Problems with 2003 Land Rover Range Rover POWER TRAIN

Driving down a road lost power and made grinding noise.

The first thing that happened was the ac stopped working and replaced the resistor in it twice, the same day it went out a second time the back driver side window fell. the next week i was driving home and was entering the freeway and as i accelerated the vehicle jerked hard and pulled back, and was making a squeaking sound. it corrected but now it keeps doing it. and the brake fluid a week later leaked out and i lost power in my brakes. i am afraid to drive my car!

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 land rover range rover. the contact stated that the transmission and brake warning lights illuminated. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failures. the approximate failure mileage was 83,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 land rover range rover. the contact stated that while driving at approximately 65 mph, there was an abnormal grinding sound from underneath the vehicle. the vehicle also was making a jerking motion and the transfer case warning light illuminated. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing. the mechanic stated that the vehicle was experiencing the failure in nhtsa campaign number: 08v635000 (power train) and the drive shaft and spline needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired and the vin was not included. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 160,000.

I was driving my 2003 range rover that i just bought used 2 weeks earlier. as i was driving, the car started making severe grinding noises and lost power. i could not steer that well and was in the middle of the road. i managed to get barely enough power to make it to the side of the road and pull into a parking lot. this event was without any warning and the car made the worst grinding noises in the world. i had it towed to a local repair shop and they informed me that this vehicle has a recall on it to address the problem, which is a failed driveshaft / axle / differential operation. because it was recalled, i had it towed to land rover and they are now saying that they can't fix the problem until the axle is repaired, which they say is not part of the recall. i believe it is part of the recall and they should be covering this at no cost. i had my child in the car and i think this could have been a very dangerous situation. also, when i bought the vehicle in costa mesa, ca (house of luxuries), they assured me the car was totally checked out and had no mechanical or other issues. now i am very angry with them for placing my life (and others) and my child's life in danger by not disclosing these problems, or at least telling me that this vehicle has a recall and to repair it before i drive. i am happy that i was told about the recall later but feel that the business i bought the car should have known this prior to the sell of the car and it could have placed our lives and others at risk had i been going down the freeway, which is in la and heavy traffic. thank you. *tr

I had to have my 2003 land rover range rover repaired for this very same problem in december, 2007. the dealer wanted much more than what i had paid for per the attached repair bill from euro car. when i received this letter, i called land rover north america and was told that i had to go through an authorized dealer to get reimbursed. i went to www.landroverusa.com per the recall letter and they show that plaza land rover st. louis, 11830 olive street road, st. louis, mo 63141 is the only retailer here in st. louis. i called them and they refused to submit any paperwork because i did not get it repaired there. i find this very unacceptable as st. louis is a huge metropolitan area and i do not believe that plaza motors should have sole claim on getting a range rover fixed in order to get reimbursement for recall notices. that would mean they would have a monopoly. land rover north america customer service said they will not do the reimbursement either. i want reimbursement of $$2,400 for repair for recall p041. *tr

2003 range rover front differential failed and tore off. *tr

Complete front drive shaft failure - sudden, without any warning, while driving. 2003 range rover hse. *tr

My front differential has failed on my land rover range rover. there was no warning just an instant loud grinding noise and front wheel lock. i could have been killed. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 land rover range rover. while driving 55 mph, the contact heard a loud grinding noise. when he depressed the accelerator pedal, the noise recurred. the sound occurred when the vehicle was shifted into any gear. the contact pulled over and the transmission failure light illuminated on the instrument panel. the vehicle was towed to the dealer and they stated that the front differential was stripped out. the current and failure mileages were 68,000.

In 2006 our 2003 range rover experienced a failure of the front differential. on 5/26/2008 it experienced the same failure after being in for service just a month prior. *tr

Sept 2003 my wife was driving 50 mph in washington dc, and the car started to make loud noises, and stopped on the highway at rush hour. the car would not go into drive without making screeching noises. land rover annapolis said it was a front differential failure and they had to replace the transmission/ front differential. warranty covered the costs of this. may 2008 my wife was driving 60 mph on a 4 lane highway, rt 45 in houston. the car made the same noises as in 2006, so she pulled over and could not put the car into drive without the screeching noises. range rover houston north said it was a front differential issue and it needed to be replaced for $2500. this is the 2nd time this happened, and according to rang rover houston n, there is a future recall on this because it is an issue with all models http://www.lemonauto.com/complaints/land_rover/landrover_range_rover.htm *tr

I was on the 405 highway driving south bound when my new 2003 range rover hse lost all of its acceleration. the front differential of the car had given out. when it happened it was a total surprise. a couple of weeks prior the front wheels began to squeak as if i needed new front breaks which i did and thought that was the issue. but now i found myself swerving through 5 lanes of traffic with no acceleration to go from the hov lane over to the far right lane and onto the shoulder. a very dangerous maneuver to make with very little vehicle control. i took my car to a certified rover repair shop and they said to have a front differential kit that will never break or snap and if it does it's 100% lifetime warranty. now i ask, why can't land rover use the same kit? why can't they develop a stronger and safer differential shaft for its vehicles? *tr

Front differential went out. i was on an incline, truck made a loud noise, display read put truck in neutral and it stopped, though the emergency brake worked little if at all. *tr

Land rover range rover mk 3 2003 model year front differential failure. vehicle was being driven on interstate 59 south near richmond at 65mph. a grinding noise was heard from transmission tunnel and there was an immediate loss of drive to both from and rear axles. it was necessary to coast the vehicle across traffic on a busy highway to come to a stop on the hard shoulder. this was a potentially hazardous situation. a wrecker service was called and it was necessary to load the car on the back of the wrecker because of a total loss of drive rendering the vehicle inoperable. this is the second incident since i have owned the vehicle and is a known fault with these vehicles. the land rover dealer is replacing the complete front differential for the second time on this vehicle. *tr

I was traveling on interstate 75 in the right lane during rush hour. my car started making a loud noise, i pulled over, turned the car off. i started the car and was not able to drive off. my vehicle was towed to landrover dealer and i was informed that my drive shaft had to be replaced. i had to pay $1800+ to fix. this is the second major repair cost. the first was last september i had to replace the transmission. *tr

Driving 2003 land rover, range rover. driving 60 mph on a highway and felt a strange thump. i started to smell burying and the car felt different. i drove on for another 30 miles and started to hear a low grinding when accelerating. i parked my car at home that evening, planning to take the car to the dealer the next morning. in the morning i started the 5 mile drive to the dealer and the grinding was worse. coming down from speed at a stop light, at around 5 mph, my front wheels locked up and i screeched to a stop in the middle of the road. the car could not be moved from where it was. the flatbed had to deag it up onto the truck. when i reached the dealer by tow they told it was the front differential that locked up and that it was fairly common. i was lucky i was not involved in a crash the way the vehicle suddenly locked up. *tr

My 2003 range rover with 36k miles has a defective front end differential which is a known problem in models from 2003-2005, yet no recall. orig my extended warranty refused to cover claim. *tr

Front differential failed on my 2003 land rover range rover while driving which caused an emergency stop that could have resulted in injury to myself and others on the road. apparently this is a recurring problem with 2003 and 2004 range rovers and yet no recall has been done. the dealership replaced the front differential as my vehicle was under warranty but at great cost of time to myself. *tr

Front differential and drive shaft failed while driving at 65 miles per hour. *tr

No notice or warning. virtually instant failure. the front drive shaft and the differential input flange splines stripped. i was stranded in traffic. *tr

driving at 55 miles an hour and car started making loud searing noises and could not press on the accelerator, sounded like the engine was going to fall out. car said to slip it into neutral, which i did, then it came to an abrupt stop. pretty scary going 55 miles an hour. had no prior warning just happened within seconds. *tr

On 02/04/2008 my shaft/differential broke in my vehicle for the third time. twice in the past it was fix under warranty and this occurrence it was not. *tr

Driving at 80mph passing a tractor trailer on interstate 380 north, my front axle and drive shaft gave out almost causing me to loose control of vehicle and run into the truck. luckily i was able to get control and guide vehicle to the side of the road. vehicle was inoperable and had to be towed. this is the second time this part has failed on this vehicle as it was repaired by previous owner only 10k miles ago. *tr

At traffic light i heard a grinding sound in transmission, moved gear from drive to n to hear it again. as light changed the driveshaft disengaged from the transmission, coasted across traffic to service station, but unable to move rear of vehicle out of traffic. passersby helped push me and my child out of the intersection. i believe this is the 2nd differential failure for this vehicle. *tr

(1)excessive noise and vibration at front end of vehicle (2)front differential failure/front driveshaft spline misaligned with input spline on differential. (3)front drive shaft and differential replaced. *tr

Husband had 2003 ranger rover hse vehicle in drive & waiting to go at a 4-way intersection. suddenly, he hears a loud noise and vehicle is stuck (motionless), no acceleration. there was no forewarning noise or indication previously to be aware of such a potential incident. vehicles has approx. 56k miles vehicle was towed to vacant housing parking lot(to get out of traffic) then had to towed to land rover dealership(same day). service department has diagnosed vehicle to have front differential failure. *tr

My son was driving on the 105 freeway in the carpool lane when my 2003 range rover suddenly made metal noises and failed. he narrowly avoided being hit and was able to pull to the side. front drive shaft and differential or slip differential was to blame. this was supposed to have been fixed by land rover during my service in may 2004 due to many complaints of failure and vehicle suddenly stopping even at high freeway speed. with the help of police and aaa, my car was towed to nearest range rover authorized mechanic in culver city, california. since my car only recently crossed 40,000 miles, it was no longer under warranty. cost to fix was $2700. we called land rover to complain that this should not have happened if it was already fixed. they wanted my car to be towed to thousand oaks dealer since that's where the original fix took place in may 2004. land rover of north america informed us they would pay for a portion of the repairs and the balance of $600 would be our responsibility. after much investigation on the internet and discussions with other range rover owners, i discovered that the so-called fix was just a modified fix so it would last till after 40,000 miles and no longer under warranty. this could have been a very serious accident and my son could have been badly injured as he had no control over the vehicle on the freeway. this problem needs to be addressed before anyone gets seriously hurt or even die. it is a well known issue of front differential failure among mechanics that i have talked to. *tr

Front differential total failure. *tr

Landrover rangerover hse 2003 we broke down in this car twice, the differential failed. 4/19/08 12/20/07. *tr

Front differential and drive shafts failed on the 2003 land rover range rover. the car was inoperable and put me in a very dangerous intersection. if this incident occurred on the highway, i believe it would have caused an auto accident. *tr

First occurrence - driving in residential neighborhood about 10-15mph. my 2003 rr made a big clunking noise then immediately followed and awful screeching noise. i was unable to drive, truck instantly stopped and screen stated put in neutral. i was stranded on side of road waiting for a tow truck with my 3 children, the youngest was 4 months. second occurrence - less than 1 year later, i was on vacation in cleveland ohio thanksgiving time. driving about 30 mph and the same exact noise happened and instantly the truck stopped, i knew exactly what it was. it was 11:30 pm, i called my insurance company and there were no tow companies open. finally someone came to assist me and pushed my 7000lb truck into an empty lot until the next day. when the help arrived they parked about 3 feet behind my truck, not knowing the truck was not safe in park my truck drifted back and hit his new bmw truck. both times the differential went up i had to pay for it! over $2500 both times not to mention the cost to tow my truck back to md from ohio $1600. i must say that when my truck arrived at the shop all of the mechanics knew about the issue with rr's and their differentials. this is so sad, there is no warning it just happens. i expected so much more from range rover, the name to me means quality but this vehicle has not lived up to its name. not to mention that the company has not acknowledged that this is a common issue with these vehicles and they still will not take ownership of this defect. there are many more stories like this, coincidental as it seems my good friend with a 2004 rr differential went up the same day as mine, luckily she was still covered under warranty. *tr

Front differential catastrophic failure while driving 65 mph on us 290. 1 adult driver, 1 3 month old boy, 1 4 yr old girl no warning signs. front wheels locked up for a moment almost causing an accident on moderately busy freeway, then was able to have vehicle coast to a stop following loud noise. *tr

While driving on the highway the car with no previous indication just started making a grinding noise hardly allowing me to pull off to the right. the dealer stated i had to replace the front differential and driveshaft. *tr

Front differential failure on 2003 range rover. failed twice once under warranty and again without warranty. fighting with dealership for cost. differential failed during casual driving with entire family. *tr

I have a 2003 range rover. the front differential completely failed and broke causing the vehicle to be immobilized. i cannot drive or use reverse. this is a known technical service bulletin 540103 and nhtsa item 10000919, however it continues to happen again after being fixed according to some customers. the original owner had it fixed once and i am the second owner, it happened again. my vehicle was bought used last month with 44.8k miles. it now has 47k miles. this is a very important safety issue and should be considered a recall. my vehicle is sitting at the dealership. it is out of the 4 year/50k mile warranty so land rover may or may not fix it. here is a link with more detail on this issue: http://www.rangerovers.net/rrmkiiiremedies.html#diff *tr

I purchased this 2003 range rover with 19,000 miles february 2007. it currently has 36,008 miles and the transfer case differential and drive shaft needed to be replaced. the car had a catastrophic failure stopped at a traffic light, and was in gear at the time. they had to replace the drive shaft and differential. time in service is not the issue with the low miles on this vehicle. the only wear and tear that could occur would be through usage. the warranty is 50,000 miles or 4 years. this vehicle is not even close to the mileage limitation. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 land rover, range rover hs3. while driving approximately 80 mph, the transmission failed and the contact attempted to accelerate but to no avail. the vehicle then down shifted to a lower gear and as the accelerator was engaged, the vehicle became more resistant. the vehicle was taken to a local mechanic and they replaced the front differential, propeller assembly and the yoke. the contact stated the failure had previously occurred and the vehicle was repaired under nhtsa campaign id number: 08v635000 (power train: driveline: driveshaft). the failure mileage was 78,000 and the current mileage is 82,000. the consumer stated the drivetrain was replaced twice, before the recall was announced. the consumer believed the failure caused the engine to fail. oil became mixed with the engine coolant. updated evoq 08/04/10*jb updated 8/9/10 *cn updated 08/11/10

Differential , drive shaft total failure . this has happen to me twice in june of 2007 and oct of 2007. *tr

My 2003 land rover range rover hse had a failure of the front differential spilnes, axle shaft, differential unit and drive shaft which caused total loss of vehicle propulsion at 60 miles per hour on a busy highway during rush hour traffic. the vehicle had to be towed to land rover north scottsdale where it still sits because neither the extended warranty company nor the land rover dealership will claim responsibility for the repairs which are in excess of $4,000. i also had a failure of the retractable steering wheel which resulted in a diagnosis of having to replace the entire steering column. *jb

The differential assembly on my 2003 range rover went out on me on the highway about 80 miles from chicago on our trip back from scottsdale az. it was towed back to chicago by range rover 24hr. road service (it was out of warranty but they paid to have it towed to my front door). *tr

I was driving my 2003 land rover range rover hse approx. 45 mph and the car immediately became inoperable in the middle of the street. dealership says the front differential has worn down and it is not due to my driving habits or anything related to me. this is definitely a defect and all forums say this vehicle has this problem very frequently. this is a very serious and potentially deadly defect in design and function. must be recalled. i could've easily been in a major accident. no throttle control is possible when this problem occurs, and the car will not park while in "p." therefore, if i was on an incline, vehicle would have rolled with nothing that could be done. a major issue. thank you for this service to the public. something must be done to protect consumers from the lack of responsibility and accountability from these major auto corporations. *jb

2003 range rover hse , loud knocking noise when going from reverse to drive, 5 minutes later a grinding noise happened that was very loud. the car responded with a loud grinding sound when trying to apply gas. i was lucky that i was not on a highway and could pull the car over. *tr the check engine light illuminated, there was a radiator leak and the left rear tire had a slow leak. updated 10/11/07. *jb

Driving 35 mph on busy city street / heard and felt loud clunking followed by horrible grinding noise and loss of power. managed to coast into a nearby parking lot. towed to dealer and diagnosed with front differential failure. *tr

The front driveshaft generates a loud grinding noise. the vehicle will not accelerate -- putting your foot on the gas is accompanied by more loud grinding noises. there is a total disabling of the drivetrain. *tr

I suffered a loss of drive while traveling approx. 40 mph on a busy city street. the digital display stated "place in neutral" and i was able to coast to a turn lane. placing the car back in drive resulted in a grinding noise with no transmission of power to the wheels. the car had to be pushed off the road into a nearby gas station. there was no warning to this sudden failure. the car was towed to the land rover dealer and the carrier diff (tbb000043e) and shaft assy (tvb500290) were replaced. extended warranty covered 80% of the repair cost and i paid the rest. the car has 58k miles on it.

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 land rover range rover. while driving 65 mph, the vehicle lost power, but the engine was still running. the contact depressed the accelerator pedal, but the vehicle failed to move. the vehicle was pulled over and towed to the dealer. the front differential in the drivetrain failed and was replaced. while driving 10 mph, the contact heard a loud clunk coming from the front passenger side of the vehicle. this failure occurred before and after the previous failure. there is an open investigation number pe07019. the current mileage was 66,000 and failure mileage was 65,000.

Sudden failure of the transfer case causing instant loss of power. this is a known design flaw with 2003, 2004 and 2005 range rovers. this can be a very dangerous flaw when pulling out into traffic or crossing and intersection. i don't believe they have re-engineered a permanent fix for this issue they are just putting the old faulty design back on when one fails. this is a very dangerous problem that someone has to make them redesign a permanent fix for. *tr

Drivetrain failure.l.r. kept down shifting before not pulling at all. drivetrain repaired but damage was done to engine after high speed at lower gear. land rover switched engines and forged signature to get pay from warranty co. after i refused to have them do any more work for me after they lied to me about repairs.engine was rebuilt after l.r.told me they do not rebuild engines. i feel that l.r. went through soo much trouble to cover a recall. drivetrain was repaired before recall and those repairs failed also. recall was put out in jan 09, i got my r.r.back same month with switched engines. *tr

2003 range rover hse. approximately 46,000 miles. within the 50,000 mile warranty but out of time warranty by about 6 months. were taking a freeway exit when the splines on the front driveshaft stripped and failed. range rover would not cover the problem and did not let us know that this was a known problem. we took the vehicle to tricounty transmission in clackamas oregon for repair where they had another range rover on the hoist with the same problem. they ordered a drive shaft and told us that the yoke had slight wear from the stripped driveshaft but did not need replacing. the total was between $700 and $800. on april 14th, 2007 ot stripped out again. we were then told of the new custom driveshafts for solving this problem.*ak