1st Suspension Fault & Other msgs

[toddjb122]

Hmmmm, yesterday while driving I got a "Transimission Fault" an "HDC Fault" and a handful of warning, brake, ABS and rollover lights. ?

Anyway, stopped at a gas station to fill the beast with fuel and the warning went away when I restarted the car. Fluke?

 

[Houm_WA]

No, not a fluke...do you have the heavy-duty package?

 

[toddjb122]

No, not a fluke...do you have the heavy-duty package?

Yes. Any significance?

 

[Houm_WA]

I had the same problem. Let me describe it, and see if it sounds the same...then I'll tell ya the fix !

Out of nowhere, the chime sounds, the info center says "transmission fault, HDC unavailable" and a bevvy lights are illuminated on the dash. These include the "ABS Brake" light near the fuel gage, the DSC icon, the suspension fault light (but I think this is actually indicative of an ARM problem) and also in the 4x4 info center, the HDC icon is illuminated in gray-scale and has an exclamation point included.

Sound about right?

I don't mean to play guessing games with you, but I do want to make sure your symptoms are the same as mine were before I point in the direction of a diagnosis !

 

[Eire]

I got my first Suspension Fault this week, car is about 6wks old now.

 

[toddjb122]

...
Sound about right?

...

Yup! That's exactly it! Is this going to be a service rep nightmare to explain? Because its only happened once thus far and I can already hear "...sorry, we didn't see the problem."

 

[Houm_WA]

Todd,

I wish I had an answer for your question about the service rep. All I can say is that when mine went nuts, I was close to the dealer and I headed straight there and left the darn car RUNNING so that they could observe all the faults and get as much data as possible...'cause I'd been burned before by faults not leaving a code.

That said, here is the deal:

There is a manufacturing defect in the locking rear differential. There was some machined part out of tolerance and the mechanism will not lock up fully. So the control unit thinks it's locked and the sensors may not....that is about as well as I can explain it. What results is a miscommunication between the control unit and the transmission control unit. The fault is then reported through the tranny as a "transmission fault."

I literally poured over all the fault codes at my service writer's desk and saw what led them to that conclusion myself. I also spoke with a regional service manager and asked him questions ad nauseum about this problem and others (like suspension probs and NAV issues...and climate control/vent issues).

Anyway, they actually were experiencing about a 40% defect rate with the locking diffs. The open diffs are fine. They've "cleansed" their supply line so if your service dept. has a spare or has to order a spare, it should be ok. They will just replace the rear diff as a whole.

I had this done about 2 weeks ago...and so far, no problems.

I have to give Seattle Land Rover a lot of credit for not only fixing this problem, but having the tolerance to deal with me ! I'm a pain in the A$$ ! ...and I'm a Systems Engineer so I think I know it all anyhow. ...but really, to get my car into their shop and me into a Jag for 4 days without even an appointment....that's pretty good service. ...and I LITERALLY left the car running as I left the premises!

Like I told dude on the phone (the manager from LRNA), I know this car is going to have issues, being a 1st year model...I'm willing to work through them as long as there is a commitment to take care of us beta-testers !!

Anyway, Todd.....good luck. I'm pretty sure that is the fix. Your service dept. should either know about it or be able to call LRNA and find out about it.

 

[toddjb122]

Thanks for the details, Houm. I'll print out your email and see if it happens again. I can only hope if it does happen, my dealership is as committed to fixing the problem!

Any idea how long these error codes will stay in the computer once they have occurred?

 

[Houm_WA]

Todd, it really depends on the system...some faults stay longer.

I really don't think that you should put off fixing it. It's not an electronic problem, it won't just go away by itself.

Either be a bull and "make" your dealership fix it, or wait until it happens again and drive it in as-is and show it to them, so they won't have to "duplicate" it.

Good luck.

 

[toddjb122]

Houm, you called this one. Dealership was very good about it. I mentioned that I had the fault a couple weeks back when I brought my truck in this week for 15K service. They checked the codes, identified it as a rear diff fault, and are ordering a new one to install.

They didn't even have to see or recreate the problem, so that's a bonus!

Now...replacing a rear diff sounds pretty major to me. I just hope there aren't any side effects of the repair, but I'm happy to get it done without a fight!

Nice plus for the LR service at my dealership.