The bearing fault would lock the transmission in 5th so you should certainly proceed along the faulty solenoid route. I’ll stick one in the post to you today.

Phil

Thanks Phil much appreciated  2004 Range Rover Vogue 4.4 v8 LPG, Java Black, 22' Hawke Alloys, Black Beast

Phil, quick question about the faulty solenoid route - based on the symptoms do you think it could still be wiring loom issue or are we confident it's most likely the solenoid? What wiring test would need to be done to rule out a faulty wiring loom once the gearbox sump is off? 2004 Range Rover Vogue 4.4 v8 LPG, Java Black, 22' Hawke Alloys, Black Beast

No, we still have no idea whether it’s a wiring issue or the solenoid itself. Substitution with a known good solenoid is the easiest way to determine this. It should arrive in the post tomorrow.

You would need to disconnect the solenoid connector (in the sump) to be able to perform separate tests on the harness and solenoid so you might as well just swap the solenoid and see if it fixes the issue. Obviously, if it doesn’t, it’s a wiring fault.

In my opinion new parts are just too expensive to risk having a guess.

The fluid temperature dependency, though, is curious.

Phil

Yeh I agree that makes sense, fingers crossed the replacement solenoid fixes the problem, if it doesn't I guess it will be sump off again and replace the wiring loom which will mean extra spend on more gearbox oil/gaskets but it's not the end of the world.

I'll send you the removed solenoid once the work is done thanks 2004 Range Rover Vogue 4.4 v8 LPG, Java Black, 22' Hawke Alloys, Black Beast

Would it be worth checking the connections on the external plug and socket before strip down just in case of corrosion etc, maybe even try disconnecting and reconnecting a few times? BMW i3 Electric Car
2012 Full Fat RR 4.4 TDV8 (now gone)
2006 VW Touareg 3.0 TDi V6

Yes, good idea. Certainly wouldn’t do any harm. I guess you’d be looking for corrosion on the No. 9 pin (as pin 16 is used as the power supply for the other two shift solenoids, as well as two of the proportional (EDS) solenoids, so unlikely to be that).

Click image to enlarge

A quick update I'll be taking the car to a mates garage on Wednesday to replace the shift soleniod with him as he hasn't done one before. In the meantime the wife has been using the car for her short 3 mile commute to work and the error code has come up I would say on half the journeys so it seems to be unpredictable and not necessarily gearbox oil temperature linked as the gearbox fluid is only just warming up after a couple of miles..

Hopefully the new solenoid and fresh oil sorts the issue. Will also be checking the wiring for any breaks or corrosion 2004 Range Rover Vogue 4.4 v8 LPG, Java Black, 22' Hawke Alloys, Black Beast

looking forward to your resolution as it is not a 'common' fault

Hi guys I had the soleniod replaced yesterday and it has fixed the problem, I've done approx 100 miles since and had no further Trans fail messages.

Whilst changing the soleniod I also had the gearbox filter and oil changed along with replacing the oil cooler as I have had the gearbox go into the cooling strategy a few times this summer. I've had the car nearly 5 years and for the last few years I had the classic torque converter LUC rumble/vibration at 30mph and 50mph. It had gotten worse over the last year and I had been using the gearbox in manual mode as it largely eliminated the noise. I'm pleased to say the noise/vibration is now hardly there (95% improvement) so for anyone with similar symptoms maybe try a oil change before replacing the torque converter.

The gearbox oil in my car was changed between 50-70k miles ago from the service records and the fluid that came out was dark and similar to cola colour. There was no sludge, metallic flakes or burnt smell etc and the magnets were pretty clean which was good news considering its gone to cooling strategy at least 6-8 times since I have had the car plus had the torque converter rumble for many years.

Due to the previous overheating I decided to have the oil cooler replaced at the same time, since doing so I've found the gearbox oil temperature is sitting at around 100 degrees Celsius whereas before it would go up over 110 -120 Celsius with normal driving so it's definitely keeping things cooler. I had the radiator replaced with a Hella unit earlier this year.

The car is driving nice and smooth now, my only concern is there is a possible gearbox oil leak from one of the oil cooler connections but I'm not certain yet and will monitor it over the coming days.

I would like to give a MASSIVE thank you to RRPhil for his invaluable advice and knowledge and for kindly sending me a replacement soleniod. Big thanks to holiday chicken too for his help. 2004 Range Rover Vogue 4.4 v8 LPG, Java Black, 22' Hawke Alloys, Black Beast

Top work.
I think every L322 over 110k miles would be junk by now if it wasn't for Phil

Very pleased to hear that you are sorted. If you get chance to send me the duff solenoid I’d be interested in testing it to see what was wrong with it

Phil

No problem Phil I kept hold of the removed soleniod for you, I'll pop it in the post to you on Monday 2004 Range Rover Vogue 4.4 v8 LPG, Java Black, 22' Hawke Alloys, Black Beast

I have exactly the same fault with the same symptons. After 15 km drive when the gearbox oil is 85 C it goes into fail save 4th gear. And giving solenoid valve fault. Only to remove when box is cold.
Clutches are just overhauled and after that this fault came up. Before that there were many faults from the start.
Now I have changed the solenoids, no result.
Then I changed the internal wiring loom, no result.
The gearbox repair man said it could the cracks in the computer at higher temperature. I just drove it with a cold freezer pack in the computer box, no result.
So what is now left? Bad repair of the clutches? Or could it be the valve block?

Some more information on the above post.
I bought the car with gearbox going into failsave. Much searching on this forum (thank you all) gave me good ideas for the repair. On a Dutch forum I found someone who repairs much LR gearboxes. Only he is at the other side of our little country. After the repair the problem occured soon but of course not the only time he drove it.
Then he sent me some solenoids and a used internal wire loom. I changed them myself, without result.
So now I’m wondering if he did not a good job at the bearings ( but Phil says here above then it should be in 5th gear) or the valveblock or could there be other causes?

Greetings, Harmen