Puzzle for the brain trust…2005 LR3 145k runs drives beautifully. When I turn head lites on will not shift out of 1st gear. Turn off head lites drives beautifully. Any ideas appreciated

 

Have you changed any light bulbs recently? There is a weird issues where a bad or incorrect lamp can cause this issue. You may even want to consider replacing the brake light switch.

 

Thank you dakota, car was hit right rear, smashed rear light assembly had a spare vehicle replaced entire assembly from it. Interesting, raining today will dig in tomorrow…also problem vehicle ‘05 parts vehicle ‘06 wonder if any changes in the one year. The part fit in perfect…T/Y

 

My hero Dakota Traveller.....top bulb on my replaced tail light was out and sure enough put car into limp mode. New bulb all good. My '06 does not have the same issues '05 seems to be a little more temperamental.....Thank you again for your input new truck and was thinking the worst. Easy fix....

 

Awesome! I like easy fixes because on these Rovers that can often be a rare thing. And it is SOOOO silly that a bulb issue can cause so many problems. But you have to think of these rigs as production prototypes, Ford owned Rover and these are FULL of (at the time) advanced stuff that they wanted to test on a low production vehicle before adapting to the Ford Escape and such. So they really have some odd things that come up like this.

 

Funny.!!!! My wife's car had same problem. I didn't diagnose right away but saw bulb out a week or 2 later and changed it. A while later she said it had not acted up again. Since Dakota brought up the Ford thing, my apprentice has a 95ish f150 that will have transmission problems if 3rd brake lamp out..

 

Yeah it only seems to be the early vehicles that have trouble with blown bulbs, i had read about it and when i blew some i didnt have any issues.

 

Yes i see that

 

That’s a strange one, but it sounds like an electrical grounding issue. On the 2005 LR3, shared grounds between systems can cause odd problems like this. When you turn on the headlights, it might disrupt the transmission control module’s signal, keeping the car stuck in 1st gear. It’s a bit like Portsmouth FC relying on solid connections between players—when one link is off, performance suffers. Check all main ground points, especially near the battery and fuse box. Also, inspect wiring around the headlights and TCM for damage or corrosion. Re-grounding may resolve the issue.