In September my engine suddenly sounded different. It sounded like a whine versus it's usual lovely, V8 growl.
The whine changed the LR's note, almost as though it was the transmission getting noisy - everything continued to seem strong, lots of power, no slip, so I put it down to mileage.
Eventually, when I started it a few months ago, there was a loud ticking noise from the front of the engine - it seemed to be the water pump, which I thought would also explain the whiney engine sound.
My mechanic replaced the pump and included the coolant tube, o rings and oil cooler tube.
The ticking went away but the engine still whined.
Fast forward to a week ago and a monumental break down occurred. At first my phone failed to charge on the charger. Seemed a bit weird, but nothing too surprising.
Then, almost an hour later the cluster threw up a "Charging Fault" error message, then an "ABS Fault", "Stability", "Park Break", "Traction", "Transmission Fault"... the cluster light went to black, I pulled off the road and everything else shut down.
Not ideal, in a snow storm in the middle of nowhere.
The rescue guy couldn't jump it and we had to enter the transmission though the cup holders to shift the gear from park into neutral.
Turned out the engine management had protected the car when the alternator gave up.
Lesson: a dying alternator makes a noise loud enough, over a month or two, that sounds like a worn transmission and can cost ~$1400 for a dealer to replace when you're in a bit of a pinch.