Hi every one - Help please,

I have a 2003 TD5 with autobox that is misbehaving sometimes when selecting drive the lights fail to come on and the D wont be on in the LCD, after a while of driving the D and lights will appear. at other times in reverse the same thing happens but we also get a heavy clunk and lastly at other times both the M & S lights will flash with what seems a loss of power. we have taken her to our local independant garage who didnt find a leak and topped up the fluid. no change, our disco has just clocked 100k miles anybody had similar symptons or know a cure please?

civvie smith said:

Hi every one - Help please,

I have a 2003 TD5 with autobox that is misbehaving sometimes when selecting drive the lights fail to come on and the D wont be on in the LCD, after a while of driving the D and lights will appear. at other times in reverse the same thing happens but we also get a heavy clunk and lastly at other times both the M & S lights will flash with what seems a loss of power. we have taken her to our local independant garage who didn't find a leak and topped up the fluid. no change, our disco has just clocked 100k miles anybody had similar symptoms or know a cure please?

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It sounds to me like the problem relates to the gear selector (or XYZ) switch. It either needs adjustment or replacement.

Thanks Big Lad, for your reply do you think I need to change the auto box oil? as my local garage is charging upwards of £200 for this which includes filter and o ring.

i would check oil by draining a capful out,before changing it,in case heavy clunk is in auto box,and not other source

civvie smith said:

Thanks Big Lad, for your reply do you think I need to change the auto box oil? as my local garage is charging upwards of £200 for this which includes filter and o ring.

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I would suggest that it is most unlikely to have anything to do with the 'box oil - unless it is not at the correct level.

As I said before the gear selector switch not only selects gears but also sends signals to the EATS (gearbox ECU) which in turn sends signals to the dashboard screen and can also trigger the M&S lights if the switch sends out bum signals.

It either needs adjusting or replacing, if the garage didn't know that go to another who understands Disco autos better.

Dont forget about the connector to the switch and the harness.... check these before u spend the big money for the switch.

sierrafery said:

Dont forget about the connector to the switch and the harness.... check these before u spend the big money for the switch.

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Yep, that's fair comment Fery.

Most likely the XYZ switch as already pointed out.

Now when it comes to either filling or "topping up" the auto box with ATF make sure your garage is following the manufacturers procedure: engine running, selector level being moved through all gear positions, box filled until a small bead of oil runs from the filler hole. Failure to follow this process will not trigger any faults but will have a detrimental effect on auto box performance & life expectancy.

thebiglad said:

Yep, that's fair comment Fery.

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I was thinking to Gavinbell from D2boys.... he bought a switch in vane(on main dealers diagnose)

I know this is an old post, but it describes my symptoms exactly. I am definitely going to check the selector switch and the connections as in the tropical climate here, aircon is in constant use so there must have been gallons of water over this switch and connection over the years.

I just wanted to check on the gear selector light symptoms though: Prior to the fault, I had red lights on both sides of the selector in all positions. Before the 'M' and 'S' lights flashing together I had noticed that reverse gear selection was a little clunky. Then, at the end of a long motorway run (180 miles), I noticed that the 'D' LED on the selector was not illuminated. I then parked with the engine running and aircon on for about 20 minutes with the missus waiting in the car and when I got back, reverse was very clunky and when I pulled the selector back from park I got and LED in 'P', 'R', and 'N', but none in 'D' and in '3','2', and '1' I got no LED but in each, the LED in 'D' flashed. Going back to 'P', there was no LED in 'R'.

I have described it in detail because, as the missus said, "She's trying to tell you something" so I scoured the workshop manual and the owner's handbook for some explanation but there was no mention of the selector lights and what they may mean.

If the original poster or anyone else, recognises these symptoms it would be useful to know if attention to the selector switch and connection is going to make this go away, or is there an even more serious problem afoot?

Any comments welcome - and I must say, as usual, the search on the forum has been invaluable so far in helping to diagnose the problem.:clap2:

I would say it definitely is a problem with the selector switch.

It either needs adjusting, repairing or replacing.

With regard to adjustment this is quite straightforward but a two-handed job.

1 person sits in the car with the ignition on, whilst the other adjusts the position of the switch until the dashboard light shows all the correct positions.