Problems with 2003 Land Rover Range Rover POWER TRAIN

Without any warning, i started to hear a "metal-on-metal" loud grinding noise coming from underneath the vehicle while it was moving forward, regardless of whether the brakes were applied or whether it was in drive or neutral. this was immediately reported to my land rover dealership in warwick, ri. land rover advised that the car was not safe to drive. so, it was brought to the dealership to be diagnosed. it had front differential and drive shaft failure. previously, land rover had inspected this front drive shaft and differential under a land rover technical service bulletin, to prevent the drive shaft and differential failure. this occurred when the vehicle was under warranty. when the failure ultimately occurred, the vehicle could not be driven and it was out of warranty. cost to fix by the dealership was $2,700. the dealership and land rover north america (including appeals board) refused to provide out of warranty assistance even though they are all well-aware of this systematic failure for 2003 range rovers. the tsb delayed the failure long enough so that it was no longer covered under the vehicle's warranty. the failure could have lead to injury if we were traveling at a higher rate of speed.*jb

Front diff failure. stripped spline on drive shaft (aka propeller shaft). *tr

I received a letter from manufacturer for safety recall. part of the program is to reimburse for money paid in the past to repair part. the manufacturer has stated that the local dealership must be involved to reimburse me but the local dealership is not assisting. it is land rover safety recall p041 - front differential to propeller shaft spline wear. i no longer own the vehicle now. *tr

Front differential failure. no prior warning. failed on roadway at approximately 25/mph to 30/mph. truck completely disabled. no power from engine to wheels. i was able to get to shoulder of roadway (coasting) without causing accident. land rover paid for repair under warranty. dealer provided loaner for duration of repair. (i am not sure of incident date and miles as i traded vehicle in on a 2005 which is the subject of complaint odi 10213308. i have used approximations for dates.) *tr

I was driving and all of a sudden the car stops running. my safety was not jeopardized because i was driving slowly but if it would have happened on a highway very bad things would have surely occurred. i am in the processed of fixing the problem. problem is the differential and driveshaft problems on 2003 range rover. *jb

Dt*: the contact stated while traveling 70 mph, there was a loud noise and the vehicle rolled to a stop. after being towed to the dealership, it was determined the front differential failed and the differential was replaced. this occurred a second time four months later and the vehicle was again towed to the dealership. the dealership determined the front differential failed.

Dt*: the contact stated while driving 55 mph on the highway, there was grinding noise followed by the illumination of the neutral light on the instrument cluster panel. the contact managed to pull the vehicle over without incident. it was towed to a dealer who determined the front differential was fractured and needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was not contacted. updated 10/18/2006 - the consumer was told by the dealer that the design of the front driveshaft, which has no flexible coupling at the front end, so any minor misaligned puts severe stress on the front differential input splines, leading to failure and immobilization of the vehicle. *nm updated 10/25/2006 - *nm

2003 range rover with engine problems including stalling. customer states that one day while driving the vehicle lurched forward made a grinding noise and then lost all power. *kb the mechanic informed the consumer there was a defect with the front differential. according to the dealership, the problem was with the design of the front driveshaft which had no flexible coupling at the front end, so any minor misalignment placed severe stress on the front differential input splines, leading to failure and immobilization of the vehicle.

Dt*: the contact stated while traveling 70 mph, the front end made a grinding noise and the vehicle would not accelerate. after coasting at an idle off the road, the vehicle was towed to an independent repair shop who determined the front differential was stripped causing the failure. there was a recall for this, landrover #b121f, regarding the differential, prior to ownership. the manufacturer stated the vehicle was oiled and aligned, but the differential was not replaced.

There were no events leading up to this failure. i was driving in los angeles on the very busy 405 fwy during the labor day holiday weekend. i was going almost 70 mph when all of a sudden the car lost its power and began to make a metal to metal grinding noise. fortunately i was able to exit the fwy without causing an accident. once safe from traffic, i called my roadside assistance which dispatched a tow truck. the truck was towed to my mechanic who directed the problem to be the front differential. he notified me that this was a common occurrence on this vehicle and that this part was recalled. although my truck has 55k miles and the warranty has just expired, i called land rover usa and spoke with a customer care rep. named dennis @ ext. 2127 who said that there was nothing the land rover can do once the car is out of warranty. thanks range rover for caring sooo much about my safety!!!*jb

Vehicle shut off while driving and the front wheels locked causing me to come to a full stop. had to take the key out of the ignition, put it in park and then try to restart. it seems that range rovers 03' and above have a problem with the differentials that fail and cut off the vehicle's computer. i was fortunate that i was traveling at a low speed. dealer in houston, tx finally acknowledged the problem and i have scheduled an appointment to get it fixed. *jb

No events leading up to the complete failure of the front differential on a 2003 range rover. i thought this was very unusually for a vehicle with only 23k miles so i did a quick search on the internet to find this a known issue as a result of a bad design on 2003+ newer range rover's so the problem will happen again. the dealership said it was $2,700 repair if off warranty. land rover should have to do a redesign of this problem instead of screwing the owners who will have to pay for the repair of this issue in the future. it also sounds like this is a major safety issue if the problem happens at high speeds. it left me stranded in the middle of the road during a rain downpour. *jb

I was driving in an area where two freeways merge with my seven year old daughter in the back seat of my 2003 range rover. i was taking her to the doctor as she was feeling ill. all of a sudden, without any warning, the differential broke. i was barely able to get to the side of the freeway. i had to call 911. apparently range rover knows about this defect, but has not issued product recalls. it was an extremely scary event for me and my daughter. *jb

Truck stopped abruptly in the middle of the road traveling at approximately 40 mph. i was unable to move the vehicle once it stopped in the middle of a busy intersection. the truck was immobile and made a severe grinding noise. a cab driver had to push my truck to the side of the road for safety. there was no warning light until the truck died which said "select neutral" truck had to be towed and differential assembly had to be replaced. *jb

Read diff and driveshaft. *tr

I have a range rover. i was in new jersey on the approach highway to the lincoln tunnel traveling around 50 miles per hour when i noticed a bumping noise and rhythmic pulling sensation as if i had a flat tire or had picked up something that was dragging against the wheel. then the car slowed and an "engage neutral" signal flashed on the display. i managed to pull onto the shoulder and when i tried to engage drive again i got a whining noise and the car tried to do a nose dive. because of the volume and speed of the traffic, i was lucky not to cause, and be in the middle of, a major pile-up. the car was towed to the manhattan land rover dealership. i was told the next day that they were replacing the differential and the drive shaft. there was no charge because the car was still under warranty. *jb

On two occasions my drive shaft and front differential separated. i was driving on the highway in january of 2004 and had 26,000 miles on my car when i experienced a loud grinding noise and lost power to the vehicles. the message center told me to put the car in neutral. i was on a hill and the transmission did not hold . i rolled back into traffic on the off ramp until i came to a somewhat flat part of road and was able to get the emergency brake to hold. it took over two week to have the vehicle fixed land rover would not release the parts to fix my vehicle. the second time happened one week after my 60,000 mile service. i did this service early. the car had 58,000 miles the second time the drive shaft and front differential did the same thing. i experienced a loud grinding noise like the bottom was falling out of the car. i was once again traveling at about 60 miles per hour. i was able to stop with the emergency brake on the side of the highway. i have read many reports of this happening to others twice. i do not understand why their is not a recall for this or a check at each service to detect this defect. both times i was traveling on the highway and put in a potentially dangerous position with my daughter in the car. something needs to be done to prevent others from this experience and the potential dangerous consequences. *jb

Bearing failure in front differential: no event leading up to the failure. as i was emerging from the lincoln tunnel in nyc with 4 lanes of traffic on either side, with out any warning my car would not move forward and if i pressed on the gas i heard a very loud grinding noise. i was lucky as i was not going very fast and was able to immediately pull over to the side. if i was on the highway there is a high probability that there could have been a dangerous if not fatal accident. car had to be towed. range rover mount kisco fixed the car at no charge. i was told that there have been other incidences like this with other 2003 range rovers. i asked range rover to notify owners of 2003 range rovers and they told me they are only responsible to fix the automobile. i asked how many incidents there were regarding the bearing in the differential axle and they told me they did not know and no one has the statistics. i called range rover north america and received the same robotic answers. it appears they are not interested in driver's safety but only interested in insuring they make money and are free of all liabilities. they repeatedly asked if i was happy about the service i received. i kept telling them it is not about the service or me. i am here to tell what happened and to try and prevent someone else having the same problem. the next person may not have an opportunity to tell their story. i will do my best to make range rover america take their responsibilities sincerely. i strongly feel range rover should notify the owners of 2003 range rovers and telling them to keep their wheels in alignment and to insure the owners know of the risks involved. *jb

The first time the front differential went i was pulling onto my street. all of a sudden, out of no where, there was a loud metal on metal grinding noise. i immediately stepped on the brake, but by that time the truck wasn't going anywhere anyway. i put the truck into park, and walked to the house extremely annoyed that this could happen to a new vehicle. i went back out and started the truck and put it into drive, which yielded a loud grinding noise. i had no clue what was wrong, but it was obvious that i wasn't driving anywhere. when the tow truck came for it, it was immovable on it's own. there was no pre-warning to this event, the truck was still under warranty, and land rover, i thought, fixed the problem. however, the same problem occurred again last week in tucson, arizona. (may 06) the truck now has 55,000 miles and is not under warranty. the land rover dealership in tucson wants me to pay $800 to cover the labor to fix it, and they brought that price down from $1400. i am appealing to land rover headquarters, as this is a dangerous problem that was not fixed with the installation of a new differential and driveshaft the first time. if i had been on a highway or stuck in the middle of no where with an infant, this situation could have had serious ramifications. if you would like the old part, please let me know, and i will request it from the auto mall range rover dealership in tucson. however, i cannot promise their cooperation. *jb

Front diff assembly replaced. *tr

Driving on i-280 and the car made a metal-to-metal grinding noise (very loud), pulled over torwards the next exit (barely made it to the median) and the car would not move. other than "park", the car made a terribly loud grinding noise in all gears and sport mode. the car would not move/drive. had the vehicle towed to dealership. told this morning by service adviser that service bulletin was issued that should have been done last time in for service re power train:driveline:differential unit. appears from my research that tsb 540103 issued 1/31/03 applies per conversation with dealer's service adviser. trying to get a copy of tsb now. also, called roadside assistance on evening of incident to get assistance with removing vehicle (and myself, wife and daughter) from the highway median. land rover could not locate a tow company to assist and we were forced to call chp and seek their assistance in getting a tow and paying the same - in other words, no "roadside assistance" really existed when this happened. *ak

While driving approximately 65 mph vehicle inadvertently lost power. consumer pulled to the shoulder of interstate, avoiding accidents. when taken to get serviced it was determined that driveshaft split.*ak prior to this incident the consumer had problems with the front differential and the front sway bar. the transmission also malfunctioned prior to this incident, downshifting by itself and then failing to come out of third gear for the remainder of the day. shuttering sound from front end at slow speeds. the dealer attempted to rectify the rattling problem by replacing several suspension and steering components. found low power steering fluid level due to leaking input shaft, replaced rack and pinion then performed 4 wheel alignment. *bf *nm

While driving 25 mph the differential broke. as a result, the vehicle came to an abrupt stop. *ak