I am hoping for some insight on a potential purchase of a 2008 LR3. Seller states that it has a warning that comes on sporadically “transmission fault, reduced traction”, but states that it doesn’t effect shifting or drivability. They took it to a mechanic to get it diagnosed, and all they could tell me was the mechanic said it was a sensor on the transmission.

two other notes, apparently the parking sensors don’t work in the cold, maybe bad battery? and it does not have a rear locking diff, which I have heard can cause this fault message when the actuator goes bad, so rules that out.

any advice would be appreciated! I’m fairly mechanically incline, so replacing a sensor is not a problem for me, just don’t want to get stuck with a pile or junk!!

car has 130,000 on it, Johnson rod 3” lift, no other modifications.
Priced at 10,000

thanks!!

 

The open rear diff affects the parking sensors???

Honestly I'd pass unless that tranny thing can be figured out. The mechanic is just making stuff up. 2008s are nice but without the locker and with the tranny fault....I mean, why?

 

I apologize, that sentence was not fleshed out properly. Faulty parking sensors are a separate issue, and I was referring to the fact that models with a locking rear diff can throw that error message sometimes if the diff lock actuator is faulty, or so I’ve read.

 

I’ve overlanded all over the United States, Canada and a bit of Mexico. A rear locker is nice but not necessary for the type of traveling i do, and I rarely ever used it on the vehicles I’ve had that were equipped. But I do agree, unless I can figure out what exactly is wrong with the transmission, not going to touch it. See my other reply for clarification on my first post

 

Parking sensors are a non-issue to anything. Probably need replacement. They go bad, especially if a pressure washer has hit em up hard.

Yeah, rear diff locker not a necessity really. Handy in snow though. But the truck's center variable diff and electronic traction are really good on their own.

The dash info message can come up for numerous reasons. The owners manual just says it is info that can be ignored, as in "no action required". Which is funny. Where as "Transmission Traction Reduced" means specifically a transfer case fault, seek assistance immediately. The tech manuals spell things out differently though.

The thing is with Rover the transmission is everything from the transmission to the transfer case to the rear diff. Yes, a rear diff fault as you already know throws a "transmission" message. So the actual fault could be with the transfer case, not the transmission itself. Especially if it shifts and drives fine. For example, the transfer case solenoid is the most common failure point with them. So if that is reading high resistance or such then you would get that message. You could have the seller see how the transfer case operates, just hope it does not get stuck in low for good.

So really need the Rover specific codes to know what it thinks is going on then go from there. Odds are it is an electronic issue, from that solenoid to wiring. Mechanically the transfer case and trans hold up pretty well.

 

this makes sense, I may still go look at this vehicle and text out the transfer case, maybe try to get the center diff to lock. Not a huge fan of chasing electrical gremlins, and for the price I really don’t want to spend hours working on it out of the gate.

my disco 1 already has a seized transfer case, don’t want another one with transfer case issues! Haha

 

Yeah, I think it is worth a look too. I *think* a GAP tool that is not VIN matched can still pull codes from any Rover. If you can locate someone with one you could barrow, it would help to get all the codes. They have the ability to email the list. As for trying to get it to lock, good luck. Being an e-diff of sorts, it is totally variable and electronic. And the nav info display will show if it locks over a certain percentage of lockage, but they do start to lock up without any feedback until they hit that special percentage. No way to make them really lock.

 

True no way to really do it, but you can probably do it by putting it in 4-LO and Rock Crawl and driving around. I wouldn't do that on concrete, just because of the extra wear on components w/o wheel slip and because you're less likely to get locking in the center diff if you have that much grip on the tires. Find a gravel or dirt road.

 

Not sure if any one is following this, but I ended up buying this LR3 after finding out a few things about it, some bad, some actually pretty cool.

The owner agreed to meet at a independent shop to get it looked over and the codes read, and a few things were found.
First, it needs new front upper control arms, which I plan to do here next weekend as it’s a job I’ve done before.
Second, and originally most concerning, the transmission fault was traced back to a bad rear diff temp sensor. Planning on replacing and doing a fluid change on the front and rear diffs while I’m under there.
Third and last major issue, valve cover gaskets are leaking slightly, which I currently have being replaced as a write this. Not something I wanted to mess with myself.

the owner agreed to knock the price of the repairs and some off the vehicle, and I drove away with the beast.

cosmetically the vehicle is in fine shape. It’s lifted and on large mud tires which I plan to get rid of for all terrains , but it came with the stock wheels and rods so that was a plus! It has the usual wear and tear for a 130,000 mile vehicle, but the dash is mostly intact so that’s neat!!

finally, something I discovered once I already got the vehicle home and ran the vin again, apparently it has a rear locker!! I have yet to get under the vehicle to confirm, as I took it right to the shop local to me to have the gaskets done, but I’m interested in confirming what the vin pattern seems to say! Guy I bought it from was fairly certain that it didn’t have one, so I find that a bit odd. He also didn’t off-road it at all so that might be why.

looking forward to using this rig, hopefully it’s as good one!

 

I will give my two cents.

Upper arms would be an unusual service item at that milage. New OEM arms can be found for less then $100, so they are not expensive per say. But they typically last no less than 150k. Heck, I bet some members here with over 200k still have original front uppers. Front lowers, on the other hand, have a life span of 70k miles or so. In any case, make sure the replacement parts are OEM or from the OEM producer (so OEM without expensive LR badge).

Hopefully the rear diff is just a sensor issue. I would not really be too worried as the sensor is easy to replace or the harness for it was damaged, as that can happen.

Valve cover gaskets at that milage are odd too. Make sure it is not the VVT seal. The VVT seals certainly leak on these a lot and that oil runs down the from of the covers. I have replaced mine twice. They take just minutes to do and other than moving a couple items out of the way, there is no opening up of the valve covers, etc. They just slip up and over the VVT solenoid. One on each side of the engine. With that said, I will be doing my valve cover gaskets this summer. But again, I am over 200k miles now.

Why do you think it has a rear locker? It could, but the only way to know is to look or the VIN. The Nav display, if equip, will always shock the lock icon for it - installed or not.