Hey everyone...
So I have been posting about this issue for a few weeks now. I have a '03 Disco with 52,000 miles on it. I started hearing some grinding bearing noises about 7,000 miles ago, so while the truck was still under warranty. I complained about it to the rover dealer and they said it was normal 4-wheel drive sound. I kept hearing it but it was never very bad. I made other comments on it during some Land Rover sponsored events...and they all told me it was normal. Well...after I hit 50,000 miles it started to get worse. I brought it in around 51,500 and the master service tech took a ride with me for 2 minutes and told me right away that I had a bad transfer case. I made a appointment to bring it back and asked him if it was ok if I drove around on it for a few days and he said "you have been driving around on that thing for the last 10,000 miles like that....a few days wont make a difference." To make a long story short...I brought it in, and they said there was nothing they could do for me because it was out of warranty. They contacted a area manager, who also said there was nothing he, they, or Land Rover would do for me. I then contacted Land Rover USA and filed a case complaint...and I finally heard back from them. The verdict? They are going to do nothing at all for me. This will end up costing me $2-3k and they will not help with parts or labor. I haven't even had my truck a year yet. I have wanted a Land Rover all my life...and this is what I get when I spend a lot of hard earned money on one. I am pretty upset to say the least...

 

Sorry to hear about your troubles, that really sucks big time. If it makes you feel any better, I bought an extended warranty which doesn't really cover anything unless it blows up. I've had my truck for a little over a month now and I don't really want to get into how much money how've spent to get it running great. Actually it drove like a new car, but it was more the accessories that were acting up.

I've also been in your situation with dealers too and the best suggestion I can gice is to fins a true Rover shop that you TRUST! The local dealers that I took my truck too didn't really care about what I was saying was wrong with my truck, but more about how much it would cost for them to look at it. I then found an independant Rover service shop which in tern was the former service department of the local dealers before they were bought out to sell Lambos and Bentleys along with Rovers.

If you don't mind getting your hands dirty, you can find the t-case from an older Discovery which is actually better than what came in your truck and do the work yourself.

 

I would love to do the work myself. I am a quick learner of most things...but I am not very good with cars unless I have someone helping me. I have found a good shop in Minneapolis....Expedition Autoworks. All they do is work on Rovers and they have been tons of help with this whole mess. I have already retracted the deposit I put down to hold a defender for when they were going to be released in the US.

 

You have just learned a very hard lesson. When you thought there was a problem, you should have had the dealer write up a repair order so that you could have documented the problem. That being said, lets get on to helping you.
Are you sure it is the t/case, describe exactly what it is doing, and does it do it in low range also? Has anyone inspected the front drive shaft, where it hooks to the t/case, they are know to fail because the u-joints in the constant velocity shaft don't have grease fittings, check it out.
As for the t/case, if it is trash there are plenty of site were you can buy good guaranteed ones like,
http://www.roverlandparts.com/index....S&Category=280
I would also suggest that if you need a case then you start listing your needs on some of the Rover forum classfied sections.
Get back to me.
Mike

 

Mike,
I had the transfer checked out both at the Rover dealer and at a local shop that only works on Rovers. They both found metal shavings in the case and both said it is bad. Everything else looks good at this time...what do you suggest? Thanks so much for your help...

 

Very sorry to hear about your troubles. That is a major bummer. I think that Land Rover should have honored fixing your rover.

Regarding doing the repair yourself, I have done several (Amercian vehicle) T-case rebuilds. To me, the hardest part was removing it! Once you get a T-case on your bench top, the rebuild portion is straight forward (again, I have not done a Rover yet..). I rebuilt my Jeep T-case a few years back and I remember that the part cost (bearings,new gears, and gaskets) ran about $700 (I put in special gearing for off-roading). You should see how much all parts will cost to do this to understand the labor costs. It took about 1/2 day to rebuild my Jeep T-case and most of that time was spent getting it out. You will also want to check to see if you need any specialty tools(bearing puller, gear puller, seal puller, bearing installer/press, etc...).

When you get done, you may consider putting in a additive to your t-case (like Engery-Release).

Good luck,
Tim

 

The only way to know for sure how bad it is would be to tear it down and inspect all the parts to see what has failed and how much extra damage has been done from metal in the oil.
You do have options.
Mike

 

Bummer...sorry to hear of the ills.

 

Expedition Auto Works is going to put a transfer case from a '03 disco in my truck. The case has 13,000 miles. They are charging me about $900 for the case and total with labor will be $1700. What do you think?

 

How are you supposed to get an additive into the t-case??? And what does it do?