Elliott Hill
New Member
- Posts
- 2
- Location
- Hertfordshire
Hello and thank you for reading my post, secondly, PLEASE HELP! I am a newbie both on Landyzone and as a Discovery 2 owner and find myself at the mercy of French mechanics (who, for the record I like, but I am not so sure they like the English!) Having admired the Disco 2 from afar there was no more perfect excuse to buy one after being offered an opportunity to leave London and spend some time in the Alps!
Last week we packed her full with our belongings and left London for a 750mile trip in our 2004, 2.5L TD5. We bought her from a long term, loving owner who was clearly an enthusiast and we couldn't wait for our adventure to begin with full faith in her following years of TLC!
Sadly as we climbed the mountain roads just 10 miles short of our destination (Val Thorens) we heard a whirling sound that initially came and went periodically but consistently (estimate 5 second intervals), this whirling sound then became louder and more frequent as we climbed to find a safe place to pull over in the dark. At the same time, as we climbed, although the engine was running well we started to lose drive.
I estimate it was 300m of climbing up a steep incline since first noticing the sound and progressive loss of power when we found a small layby which we managed to just get to before losing all drive. After we stopped we smelt burning but this was only for a short period. When we got out we could see a trail on the road of some kind of fluid from the path we had taken. When I looked under the car I could also see fluid still dripping from what appeared to be just in front of the drivers footwell. I would say we lost approximately 500-700ml of fluid that we could see, however it could have been more and I have no idea what the fluid was.
Thankfully we had GreenFlag european breakdown cover and they made the necessary arrangements for the car to be recovered and towed to a garage back down the mountain whilst getting us a taxi to our accommodation with just a few of our possessions.
The car is now with a Land Rover dealer 40 miles away and after leaving her for 5 days they finally got round to looking at the car and have now informed me they cannot find any problem. They have said they have topped up fluids but what fluids until now has been lost in translation. I have asked for an email clarifying exactly what they have investigated and what they have topped up for 260 euros. I haven't yet collected the car from them as there was clearly a problem when she stopped moving forward.
Contributing factors for breaking down we can think of include a very full load, including some heavy contents (my tools), climbing up a relatively steep mountain road and at an altitude of 1600m.
One suggestion from a friend (which is more likely to be based of logic instead of in depth LR knowledge) is that it could have been transmission fluid leaking. The theory goes, as the car climbed uphill with a significant load, it heated up the fluid which changed consistency and either leaked or blew some kind of seal/gasket....... Therefore, as it is now with Land Rover and they are testing under different circumstances this leak would not be apparent. My problem is I still need to drive it up the mountain before driving all the way back to the uk and only have one call-out recovery per trip on my breakdown cover, so if it was to reoccure then I really am up that creek without a paddle or any friends who I waved goodbye to when leaving the UK!
Any suggestions on what it could be, or things I could check before attempting to drive her back would be really appreciated. I love driving her and intend on keeping her for many years and in turn will try and pay back into the community where my knowledge allows. Many thanks in advance, Elliott.
Last week we packed her full with our belongings and left London for a 750mile trip in our 2004, 2.5L TD5. We bought her from a long term, loving owner who was clearly an enthusiast and we couldn't wait for our adventure to begin with full faith in her following years of TLC!
Sadly as we climbed the mountain roads just 10 miles short of our destination (Val Thorens) we heard a whirling sound that initially came and went periodically but consistently (estimate 5 second intervals), this whirling sound then became louder and more frequent as we climbed to find a safe place to pull over in the dark. At the same time, as we climbed, although the engine was running well we started to lose drive.
I estimate it was 300m of climbing up a steep incline since first noticing the sound and progressive loss of power when we found a small layby which we managed to just get to before losing all drive. After we stopped we smelt burning but this was only for a short period. When we got out we could see a trail on the road of some kind of fluid from the path we had taken. When I looked under the car I could also see fluid still dripping from what appeared to be just in front of the drivers footwell. I would say we lost approximately 500-700ml of fluid that we could see, however it could have been more and I have no idea what the fluid was.
Thankfully we had GreenFlag european breakdown cover and they made the necessary arrangements for the car to be recovered and towed to a garage back down the mountain whilst getting us a taxi to our accommodation with just a few of our possessions.
The car is now with a Land Rover dealer 40 miles away and after leaving her for 5 days they finally got round to looking at the car and have now informed me they cannot find any problem. They have said they have topped up fluids but what fluids until now has been lost in translation. I have asked for an email clarifying exactly what they have investigated and what they have topped up for 260 euros. I haven't yet collected the car from them as there was clearly a problem when she stopped moving forward.
Contributing factors for breaking down we can think of include a very full load, including some heavy contents (my tools), climbing up a relatively steep mountain road and at an altitude of 1600m.
One suggestion from a friend (which is more likely to be based of logic instead of in depth LR knowledge) is that it could have been transmission fluid leaking. The theory goes, as the car climbed uphill with a significant load, it heated up the fluid which changed consistency and either leaked or blew some kind of seal/gasket....... Therefore, as it is now with Land Rover and they are testing under different circumstances this leak would not be apparent. My problem is I still need to drive it up the mountain before driving all the way back to the uk and only have one call-out recovery per trip on my breakdown cover, so if it was to reoccure then I really am up that creek without a paddle or any friends who I waved goodbye to when leaving the UK!
Any suggestions on what it could be, or things I could check before attempting to drive her back would be really appreciated. I love driving her and intend on keeping her for many years and in turn will try and pay back into the community where my knowledge allows. Many thanks in advance, Elliott.
