Hi all

I looked at a 55 plate full fat yesterday which had a wealth of service history documentation.

2 things I couldn’t find were has the front diff been replaced as per the LR recall and has the gearbox either been replaced or flushed?

Is there any physical evidence that I would see underneath the car that would indicate that the above 2 items have been actioned?

Jim

Depends on whether you’re looking at a petrol or a diesel model.

The petrols had moved over to the Jaguar engine, the 6-speed transmission and the DD295 transfer box for ‘06MY, so the front propshaft update isn’t applicable.

The diesels were still using the 3.0 BMW TD6 engine and the 5-speed GM 5L40-E transmission with the NV225 transfer box.

If it’s a diesel, the updated front propshaft & final drive has a CV joint whereas on the old design the splined propshaft simply engaged straight into a drive tube. You should be able to see the CV joint from underneath.

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Wow! An answer from RRPhil.......

In all seriousness Phil thank you for you detailed answer. I have read quite a number of your posts over on RRnet and you really know your stuff!

The car is 2005 TD6 Vogue with 82,000 on the clock.

Phil would there be anything I could see to indicate that the gearbox pan had been dropped due to a filter and oil flush?

Thanks

Jim

At 82,000 miles it’s likely that the transmission is on its last legs anyway (assuming the vehicle is still fitted with the original unit) due to valve body wear so I would definitely only go ahead with your purchase if you’re prepared to fork out a further £2k at some point in the future for a re-manufactured unit. Might be in 500 miles time or 20,000 miles time but, the chances are, it’s going to happen. Fluid changes may help reduce the valve body wear (& at least Dexron VI isn’t stupidly priced like the ZF fluid for the petrol models) but the worn valve block bores may already be attenuating the clutch pressures, eventually allowing the clutches to slip (particularly the torque converter lock-up clutch). Sorry to sound so pessimistic, and you may be one of the lucky ones whose 5L40-E went past the 100,000 mile mark without issues, but you should at least be aware of what you’d be taking on.

Unless you can tell from the sump bolt heads or the drain plug or level/filler bolt heads it would be kind of difficult to know if the fluid has already been replaced other than by its colour. Once the sump is off you could see if the filter is the OEM brand (IBS Filtran) because, if it isn’t (because they’re a lot more expensive than pattern parts) then the filter has been replaced at some point. If it was a Filtran filter then it has a date grid (see photo).

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Thanks Phil

They say prevention is better than cure. when I sold my P38 to buy a FF 3.0TD vogue, I was so worried about the Diff & Gearbox issues, it almost put me off!!
I plucked up the courage and bought a 54 plate FF Vogue with 110000 miles on the clock. I checked for the Diff mod & mine had been done, to be honest I think most have been recalled and modified, but always check.
As for the gearbox as soon as I bought mine I took it into my local indie dealer & had the fluid & filters changed as a precaution. Mine has now covered 131000 mile and the gearbox still seems smooth so fingers crossed I may have prolonged life?? I have read up a great deal on the gearbox issue and what I do know is it's not a case of if it will go but when!!
Like stated, go ahead and treat yourself to a FF Rangie, they are beautiful vehicles, BUT....... prepare your self for a new transmission & torque converter as it may be only a matter of time, it's so well documented.
I think the fault stays with Land Rover & GM on this one, who could ever invent a gearbox that is maintenance free & sealed for life?
Anyway, go ahead and treat yourself & enjoy.