Tranny heats up after 5-10 miles and stops shifting properly.
M-S lights on dash blink along w/lights on the shifter.
This issue does not take place all the time so i am wondering if i have a mechanical and/or electrical problem.

Apologies in advance for the lack of info so feel free to ask any questions that will help me expand the info for u

 

Questions:

How many miles on your 03?
Have you checked the voltage, both on cranking and running?
When was the last time you changed the tranny fluid?
When was the last time the fluid level was checked?
When was the last time the filter was changed?
Does the trans leak?
What about the transfer box? Same questions regarding that, appart from the filter change?
Have you been off roading? Some times if the the Tans cooler is coated on the outside this does not help.... Persoanel experiance.

 

Thanks for the questions G,
Voltage; no and do not know how
and no to every all the other questions, so let me check/fix them and see what happens

 

Another significant question - when the M&S lights come on, does the check engine light come on? If not, then check battery and battery wiring closely. According to pages 616 and 617 of the shop manual, there is only one condition that has M&S lights on, and no engine light. It indicates driving with less than 9 volts reaching the tranny computer.

 

It is time you get responsible for your Disco before you let it fails from lack of maintance.
You need to stop driving the truck any time you have warning lights on, they flash for a reason.
I am going to assume you are not mechanical but that being said, go read your owners manual and my Major Service list posted at the top of this section, then go have it all done if you expect to get more miles from the Disco.

 

"Tranny heats up after 5-10 miles and stops shifting properly."

I am trying to fully understand your message, I assume you mean from a cold start you drive about 5-10 miles and then the M/S lights start flashing and when you say it stops shifting properly do you mean it goes into a "limp" low gear mode? If you turn of the car and restart it does the system reset? Does it happen again farther down the road? Is it worse in wet driving conditions of have you been in any water deep enough to be up to the transmission?

Typical of a Land Rover, there are a host of issues that can cause this, the most common being a bad cable connection to the battery or at the alternator or grounding point, also a battery that is almost out of life and will soon need replacing. If all of your connections are solid with no corrosion and there are no faults in the battery or alternator or any low voltage issues you may have a Neutral Safety Switch (AKA an XYZ switch) that is failing or has moisture in it. But don't jump the gun, fully test your electrical system first, check battery voltage with the engine off, turned on and under a full load with everything turned on, check the alternator in the same way, most parts stores can test it for you if you don't have the tools. If you are unsure what the numbers mean check back here with what you get. Use a wire brush to clean the cable and battery contacts and apply dielectric grease and tighten everything up properly.

My 2003 Disco had this M/S issue and after the electrical system checked out I replaced this switch and solved my problem immediately. The switch is located on the left side of the transmission and can be replaced with a couple of metric wrenches as long as your hands are not too large to fit up the side of the transmission and the tunnel it sits in. A new switch from the dealer is expensive and there are other options such as after market ones that are cheaper or you can even replace it with a used one which is what I did. There are 2 internal designs to this switch and I assume your 2003 has the newer design like I had but the older switch if you get a used one will work on your model. Mine did not have moisture in it but failing metal contacts that intermittently caused the problems.

See my write up of my repair with pictures of the inside of my failed switch.

https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...replace-59323/

 

The reason he came here,I guess is to take care of his disco.No need to call the man "irresponsible".

 

I know some do not believe me, but when my crank position sensor failed, I let it cool for and hour and drove home. During that trip, M & S lights and red indicator on shifter and LCD "D" flashed, along with multiple mis-fires. Mis-fires might be interpreted by some as "not shifting right"

 

You need to stop driving it.
Drain the transmission fluid all out.
Refill it.
Do this a few times.

If you can get the filter changed in the transmission, then this will HELP.

When you fill the transmission, you need to have it in N and the engine running.

I would take it to a shop and get the transmission flushed.

You may also have an XYZ switch issue too.

 

Thank you members for the awesome feed back. I would like to give you all some personal feedback so as to trim the confusion I seem to be bringing to this forum. As you guessed I have zero mechanical ability other than fluids, wires and spark plugs. This disco belongs to my 17yr old son and I am doing the little things to try and save money. We picked the disco up cheap knowing we would need to fix/replace some items and for the most part that has went very smooth, but now we are going to tackle the more difficult matters.
From the administration on down to the novice owner this site ROCKS. The info is spot on and very informative even when the questions being asked are vague. To date we have changed the water pump, oil, plugs/wires and tranny fluid. Tranny fluid change did not change my shifting problems. Today I will change the battery after having it checked at autozone.
Now comes the tough issues that I have no business trying to fix unless you all can direct/change my thinking about the codes I received this morning...
P0705=Transmission range sensor
P0105=O2 sensor1 bank2
P0154=O2 sensor1 bank2
P0134=O2 sensor1 bank1
P0135=O2 sensor1 bank1
P0307=#7 cylinder misfire due to any of the following; spark plug/wires (which I am looking into since just replaced), Ignition coil (assuming coil pack if applicable), vacuum leak, faulty injector.
Thanks in advance for all your help