Befuddling LR3 Problem(s)... any ideas for help appreciated!
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Befuddling LR3 Problem(s)... any ideas for help appreciated!
The Driver’s Window on my 2006 Land Rover LR3 stopped operating (bought vehicle used a year ago with 21K miles). The window remained stuck in the full ‘up’ position. So I took the vehicle to the dealer in Birmingham Michigan (Lavery) and, although I’d been speaking with them for like six weeks about scheduling a time for me to visit, upon my arrival the first thing they told me is “Oh, by the way, your warranty period expired a few days ago”. Carfax shows I have another 6 months, but I suppose, short of a lawsuit, I’m at their mercy to accept whatever they care to tell me
. They said their computer shows it was “first put into use” in March ’06, even though the vehicle’s first registration wasn’t until September ’06 (later, I phoned corporate customer service who could not coherently explain to me what ‘put into first use’ meant, if not measured by official State registrations.) In any case, the dealer’s mechanic inspected the LR3 and I was informed the regulator/actuator ‘was shot’ and that I needed it replaced. Their charge for this would be $485. I asked what exactly they meant by ‘shot’… asking ‘was it the plastic gears that were wore down and slipping, or…?’ They said the motor was fried. Now, in that I was steaming about being a few days ‘out of warranty’ and being forced to pay for something that’s been a problem for almost a half year and would have been covered for free just a few days earlier, and now being told ‘Sorry, it’s the policy’… I told’em “Thanks, but no thanks.”
On the presumption that the Dealer’s assessment was correct, I searched for and found a working used replacement regulator on eBay for $50. Remarkably, their judgment about the problem proved to be entirely wrong (maybe it's just more profitable for them this way.) But maybe they’re merely imbeciles and not just 'jacking' me. Hard to say… since they also got a couple other matters quite wrong as well ( may mention these later in this post).
So although I’ve now figured out what the real problem is, I still will need help in order to resolve it and could really use the input from some of you on this forum who might have knowledge in this area. Here’s the deal:
I removed the driver's interior door panel and then unscrewed the regulator from its bracket which then separates the regulator gear from window gear, but I also left the wiring harness still connected to the regulator so I could test it while it’s not under the strain of the gearing connection. Lo and behold, the regulator gear spun beautifully. So now I’m wondering if something could be wrong with the motor that just makes it too weak to force the gear to move the window, so I reconnected everything and tried it again. Well, the window went ‘up’ just fine! But when I tried ‘down’, nothing! At this point I’m wondering if the motor is, in fact, messed up, and operating in only one direction. So I disconnect the regulator/motor from the bracket and the window gear (again, while still leaving the wiring harness connected), and I when depress the ‘down’ toggle, the gear rotates just fine --- I depress the ‘up’ toggle, and the gear also rotates OK too. A conundrum! So now I’m thinking maybe the motor is weak only when trying to rotate downward so I decide to grab the gear (by hand, don’t want to strip’em with pliers of course ;-) and when I depress the ‘up’ toggle it is clear to me that the gear is certainly rotating with sufficient force. I then depressed the ‘down’ toggle and it strikes me right away that the gear was continuing to rotate in the ‘up’ direction!!! You’d think I might have noticed this a couple steps earlier, however, the gear is constructed of milky plastic, almost clear plastic, and the individual tiny teeth of the gear are no more than ½mm, almost invisible…so while I could hear and see the center of the gear whirring and whirling about, it was not evident whatsoever the direction it was traveling. That said, the motor appears to be operating only in the upward direction regardless of whether the 'up' or the 'down' toggle is depressed. Consequently, I immediately grabbed the replacement regulator/motor I purchased to confirm this and plugged it into the wiring harness and, “Eureka!” --- same result! So, clearly the problem is electrical, but why the ‘down’ function has reversed to perform like the ‘up’ function, is beyond me. I’m hoping that someone can advise me on what can be done so that the regulator receives the proper 'down' signal.
As for the other unrelated issue, it has to do with first gear dropping when accelerating, just after idling or coasting(which is, uh…, often). I found another web forum where someone else described my same issue exactly, but only received two replies with the first one having no merit as far as I’m concerned, and the second reply was to reprogram the transmission ECU which seems absolutely plausible. See link:http://www.texasrovers.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?8098
Of course the dealer’s staff said they found nothing wrong and seemed utterly disinterested in explaining to me how they came to this conclusion… wouldn’t even accept my offer to take them on a test drive to show them what I’m talking about. They dismissed by my suggestion to reprogram the ECU by stating that I already have the current software installed (but I couldn’t convince’em that doesn’t mean it’s not glitched-up, of course). They were the most aloof bunch of nitwits I’ve ever come across gathered in one locale. Several of them sitting in this floor-to-ceiling glass lined room, each one seemingly more distant and trance-like than the next. I think it’s quite possible that someone there may be drugging their coffees with Valium or similardepressant. What’s odd is that I previously owned one of those limited edition 1993 Defender 110’s (500 made), and this dealer’s service was impeccable back then. But with their staff now completely turned over, clearly I’ll never be going back.
Thank you for any and all replies!
. They said their computer shows it was “first put into use” in March ’06, even though the vehicle’s first registration wasn’t until September ’06 (later, I phoned corporate customer service who could not coherently explain to me what ‘put into first use’ meant, if not measured by official State registrations.) In any case, the dealer’s mechanic inspected the LR3 and I was informed the regulator/actuator ‘was shot’ and that I needed it replaced. Their charge for this would be $485. I asked what exactly they meant by ‘shot’… asking ‘was it the plastic gears that were wore down and slipping, or…?’ They said the motor was fried. Now, in that I was steaming about being a few days ‘out of warranty’ and being forced to pay for something that’s been a problem for almost a half year and would have been covered for free just a few days earlier, and now being told ‘Sorry, it’s the policy’… I told’em “Thanks, but no thanks.”On the presumption that the Dealer’s assessment was correct, I searched for and found a working used replacement regulator on eBay for $50. Remarkably, their judgment about the problem proved to be entirely wrong (maybe it's just more profitable for them this way.) But maybe they’re merely imbeciles and not just 'jacking' me. Hard to say… since they also got a couple other matters quite wrong as well ( may mention these later in this post).
So although I’ve now figured out what the real problem is, I still will need help in order to resolve it and could really use the input from some of you on this forum who might have knowledge in this area. Here’s the deal:
I removed the driver's interior door panel and then unscrewed the regulator from its bracket which then separates the regulator gear from window gear, but I also left the wiring harness still connected to the regulator so I could test it while it’s not under the strain of the gearing connection. Lo and behold, the regulator gear spun beautifully. So now I’m wondering if something could be wrong with the motor that just makes it too weak to force the gear to move the window, so I reconnected everything and tried it again. Well, the window went ‘up’ just fine! But when I tried ‘down’, nothing! At this point I’m wondering if the motor is, in fact, messed up, and operating in only one direction. So I disconnect the regulator/motor from the bracket and the window gear (again, while still leaving the wiring harness connected), and I when depress the ‘down’ toggle, the gear rotates just fine --- I depress the ‘up’ toggle, and the gear also rotates OK too. A conundrum! So now I’m thinking maybe the motor is weak only when trying to rotate downward so I decide to grab the gear (by hand, don’t want to strip’em with pliers of course ;-) and when I depress the ‘up’ toggle it is clear to me that the gear is certainly rotating with sufficient force. I then depressed the ‘down’ toggle and it strikes me right away that the gear was continuing to rotate in the ‘up’ direction!!! You’d think I might have noticed this a couple steps earlier, however, the gear is constructed of milky plastic, almost clear plastic, and the individual tiny teeth of the gear are no more than ½mm, almost invisible…so while I could hear and see the center of the gear whirring and whirling about, it was not evident whatsoever the direction it was traveling. That said, the motor appears to be operating only in the upward direction regardless of whether the 'up' or the 'down' toggle is depressed. Consequently, I immediately grabbed the replacement regulator/motor I purchased to confirm this and plugged it into the wiring harness and, “Eureka!” --- same result! So, clearly the problem is electrical, but why the ‘down’ function has reversed to perform like the ‘up’ function, is beyond me. I’m hoping that someone can advise me on what can be done so that the regulator receives the proper 'down' signal.
As for the other unrelated issue, it has to do with first gear dropping when accelerating, just after idling or coasting(which is, uh…, often). I found another web forum where someone else described my same issue exactly, but only received two replies with the first one having no merit as far as I’m concerned, and the second reply was to reprogram the transmission ECU which seems absolutely plausible. See link:http://www.texasrovers.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?8098
Of course the dealer’s staff said they found nothing wrong and seemed utterly disinterested in explaining to me how they came to this conclusion… wouldn’t even accept my offer to take them on a test drive to show them what I’m talking about. They dismissed by my suggestion to reprogram the ECU by stating that I already have the current software installed (but I couldn’t convince’em that doesn’t mean it’s not glitched-up, of course). They were the most aloof bunch of nitwits I’ve ever come across gathered in one locale. Several of them sitting in this floor-to-ceiling glass lined room, each one seemingly more distant and trance-like than the next. I think it’s quite possible that someone there may be drugging their coffees with Valium or similardepressant. What’s odd is that I previously owned one of those limited edition 1993 Defender 110’s (500 made), and this dealer’s service was impeccable back then. But with their staff now completely turned over, clearly I’ll never be going back.
Thank you for any and all replies!
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