Transmission Fault on the freeway

[Huy Tran]

So a couple day ago, my 2010 LR4 with approximately 90K miles decided to scare me. While driving on the toll road (with the wife, two kids, and a mother-in-law) at about 75 mph, the transmission seems to “pop” out of gear. The car quickly decelerated, while the engine revved up to near max rpm and the accelerator was irresponsive. Somehow, cars behind were able to swerve around me and I was able to coast across four lanes of traffic and onto the emergency shoulder without being hit. There was a “Transmission Fault” message and the service engine light was lit. After taking a few minutes to recompose myself and restarting the car, all error messages went away and the car drove fine all the way home.
Was able to pull codes P2704 and P0783.
After some searching, found a TSB LTB00514NAS1 that mentioned those codes but not a whole lot of details. Has anyone dealt with this?
I've read things from low fluid, to solenoid, to stator bushing to harness and sleeves and even the infamous brake switch can cause this.
I did the filter and oil change about 4k miles ago and have check the fluid level a couple times.
I hate dealership service department, but I got an appointment this Friday to see what they say. I'm expecting to hear "You need a new transmission".

 

[Land Cruiser]

I had a similar issue where I could not get the shifter to engage into D from time to time, and it would slip out of gear while driving. Essentially, the position of the shifter was not making the correct electrical connection and the transmission would drop to neutral.

I took it in to my local Rover shop and I'm not sure if they replaced the entire shifter assembly or a component. I'd need to check the invoice for the part number, but total damage for my repair was only $250.

 

[Huy Tran]

That seems like the best scenario I could hope for.
But shifter and linkage wouldn't throw a code, would it?

 

[Land Cruiser]

No, I wouldn't get a fault unless I tried to shift into sport mode.

Your issue might be different, but it might be related if you try to gently push the shifter forward from "D" and it slips out of gear before clicking over to "N". For me, I would see no letter displayed on the dash, when it was not engaged.

 

[Huy Tran]

Well, got the call from the dealer today.
Just as suspected they said I needed a whole new transmission at a cost of $11,000.
Told me that it was an internal mechanical failure. They say the car is still driveable but that the problem will eventually get worst.
Don't know if I should trade it in or get the indy guy to rebuild it.

 

[Pfunk951]

Man, that sucks.. Can you talk to the mechanic and see what drove him to that opinion? I would hope that the P0783 would be a solenoid.. Did they see something in the fluid or pan to lead them to believe a catastrophic failure occurred? I don't know a ton about these ZF boxes, but when I have seen friction related failures on other transmissions there was no doubt about it- they were usually driveable but had band material/metal/debris in the fluid and pan..

Mike

 

[BrandonM7]

Ouch. Good luck.

 

[ktm525]

Get a second opinion.

 

[ktm525]

A long long shot but three years ago my LR4 went into reduced performance mode on the highway and the accelerator went unresponsive. Pressing it down would do nothing. I shut down and restarted and it was ok for awhile and then repeated. It was traced down to broken fan wiring. A simple fix of the wiring and all was ok. There was mention of a TSB but I do not have the number.

 

[Huy Tran]

I doubt the dealer did much diagnostics other than pull the codes. They were vague about cause or actual problem. They did call me in the middle of their "diagnostics" because they noticed the new transmission pan and asked if the problem happened before or after I replaced the pan and fluid. I did the filter, pan, and ZF fluids about 3k miles ago to help with the harsh 4/3 ****.
So tempted to try rebuild this myself. Seems like lots of the BMW and Jaguard guys have done it. But not many Rovers.

On a side note. I asked them to check the TSB about the squeaky steering wheel and they said there was a leak and that I needed a new steering column. $2,400...
The door lock actuator? $895

Thanks ktm! I'm going to look up the fan issue.