution would be reconditioned or second hand and approximatly would it will cost ?

Adrian g said:

Thanks alot for your replys. Unfortunatley the problem is still ongoing but the car is now is now with a range rover specialist who is doing a full report of as to what the problem is and how/why it has happend. After speaking to several people about the issue it seems it more to do with the design of the gearbox and apparently it can just fail with no warning :-@ Does any one know should the gearbox need replacing what the best solution would be reconditioned or second hand and approximatly would it will cost ?

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Not sure anyone re-cons the GM box, James Martin or Bemble would know for sure. Expect to apply to remortgage your house for fitting a new one

Datatek said:

Not sure anyone re-cons the GM box, James Martin or Bemble would know for sure. Expect to apply to remortgage your house for fitting a new one

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Another cast iron reason to steer clear of early model L322s.

wammers said:

Another cast iron reason to steer clear of early model L322s.

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Now you come to mention it......................:hysterically_laughi

Datatek said:

Now you come to mention it......................:hysterically_laughi

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And all P38's !!! Haha

Hi, The gearbox failed on my TD6 HSE just before christmas, didn't give too much warning just a bit slow to get going in the morning and kickdowns were a bit harsh. Changed oil but failed completely at 87000 miles. Torque convertor failed leading to resultant bits being drawn into box and wrecking it. After speaking to a mate who works at Landrover, a company in Solihull was recommended called Transmission Technology. They recovered the car, reconditioned the gearbox, 2 year warranty for a shade under £1400. Pm me if you would like any further details. Hope you get it sorted
Regards Ian

second hand on fleabay for £1200+. god knows how bad they are though.

sas1810 said:

second hand on fleabay for £1200+. god knows how bad they are though.

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might aswell pay £1400 for the refurbished and at least get a guarantee then

2.0_hippo said:

might aswell pay £1400 for the refurbished and at least get a guarantee then

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true, true.
still a lot of money either way

sas1810 said:

true, true.
still a lot of money either way

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Not as bad as I thought it would be when first jumping into the L322 gold mine

However I can't understand how there isn't an aftermarket / upgrade option available that sorts the original problem !!! Crazy Landrover !

Thanks Ian this could be my best option. im still waiting for the report from this guy who is a range rover specialist. but i may need to contact your in the near future for further details. Once again thaks for your replys guys its extreamly helpful.

I documented the teardown of a faulty TD6 GM 5L40E transmission here :
GM 5L40-E teardown - Xoutpost.com

Unless a re-manufacturer has replaced with new or upgraded the valve blocks with the Sonnax kits, any re-manufactured 5L40-E is still on borrowed time as the root cause of the failures hasn’t been fixed – the torque converter lock-up clutch will inevitably fail again due to low engagement pressures caused by excessive spool leakage and cross-talk, and dump a load of metallic debris into the sump. The only question being when.

The best you can do, therefore, is to get a re-manufactured transmission with as long a warranty as possible and then expect to be replacing it again at some point in the future. The only alternative is to invest in the Sonnax kits or new blocks, and ensure you keep the Texamatic 7045E fluid clean by replacing it every 30,000 miles or so.

Bemble said:

I documented the teardown of a faulty TD6 GM 5L40E transmission here :
GM 5L40-E teardown - Xoutpost.com

Unless a re-manufacturer has replaced with new or upgraded the valve blocks with the Sonnax kits, any re-manufactured 5L40-E is still on borrowed time as the root cause of the failures hasn’t been fixed – the torque converter lock-up clutch will inevitably fail again due to low engagement pressures caused by excessive spool leakage and cross-talk, and dump a load of metallic debris into the sump. The only question being when.

The best you can do, therefore, is to get a re-manufactured transmission with as long a warranty as possible and then expect to be replacing it again at some point in the future. The only alternative is to invest in the Sonnax kits or new blocks, and ensure you keep the Texamatic 7045E fluid clean by replacing it every 30,000 miles or so.

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JJJEEEZZZZZ, thats some strip down and write up! nice work!

scared the **** out of me even looking at the parts, let alone putting it back together and getting it to work.

once again, brilliant write up. raise: