Hi Riverstick, a question you might be able to help me with.

Given that the original torque convertor lock up clutch friction plate wears and causes metal to metal contact, why does the resultant aluminium debris in the form of aluminium particles damage the gearbox internals when the transmission fluid is filtered thro a good quality filter in the gearbox prior to being sucked into the gearbox oil pump and then distributed throughout the gearbox?
I would have expected the filter to protect the gearbox from the debris and the resultant damage that generally occurs.

Excuse my ignorance Riverstick but is the fitting of the Torque convertor a big job? Am I right in assuming the car will have to be taken to a decent mechanic and the gearbox removed? Travelling around in circles again.

nicedayforit wrote:

Hi Riverstick, a question you might be able to help me with.

Given that the original torque convertor lock up clutch friction plate wears and causes metal to metal contact, why does the resultant aluminium debris in the form of aluminium particles damage the gearbox internals when the transmission fluid is filtered thro a good quality filter in the gearbox prior to being sucked into the gearbox oil pump and then distributed throughout the gearbox?
I would have expected the filter to protect the gearbox from the debris and the resultant damage that generally occurs.

J90 wrote:

Excuse my ignorance Riverstick but is the fitting of the Torque convertor a big job? Am I right in assuming the car will have to be taken to a decent mechanic and the gearbox removed?

Cheers riverstick,

I was reading it on my iPhone at the time and thought they were giving options not a set unit.


It certainly looks a fair bit beefier than the original unit

I thought previous reports on here by people like RRPhil had put it down to the soft metal in the valve block wearing down, not being able to keep the pressure up and then allowing the TC lockup to slip more increasing wear and thus particles in the fluid and making things worse by causing more wear on the valve body, but i could be wrong  FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
Mantec Sump Guard, Rigid Load liner, MY10 BT upgrade.

Hi King,

Yes...I do agree with RRPhil....having read several of his posts, he is without doubt a leading authority on auto transmissions. As it is a chicken & egg situation, you've got to ask which comes first...a slipping torque releasing particles thereby damaging the transmission...or a weakened oil pump/valve body causing the clutch to slip.

Whilst there are several modifications for improving the transmission(Sonax kits etc)...I also wanted to uprate my torque converter. I wanted a low stall torque with a low speed lock up to suit the future tuning of the engine and towing duties. I will keep you posted

Tony 2008 Range Rover TDV8 435,000kms
2015 Range Rover L405 SDV8 Autobiography


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If you are going to change the gearbox oil and filter when you renew the torque convertor it would be worth splitting the body of the oil filter and having a look for any collected debris on the underside ie inlet face of the filter element.
Should give you a better indication of the life the gearbox has had to date.

Hi Nicedayforit,

Yes, you are definitely correct. I have asked the transmission people to open her up for heart surgery when it is out on the ground and to beef it up/modify it, whilst they have it. I am dropping it to a local specialist workshop next week to give the whole car a good going over mechanically as well as replacing the torque converter.

Tony 2008 Range Rover TDV8 435,000kms
2015 Range Rover L405 SDV8 Autobiography


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Okay Guys,

Another item to update...Change the 7 pin towing socket to a 13 pin unit to pull my Westfalia horsebox. So...out with the old....



And in with the new...... 

And plug in new canbus interface unit....



I must say I enjoy working on my Range Rover....plenty of room and a very logical vehicle to follow :thumbsup:

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2015 Range Rover L405 SDV8 Autobiography


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A suitable 'partner' for a Range Rover...a Westfalia horsebox...



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2015 Range Rover L405 SDV8 Autobiography


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Okay Guys,

I took my new toy to a good local independant Land Rover specialist and got him to go through her from bumper to bumper. Here is his report:




1/ Full Service > (oil / air /fuel / pollon filters/ engine crank case filter/ washing out of intercooler with jizer / replacing of injector loom / replacement of front & rear brake pads freeing of rear left brake calliper & replacement of pad sensors /
As discussed engine crank case filter was never replaced which explained why oil present around the turbo. Plus there had being a new intercooler hose fitted.( NB the engine oil I used was a good Quality grade, as if I had buy the Castrol it comes in 4 its only its nearly double the price.)
Total 5 hours

2/ replacement of front Antiroll bar links (old units had to be cut out, upper nuts rounded)
Total 1 hour

3/ replacement of in tank fuel pump & external remote pump..( internal Stripping of interior & flushing of fuel lines from tank to High pressure pump.. replacement of hose clips to high pressure pump. Carried out spill test, no injector breaking down at this moment and time but have suspicious one injector no 3 early Stages.
Total 5 hours

4/ rear upper & lower ball joints. (as discussed these were replaced before with a very cheap brand and had been spot welded in place for removal these were Cut out)
Total 4 hours.

5/ air suspension dropping in the rear, / replacement of rear height sensors & calibrating heights and updating air suspension software to latest level.(as discussed front spring develop cracks over time and will develop leaks)
Total 3 hours

6/ Park distance sensor, (as discussed fault with Sounder & left inner sensor , (replacement of these parts bumper removal for this procedure) also pointed out side indicator lamps are damaged had been fitted in correctly secured with cable ties,
Total 2 hours

7/ Drivers Door handle (otter door cable replacement, resulted outer handle to be removed as cable seized in handle)
Total 1 hour

8/ alternator drive belts & bearings & air condition drive belt & adjuster, resulted front removed to gain access to this area,
Total 3 hours

Totalling 24hrs,


He used all original and OEM parts. The car now drives a lot better and feels altogether nicer. I drove home on country roads at approx 90~100km/hr for around 30 miles and the fuel consumption was as follows;



I then fitted new(delivery milage) 20 genuine Land Rover wheels...and shod them with 255/50 x R16 pirelli Scorpions. The cars now drives beautifully.



On Sunday I did some driving. I drove around 220 miles solo, mostly motorway @90mph on the cruise control. The fuel consumption meter settled at a 22mpg average. Very happy about putting manners on some Jap 4wd's as a few Toyota Landcruiser guys tried to stay in with me but unsteady handling, crosswinds and cranky female passengers made them slow down

The TD6 performed adequately on its own, feeling a bit underpowered, and needing a bit of winding up to get going.

I then hooked up to my horsebox for the final 180 miles;



Ride,handly and overall control of the horsebox was superb....these cars are definitely on top of their game for towing.

But one big glaring problem showed up.....lack of performance....this M57 motor is definitely not developing its full 177bhp...it feels more like 140bhp. While the car feels okayish on its own...it died a death when hooked to a trailer. I drove most of the way home in 4th gear @90km/hr as she would only pull 5th on downhill runs. Fuel consumption was around 19~20 mpg.

When I got home, I hooked up my horsebox to a 2013 Discovery 4 to see if there was a difference. There was....a very big difference. The Discovery's TDV6 pulled like a steam train and all but take off with the 'box behind it.

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2015 Range Rover L405 SDV8 Autobiography


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Great write-up

The TD6 isn't renowned for its performance in standard guise... plenty of owners have remapped theirs to good effect, might be worth starting a remap thread. Or searching first. Graham

____
Gone: 10MY L320 RR Sport HSE, Ipanema Sand
Gone: 20MY Jaguar iPace HSE, Silicon Silver
Gone: 17MY RR Evoque SE Tech, Loire Blue
Gone: 08MY Discovery 3 XS, Stornoway Grey
Gone: 07MY FFRR TDV8 Vogue, Stornoway Grey

Like the cow

Two things i would point out to you... Firstly, the rear callipers IMHO should simply be replaced. Not worked, lubed, played with ... Just replaced... I have just had a car in yesterday who was in for service 3 weeks ago (ok, an 06 SC so slightly different) and his brakes etc were checked as part of the service, he came in yesterday complaining of "a noise" and i kid you not, on stripping the rear brake out, the pads were down to metal... The disc was now 1/3rd of the thickness of the other side (which had less than half used pads in)

Presumably i don't need to explain how dangerous this could have been? The car had covered less than 400 miles and is mostly driven by his wife with their children in!

Please pass these thoughts onto your garage...

My second thought was with your towing electrics... There should be a white ECU? I presume that is dangling somewhere out of shot? If so, that should be fitted (upside down as you look at it) onto the studs you have screwed the relay onto... The relay fits to the right on the 7mm bolt holding the black panel on

Hi Craig,

Thank you for that...you can't beat a man with good experience. I am happy with the performance of the brakes as I checked them subsequently on a brake tester and sure enough both performance and application are correct and proper.

UPDATE; I have sorted out my lack of power problems.....I get the feeling some previous owner spent a lot of time and money trying to get to the bottom of this.

A quick run around the engine for half an hour observing and feeling/squeezing the intercooler and pipes whilst under boost conditions(driving against the brakes whilst stationary)...this ruled out boost leakage... observing the vgt actuator operating whilst the throttle was blipped...this ruled out seized vgt vanes and leaking vacuum system.....I went through the vacuum pipes visually to be sure...The high pressure pump gave good readings when viewed through the EOBD...The injectors are pretty decent also.

It turned out the MAF had gone faulty...figured it out by plugging/unplugging the connecting plug...sometimes a bit of old fashioned thinking and poking is better than too much laptoping and being blinkered. Amazing this didn't show up when plugged into original Land Rover diagnostics. Now it pulls like a steam train....time to uprate the transmission next 2008 Range Rover TDV8 435,000kms
2015 Range Rover L405 SDV8 Autobiography


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