Differential Failure on 03' Range Rover

My 2003 Range Rover broke down this weekend! The differential emmited a loud noise and then a "TRANS" error message popped up on the IP. The transmission will not go into Drive and the car will not move under it's own power. It was towed to a dealer in Baltimore and I was told to expect downtime of 1-2 weeks minimum. Has anyone else had or heard of this same failure? To put icing on the cake, my wife was driving the vehicle the vehicle some 250 miles away from home when the differential failed and I was over 1500 miles away from her. Any who, the dealer put my wife in a 02' Mercury Sable for the weekend only...drop off an $80k truck and drive away in a barely accepted conveyance of $20k...seems far. When I tried to secure a permanent rental more befitting the Range Rover, all rental agencies were sold out of vehicles. Any help or suggestions would be great. Roy roy.shanholtz@starwoodhotels.com

Talk to the dealer, at least the dealer out here will provide a suitable vehicle (aka Land Rover) for you to drive while they work on yours. (I think this is really a ploy by the manager to get the technicians working harder!!)

Ask them and see what they can do, cause the diff going out on a car that new is pretty absurd.

Good luck with it man, hope you get it sorted.

I have an 02 new shape RR diesel, 12 k on the clock. It developed a clunk in the transmission, dealer replaced the front diff under warrenty. No vibration only a slight bearing grumble under braking. 500 miles on and it is doing it again !!!!!

In the last 2000 miles it has had a diff, new rear wiper motor, both front lower suspension arms because the bottom swivel became seriously dangerous (waited 3 weeks for new parts from the factory). Dealer reported to Landrover as dangerous defect.
Alas now it has a smoking problem, towing 2 tonne load up long hill 3500-4000 rpm high ration 3rd, it was working hard but the cloud of blue haze smoke built up behind us like nothing I have ever seen.

Shame , it is my 5th RR in 30 years but it is hard to defend it with this many problems at such low mileage.

Anyone else had similar?

I'm on my 4th Rover. I still maintain 3. The only excuse I have is that I'm too busy to change and I'm not dropping $75k on a new one.

Do not, I repeat, do not go to the RR dealer unless you have more money than brians. You can locate a diff on the web. My 89 diff went out suddenly a month ago. Found one and had a non-dealer mechanic install it. He has always maintained that the Rover is a truck and it's easy to work on. With a shop manual, it's a breeze. He doesn't bait and switch. He doesn't lie to me. He offers no excuses. When it's fixed, it's fixed.

Authorized Rover dealer's repairs to my cars:
Transfer case - $3,500 for a used one installed ($1,200 estimate)
Suddenly they don't take checks....cash only. Wonder why.
"It took longer than we thought."
Got about 50 miles out when it would not shift out of low gear. Any idea how long it takes to drive 50 miles in low? "Oh, it must be the linkage."

Transmission ZF - $4,200
Gas Tank - $1500
Head Gaskets $850

I'd burn the thing to the ground before I'd go to a dealer for anything.
I'd fly to England to buy parts before I'd go to the dealer.
My advice, get out of it ASAP. Buy an old one where some idiot has already taken care of the crap that you know will fail.
Have a good day.

Yeah, we just got our third '03 Rangie in the shop for a busted front diff. Join the club. :cheers: With the Freelanders, it's the trannys. Rangies have the diffs. Maybe Land Rover should stop moving around to so many companies and focus on building a reliable truck? :thinkerg: There are some pretty big things that have been falling through the cracks. Even though it's warrantied, it's still a pain in the rear. :nutkick:

I have a 1991 RR that I got with 63K miles on it and now is at 169K. It took until about 100K miles to get broken in and just fail normally from wearout.

I think buying one at 100K that has been well maintained is the way to go.

You think Rovers have it bad. Late model Porsche 911's (~2000-2003) are blowing engines repeatedly. That's gotta hurt....(mine is 1985 with 155K on it)

Good luck trying to find an older Rangie that's been well maintained! I bought my '91 at just under 100K. I've been changing the fluids regularly, but he's also a wheeler so other things are breaking that wouldn't normally break. Then, there are the things that are wearing out because he is now at 211K. Just trying to keep up with him is wearing me out!

Good luck to ya'. My 2003 had the steering column replaced, steering wheel motor failure, noisy ride (wheels/tires/brakes???); on a steep expressway hill it begin to slow down and would not accelerate; and yesterday on the very dangerous expressway, the wheels begin to bounce like crazy (I thought all the balancing weights had popped off) then it emitted a loud squeal and grinding noise that killed the transmission and suddenly lost any ability to accelerate. In short it lost all power and fortunately no 18-wheelers were riding my bumper because I was only able to coast from the fast lane to the left hand side of the road and wait for a tow truck. I really thought I was going to be killed, but thank God, the other motorist slowed down and let me coast to safety. If this is what RR is all about, they can keep them. In nine years of owning Ford Explorers, the only thing that broke, was the rear window wiper. Hopefully Ford can fix the RR's many and very dangerous problems. RR is a beautiful vehicle...but it is also a very dangerous vehicle.

And MY WIFE wants me to buy a NEW ONE (2003) !

Hi in the uk there is a recall on front diff splines if carried out early the diff wont fail