Hi.

Our l322 02 plate 4.4v8 has just started with the transmission failsafe prog error. It's happened twice in the last 2 weeks and both time on first start up, so a cool engine.

It locks the gear into 4th and you cannot select manual. I didn't try selecting low range when the error occurred. To reset we just turned the car off and back on again quickly.

We not noticed any trouble when driving the car. We had the transmission oil mega flushed when we bought it about 2 years ago and it's probabaly done about 12000 miles since then.

It's currently at our local garage who have found a error message code saying mechanical torque converter monitor fault. Does anyone know what this means? They are talking with land rover to see what they say.

They have tested the battery which was a new expensive bosch one bought at the beginning of the year and it's fine, they've said nothing is draining it. They've tested the alternator too and that's fine. They did say an interior light was staying on when locking the car which they have turned off now.

It might be a coincidence but the air conditioning packed up a couple of days ago too and the other week I replaced the radios tuner as it had water damaged and stopped working. The digital sound processor appeared to had gotten water in it too but it was dry and works.

The vehicle also has an oil leak which I presumed was engine oil but I guess it could be transmission oil. I've asked them to trace the leak.

Any ideas would be appreciated as to what mechanical torque converter monitor fault means?

No update yet on what the mechanical torque converter monitor fault means but the garage says the cars battery went dead overnight.

So, so far it's faults are transmission failsafe prog
Loss of air conditioning
Battery drained

I'm thinking it could be something electrical at present causing all the problems.

Do you think a low battery can cause these faults? Or a poor alternator. The garage said the battery was fine but when I tested it without engine running it was 12.09v. Engine running 13.9v.

a fully charged battery is always a good start.. ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
.

I couldn't agree more. I've been trying to find the correct specification of battery for my range rover, is it on the forum somewhere?

Update

A brand new battery, biggest that would fit a 020, has been fitted.

The air con I have discovered today is not working because the idler pulley tensioner I think it's called, had sheared a bolt! So there's no tension on the belt hence no air con. The bolt will need drilling out.

After cleaning the bottom of the engine it looks like oil is weeping from the drivers side valve cover at the rear.

i get the trans fail safe message if my battery is low on startup ( when its not been used for a week or 2 it tends to ping up)
been doing it for the last 10 years so dont bother me now

That's good to know thanks.

Just cleaned out the sunroof drain holes today after getting a wet foot from all this rain we've been having. A combination of wd40, a few grains of caustic soda poured down the hole and boiling hot water did the trick.

Bit of an update on the transmission failsafe prog error message.

After faultless driving the past few weeks last night after having driven the car all day I got back into it and the error message came on again and wouldn't go off. It's still there today.

I checked the battery incase it's been caused by low voltage from the battery and whilst still connected to the car the battery reads 12.3v which is a low in my opinion. Disconnected the battery reads 12.7v which is spot on. I've got it on charge anyway just incase.

I crawled under the car to disconnect the electrical connections to the shift motor, which was dry and clean, I cleaned it anyway. And the connector into the transmission itself which had some oil in it. Cleaned it. Still the error message comes up. I tested the resistance of pins 1 and 2 on the shift motor in high only as 4.1. I believe it should be around 4.7.

I couldn't check the oil level in the transmission because I couldn't undo the nut.

Do you think it's worth me taking the potentiometer out of the shift motor, opening it up and inspecting it? We've had no issues with regards to the transmission changing gears or selecting high and low ratios, whilst the error message isn't present ofcourse.

Do you think it's worth me doing the fuse 37 fix trick?

I've also disconnected the radio tuner because it failed a fees ago and I replaced it with a used one, I've done that just incase it's also faulty and drawing too much power or something. The error messages started around the same time as the radio went bad.

Any advice on this issue would be greatly appreciated.

Another update.

Tried to get the shift motor potentiometer out but the screws were being stubborn. So decided to go out in it and see what happens if I let it get upto temp. Stop and restart it. So set off in limp mode 4th gear. Stopped. Restarted and bingo, no error code. Took it for a good drive and went through all the years in auto and manual, high and low range, hill decent. All work fine.
I did hear when going up hill a very slight quick chirp sound that seemed to come from the gearbox. I've heard it once before but can't be sure what it is.