We're in our second month of ownership of our 03' Discovery II. It's already had the valve cover gasket, intake cover gaskets, and rear brakes done. I had it in for a 'full inspection', and that was the recommended work. The work and inspection was performed by Wizard Werks in Chicago.

Ever since the first few weeks of ownership, I had noticed that every now and then if the wheel was cranked all the way right or left, it would groan a bit as the wheel was turning back. No change the performance of the turn, but a bit of noise for a second, and quite intermittent in frequency.

Yesterday, one of the first colder days since owning the truck, I started it up and it drove as normal. After about 15-20 minutes driving, I took a hard right, and the truck groaned / whined like crazy through the whole turn, and was extremely difficult to turn. It continued like this all the way to work.

When I got in to start it again, it was worse still, with essentially what seemed to be no power steering, however it was not really groaning either, just ridiculously difficult to steer. As it warmed up, steering became somewhat easier, slightly more erratic in terms of difficulty, and the whining returned. There is also now a squeek / screech with one of the belts.

power steering fluid in the reservoir is frothy and bubbling. I did some searching but found some variations in problems and solutions.

I drove the truck over to the shop, and once parked inside, we popped the hood. There is green fluid dripping from the truck onto the floor, and the mechanic suggests the gearbox is leaking. This is where they tell me possibly $1500 for the gearbox, but he will try to get me a better 'deal'. As I'm in the office with the owner, the mechanic puts the truck on the lift, cleans it off, and finds that the hi and lo pressure hoses are the culprit of the main leaking of fluid, and suggests replacing those to see if that solves the leak. They also suggested the belt that was making noise be replaced.

So that's basically where I'm at. I'm waiting for a call back from the shop, they are supposed to be replacing those hoses, refilling the fluids and testing today.

Do these things make sense as all related? If the gearbox is the culprit, is $1500 right? That seems astronomical compared to the parts i'm seeing turn up when I google for 03 discovery gearboxes.

I understand the idea that these trucks are much more affordable if you do the work yourself, and I plan on doing the majority of work on the truck myself once we relocate to Denver after my wife finishes school, but until then, I don't have the tools or space to work, and thus my knowledge is also low. New to dealing with these trucks, any help and guidance moving forward would be greatly appreciated so I can be better informed dealing with the shop.

 

You might want to send me your number and let me walk you thru what to check, if you are mechanical enough.

 

Power steering fluid is not green. At least not any I know of. Sounds like coolant. If a PS hose is loose or leaking, that could very likely cause the symptoms you describe with the bubbly fluid and noisy pump. If the gearbox is leaking and and causing it, they can be re-sealed. That estimate is prob not too far off if their quoting you a brand new box ($$$$)

 

The hoses are enough enough to fail, and as Kenk said that will cause those symptoms. I had a hose fail while on a road trip, and before I got home the pump was toast. Hopefully that didn't happen to you. I got a reman pump off ebay for pretty cheap.

Make sure your tech knows to bleed the system when it's back together.

I'm also not thrilled that they immediately pushed you toward the most expensive solution, but I guess it's worth something that he backed off and said the hoses might be the problem. I wouldn't spring for any major repairs without a second opinion.

 

So does green fluid (coolant) make sense as a gearbox problem like they said?

Does a gearbox leaking coolant cause the power steering issues i'm experiencing? Or is green fluid sign of a different problem entirely?

 

The green fluid is prob coolant.
The power steering fluid is more of a brownish color.
Do not replace the gear box, fix the leaks, the problem should go away.
Frothy fluid means air is mixed in (shake a half carton of milk) and you are trying to steer with only half the fluid needed.
Power steering is a hydraulic system, just like brakes, if there is air in the system you need to compress the air before you can compress the fluid.
Fix leaks problem goes away.

 

I'm reasonably capable, I've done some repairs and maintenance myself on vehicles in the past, but as it stands, have nowhere but the street to really work, and not much for tools. When I lived in Minnesota I could do work at my parents place, but no such luck here in Chicago.

The truck is now stuck in the shop til monday, they only got 1 of the 2 hoses they needed in, and the shop is not open tomorrow.

If there's information I should know to walk through with them, specifics I should ask or I can look for, I definitely can send you my number. Talking Sunday or Monday AM would probably be best for me.

 

My reaction was somewhat the same when his initial reaction jumped straight to replacement of the gearbox before even questioning the list of other things it could be, but to be honest, the shop was super swamped with work, and that was before they put it on the lift. It was more encouraging when the mechanic came back into the office and said he found significant leaking from the hoses that was running down to the spot the green was dripping from.

I'd like to think I can trust the shop, but I do always hate the feeling of not doing work yourself, unfortunately it's just not a realistic option with my current living arrangements. This is my first Rover, previous car was a VW and was going to the import repair shop (Won's) in my neighborhood. Won's wasn't open to do the inspection the weekend I bought the Disco, so I tried Wizard Werks after reading the predominantly positive reviews. When Wizard Werks recomended the aforementioned valve cover / intake gaskets, etc, I got a quote for the same repairs at Won's, and Wizard Werks beat them by I believe $400, and also seemed more knowledgeable about Rovers in general (4 Range Rovers and an LR3 in amongst the BMWS and Merc's)

 

So the consensus is of course green fluid means coolant. If it's leaking coolant, which I would gather is from the high and low pressure hoses he mentioned, is that responsible for the air in PS fluid / power steering problem?


Thanks everyone for your replies, by the way.

 

$1500 sounds like either a made up price pulled out of the air (maybe thinking the car had a rack instead of a box) or a price for a brand new box at the dealer. There would be much better boxes you could get for less. I think somewhere I read that Meridian rebuilt boxes for land rover fix some of the more common issues with leaks and stuff. They replace a worn bushing with a bearing or something. I could be remembering wrong.