Dealer put wrong fluid in rear locker...what to do?

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Fields Carlisle

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Took my '14 LR4 HSE Lux in to dealer for repairs and diff and transfer case service. I told them it had rear locking differential, and they should know that since it's on their computer screen and visible when looking at the rear diff. Picked it up on Wednesday and everything seemed fine. Drove it Thursday and all was good. Yesterday I noticed some sort of weird binding when I was off road. I thought it was something dragging underneath so I got out and looked at the belly and didn't see anything. I even checked the transfer case, and two diffs to make sure drain plugs had been put back in. The rear diff's plug I guess doesn't screw in all the way which at first worried me, but I checked online and watched a couple YouTube videos and saw they all looked the same. I brushed it off as me just being paranoid. Couple hours later I'm off road again. I noticed the binding in the rear. Turned on 4x4i screen and noticed that whenever the rear diff began to lock I noticed the shaking sensation. I started feeling sick to my stomach. I pulled out my paperwork and there I discovered they had put the same fluid in the front and rear diffs. I called the dealership and told them I was concerned the rear locker was messed up due to their error. I drove it in and they said they would flush the wrong fluid today and fill with correct spec fluid, drain that and refill again. I'm just extremely concerned that the 300 miles I drove with the wrong fluid and the 5 or so miles off road with heavy use of the rear locker has caused permanent damage. They said they don't think it would have damaged it because the fluids are "so close" to being the same. Obviously they're not that close if it was causing the locker to bind up. Any one have suggestions what to do? Get JLR involved? Demand new locker installed? Live with it and hope for the best? I'm out of warranty, barely, and don't want to be SOL if next year my locker eats itself due to damage sustained from this mistake. I hate it because this dealership just opened within the last couple weeks, but still...it's my car and I paid them to do something and they did it wrong.
 

NASdiesel

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I'd tell them you want confirmation of a 1year warranty on the diff post flush. And call JLR if they baulk. You can also consider reviewing your consumer protection laws. They usually cover issues like this.
 

Fields Carlisle

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I'd tell them you want confirmation of a 1year warranty on the diff post flush. And call JLR if they baulk. You can also consider reviewing your consumer protection laws. They usually cover issues like this.
I'm definitely going to request at least one year warranty, or just tell them to put another one in.
I'd tell them you want confirmation of a 1year warranty on the diff post flush. And call JLR if they baulk. You can also consider reviewing your consumer protection laws. They usually cover issues like this.
Do you think I should worry it messed up the driveshaft or transfer case if it was binding up?
 

NASdiesel

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I'm definitely going to request at least one year warranty, or just tell them to put another one in.

Do you think I should worry it messed up the driveshaft or transfer case if it was binding up?

Not particularly. The entire drivetrain is designed for binding side to side, front to back. I don't see how it would be different than applying the parking brake.
 

djkaosone

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Play the dumb card and tell them you had them do this service before taking it out and noticed a horrible noise in the rear when the locker is engaged. It should be under warranty and you might get a new rear diff out of it.
 

manoftaste

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Took my '14 LR4 HSE Lux in to dealer for repairs and diff and transfer case service. I told them it had rear locking differential, and they should know that since it's on their computer screen and visible when looking at the rear diff. Picked it up on Wednesday and everything seemed fine. Drove it Thursday and all was good. Yesterday I noticed some sort of weird binding when I was off road. I thought it was something dragging underneath so I got out and looked at the belly and didn't see anything. I even checked the transfer case, and two diffs to make sure drain plugs had been put back in. The rear diff's plug I guess doesn't screw in all the way which at first worried me, but I checked online and watched a couple YouTube videos and saw they all looked the same. I brushed it off as me just being paranoid. Couple hours later I'm off road again. I noticed the binding in the rear. Turned on 4x4i screen and noticed that whenever the rear diff began to lock I noticed the shaking sensation. I started feeling sick to my stomach. I pulled out my paperwork and there I discovered they had put the same fluid in the front and rear diffs. I called the dealership and told them I was concerned the rear locker was messed up due to their error. I drove it in and they said they would flush the wrong fluid today and fill with correct spec fluid, drain that and refill again. I'm just extremely concerned that the 300 miles I drove with the wrong fluid and the 5 or so miles off road with heavy use of the rear locker has caused permanent damage. They said they don't think it would have damaged it because the fluids are "so close" to being the same. Obviously they're not that close if it was causing the locker to bind up. Any one have suggestions what to do? Get JLR involved? Demand new locker installed? Live with it and hope for the best? I'm out of warranty, barely, and don't want to be SOL if next year my locker eats itself due to damage sustained from this mistake. I hate it because this dealership just opened within the last couple weeks, but still...it's my car and I paid them to do something and they did it wrong.

I'd absolutely get the JLR involved, like asap. What if the diff fails after the one year warranty. I'd most definitely get them involved. If it were my truck, I'd not want anything but the diff replaced, even if a field engineer came down from UK to assure me, just for it to be a lesson for them so it doesnt happen to someone else.

Its ridiculous that you cannot trust the dealerships of this so called luxury brand with even something as simple as an oil change! Every time I take mine to service, I am fearful of them screwing something else up. Makes me wait until I have a few issues accumulated to deal with if they can wait, so this way I only hand over my truck to them once for service, possibly reducing the chances of any unwanted "service" from them.
 

anglotron

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The open diff oil won't have the necessary friction modifiers that the locking diff requires for the clutch pack to work. The binding noise is most likely the sound of the clutches slipping.

The reason I say this is I had a GTO a few years ago with an LSD and that used to bind and go with a real bang until I'd added enough friction modifier to the oil.

I suspect with a flush and the correct fluid the diff will be fine.
 

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