Okay, finally have a wrap up. Sorry for the delay but this entire saga has a unique twist in that I handed over the Disco to my kid a few months ago for college and all testing/replacing has been complicated by our competing schedules and the fact that before this he wasn't sure what a ratchet was...

Anyhow, I opted to replace the transfer case sensor first since it's easiest (see above) although I suspected the odds weren't in my favor for a resolution with this part. I was right. Next was the troublemaker auto trans temp sensor screwed into the cooler, near the radiator. Ultimately, this fixed my problem.

Atlantic British came through for parts although it was most helpful having some help finding those buggers on their site.

For anyone contemplating the job of replacing that auto trans sensor: My kid did the entire job in a little more than an hour. I talked him through it via Skype, and he had a few distractions in the form of a girlfriend and others (he's 21). He has very limited mechanical experience. We went through the inspection cover in the RF wheel well and it was a slam dunk, at least as far as Skyped LR Disco repairs go.

Now I just need to pray he finished college on time so I can get my baby back.

Thanks to everyone for advice. Much appreciated. This site never fails to be uber helpful.

 

By the way, we checked codes and did not have any tranny fault codes... Just an FYI.