L322 New owner needing some advice please

Hi All,

Bought one of these recently and got it at a steal so envisaged some issues. It does require a couple of things that need attended to but have been astonished at how amazing this thing is to drive and the condition its in.

It's got a fresh MOT but with the following advisories - Oil leak, Coolant leak and play detected in inner steering joints. Obviously the leaks are vague but will require further investigation which I will have done.

In 800 miles of driving a coolant overheat message (or something to that effect) came on once whilst the Mrs was driving, never again? On a couple of other times of driving once journey completed the transfail safe prog warning has come on. Not noticed any ill effects to the drive but obviously a major concern.

The only other issue is when full lock turning right there is a clunk noise of some sort, any ideas on that one?

I've read major variations of issues & fixes when researching both the coolant & transfail messages so any help would be appreciated.

I'm planning on carrying out a major service so would also appreciate any recommendations of what to have done and oils required.

Sorry for the ton of questions but ANY assistance would be very much appreciated. Thanks

Hopefully you didn't pay too much, because you're about to enter the "Spending Zone".

Year?? Engine type?? Petrol or Diesel??

All helps!!

His profile says
2002 L322 4.4 V8

Was it that cheap one on ebay in Bolton I think it was? Silver the listing was "in need of TLC" and had mcdonalds rubbish left in it from the PO?

Best place to start with electrical issues on a range rover is to make sure that the battery and alternator is in tip top condition as random error messages can be caused through low voltages etc. However getting some diagnostics on it would probably a good place to start.

Hi, thanks for replies and yes it's the 4.4 V8 2002 but not the one from Bolton!

Will start with the battery/alternator. If anyone in the north west has any independents that they can recommend then that would be of interest.

Cheers

The early L322 (Diesel esp.) are plagued with gearbox issues!

The V8 models tend to start juddering on light acceleration between 30-50......

First thing is as suggested check your battery and alternator are up to snuff, Range Rovers hate low voltage, even 0.5V drop can cause issues.

Next is to check the condition of the Gearbox oil....and change the filter, the condition of the oil will tell you what sort of condition the gearbo is in. Metal fillings in the oil and sump magnets are a sign it is on its way south!

On turning to lock it could be a CV joint or suspension joints and/or bushes (common on the L322).

Oil leaks need to be investigated with speed, the M62 was plagued with PCV valve issues over pressuring the crankcase and causing oil leaks...in extreme cases it will total the engine through pushing oil through all the seals and joints.....there have even been reports of fires from this! Check the PCV valve on the back of the intake manifold and the breather hoses along the back of the engine they tend to perish and collapse.

Coolant leaks are also common....main locations are cracked expansion tanks, split rads, leaking coolant manifold on the back of the engine block, heater matrix valves and the matrix itself (although this one is not so common). V8s are very fragile when they get too hot, the heads warp with regularity if they get to hot...so check on this with speed too.

Timing chains rattle on startup could be the chain tensioner, if they continue to rattle, think timing chain guides (they're plastic WTF!) and if you get a bit of ticking and rattling, it could be the VANOS units leaking past their seals......

Great cars, just need deep pockets to keep them tip top.....

mwgunshow said:

Bought one of these recently and got it at a steal

Click to expand...

wah wah wah waaahhh............
This was me just after i bought mine for a steal.