transmission fault

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lengie10
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transmission fault

Post by lengie10 » Wed Jun 07, 2017 1:17 pm

Had a message appear randomly and intermittently over the past few months (Transmission Fault - traction reduced).

spoke to several garages all saying battery was the place to start. charged it (although never got fully green light) and it went away.

its now on full time (on start up and switch off). have heard its possibly a rear brake switch?

any ideas on things I can check before laying out money at a garage? I just saw a you-tube video on using the touch screen diagnosis?



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PillowSmuggler
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Re: transmission fault

Post by PillowSmuggler » Wed Jun 07, 2017 5:11 pm

Hi Lengie, there are a few reasons why that message can appear, and as you've heard an undercharged or failing battery is most common.
If the message doesn't clear when the engine starts, either the alternator output is really low and doesn't produce enough volts for the ECU to be happy or it's something else.

I don't suppose you have jetwashed under the bonnet have you? The Disco3 has an Achilles heel; the ECUs behind the battery are not all waterproof and water getting into that area from jetwash or heavy fording can get into the electronics and play merry hell with the whole car, and that issue can show as a Transmission fault.

I may be remembering incorrectly, but I think the brake switch and broken brake light filament issues produce a different error to this one, though both these issues do cause a cascade failure of other ECUs leading to a nasty christmas tree lighting display on the dash.
Can anyone else recall?


Regards, Dom.
2007 HSE Auto TDV6
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Stu
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Re: transmission fault

Post by Stu » Thu Jun 08, 2017 9:07 am

The brake switch gives the "suspension fault error" as the car drops to provide stability as it thinks there is a braking problem.

Sounds like battery or alternator to me. Have you actually swapped the battery out? Have you measured the output from the alternator? I'd start with that and if you're getting 14 odd volts then swap the battery before a knackered battery takes the alternator with it.


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jamespope
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Re: transmission fault

Post by jamespope » Mon Jun 19, 2017 2:17 pm

I've recently had the brake switch issue, it started out as just a 'transmission failure' message in combination with a 'parking brake failure' message when I tried to apply the EPB. Then on a couple of occasions I had the same but with the computer ending up in limp home mode, and finally it started throwing up 'transmission failure', 'parking brake failure', 'traction control failure', making my dashboard look like the Northern Lights and finally dropping the suspension down to the ground too for good measure. So the switch issue caused all sorts of weird problems that were slightly different each and every time. My (limited) understanding is that the switch soots up and starts arcing, and this creates enough conducted EMI to cause the busses that link up the computers to fail.

One consistent thing though was that each time, cycling the ignition (after the car had properly shut down) temporarily cleared the issue - so like Dom and Stu say, i'd be surprised if this was your problem.

James



BirkenRover
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Re: transmission fault

Post by BirkenRover » Mon Sep 25, 2017 9:31 pm

I just solved a "Transmission Fault" message when shifting into drive. The message showed briefly then went away. There was no other message or OBDII code. The lingering issue was not being able to select "Sport" mode. Looking everywhere possible I noticed a post that said if the lights are turned on the message will not display, which is true until you turn the lights off and select Park; then the message comes back. The dealer service did not produce anything useful. I also replaced the brake light bulbs and the brake switch, with no improvement.

I did read a post that described the same 'Transmission Fault" message that was resolved when the shifter was replaced. This seemed fairly random, but I found the problem and it can be verified.

Here's exactly what I found and you can validate the error before spending $350 on a new shifter.
1-Disconnect the battery then remove the shifter handle and console top.
2-Unbolt the 4 mounting bolts holding the shifter in place to be able to access the connector. Don't worry about the cable to the transmission as it will remain stable.
3-Remove the connector on the rear of the shifter. This is easy, just depress the lock on top and flip the bail back to eject the connector.
4-Examine both the connector and the gear shifter.
IMG_2750.jpg
Shifter connector pins
5-Looking closely, you will see I found a missing pin in the second to last row. (I don't know if it's pin #2, 3, 7, or 15, but the doesn't matter.)
6-The missing pin was found inside the connector. No amount of effort could extract the pin - remember it's still at the end of a 6 inch cable run so there's not much room to work.
7-I used a very fine pick to ram into the connector to create space for the new pin to engage. Otherwise I think the new pin would be damaged by the remaining old pin.
8-It was clear that corrosion caused the problem, but I can't be sure how. We bought the LR3 with 121,000 miles and just turned 140,000.



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PillowSmuggler
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Re: transmission fault

Post by PillowSmuggler » Mon Sep 25, 2017 10:47 pm

That is a great technical post that I'm sure will prove useful to others; thank you :thumbright:

How do you think corrosion got to that point? Spilt soda around the shift lever?


Regards, Dom.
2007 HSE Auto TDV6
Snorkel, Cyclonic air filter, GNVP Rock Sliders
78Ah Aux, Split charge, FBH Timer/Remote, Mantec sump plate
LED: Strobes, interior, camping, brake, running, sides
New Oil Pump, using 2SO at 1:400.

BirkenRover
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Re: transmission fault

Post by BirkenRover » Wed Sep 27, 2017 9:32 pm

Thanks!
I do think a spill of some sort is likely. In the photo, you'll notice only one end of the connector exhibits signs of corrosion. That's the bottom end, as I show it horizontally, the connector actually mounts vertically. I also think the connector is mounted at a slight angle (front to back) which would collect any fluid (old age keeps me from being absolutely positive!)
Here, I show the connector with the pin remaining top side second from the right:
old conn.jpg
Connector with broken pin
Connector with broken pin
If the old pin cannot be removed, the most important step is to ram a straight pick into that pin position to allow the new pin to fit - I'd hate to break a pin on the new shifter because the pin position is already occupied.

Since my shifter is new I do not feel motivated to tear it apart again to see if it's worth drilling a weep hole in the bottom of the shifter connector. (Anyone?)
I'm just pleased to find a way to test the gear shifter for functionality, as I had no idea how to do that previously.



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PillowSmuggler
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Re: transmission fault

Post by PillowSmuggler » Wed Sep 27, 2017 11:38 pm

Hopefully you'll just not pour any fluids into the shifter mechanism, then you won't need a weep hole in the first place; that area under there should all be very dry :thumbright:


Regards, Dom.
2007 HSE Auto TDV6
Snorkel, Cyclonic air filter, GNVP Rock Sliders
78Ah Aux, Split charge, FBH Timer/Remote, Mantec sump plate
LED: Strobes, interior, camping, brake, running, sides
New Oil Pump, using 2SO at 1:400.

8 days
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Re: transmission fault

Post by 8 days » Tue Jan 05, 2021 8:01 pm

hi , first time replying , but had this problem in september on my disco 3 09 hse ,main dealer sold me brake switch which fixed it till i got round corner from them , had to have the car recovered to my home address, 4 days later took car to local independant dealer 3 hours later had a call to say battery at fault and needed new one , as the battery had been on the car since 2009 till 2020 thought it had done its job , had new battery fitted and no more issues with dash lighting up like xmas tree
hope this helps
8 days



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Re: transmission fault

Post by anglefire » Thu Jan 07, 2021 10:44 pm

The battery is a component that does take a battering on most modern cars - and the Disco is no exception!


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