Gearbox Fault - AGAIN - just when I thought it was going OK!

The infamous 'Gearbox Fault' warning has started to flash up again for half a second each time I start up from cold. Dealer said it would be fixed with the Low Battery software upgrade that it had in January, clearly not, lasted just six weeks.

Since Jan 2012 it has clocked up 7000 miles, 1500 of those are taking it back with faults. Added to this the rear headlining has started to rattle.

Going to book it in again next week, that will be another 250 mile round trip to the dealer, if they cannot fix it this time I am going to damand my money back or a car that is fit for purpose. After spending £45k all I have is a car full of dodgy electrics and rattley cheap plastic.

This is the fourth LR product I have owned in the last 11 years, the most expensive and the only one I have had problems with.

Tony

Honestly, it does no good to upgrade the battery software and still keep a poor battery in service. The first week I took delivery of my Evoque I told the dealer I was getting the 3min warning. He said there was a recall for a software fix, but that my car already had it. They did a load test on my battery (which they should have done for yours?) and replaced it. No problems since. They said a large % of the Evoques come in with batteries they end up replacing from new.

(05-03-2013 03:23pm)scrannel Wrote:  Honestly, it does no good to upgrade the battery software and still keep a poor battery in service. The first week I took delivery of my Evoque I told the dealer I was getting the 3min warning. He said there was a recall for a software fix, but that my car already had it. They did a load test on my battery (which they should have done for yours?) and replaced it. No problems since. They said a large % of the Evoques come in with batteries they end up replacing from new.

Scrannel, thanks I will mention this to the Service Manager when I book it in. However, even if they fix everything the shine has gone off and I really regret the purchase.

Tony

I had the battery warning on my first evoque and the solution was a new battery - if they did update the software they didn't mention it to me.

Tony, if you don't reject your car you should be pushing hard for compensation for all the miles you're adding to your car just to get warranty issues resolved. At the very least they should be covering the cost of your first service.

Tony
I'm taking mine in for a service and battery software download next week. By any chance you been using M&D Inverness? Mine has also started the gearbox warning and I presumed it was down to the battery issues!

cheers

Les

(06-03-2013 02:18pm)lesdon499 Wrote:  Tony
I'm taking mine in for a service and battery software download next week. By any chance you been using M&D Inverness? Mine has also started the gearbox warning and I presumed it was down to the battery issues!

cheers

Les

Hi Les, Yes M&D in Inverness, to be fair they have been OK its just a crap car which they did not build it after all.

Mine started the Gearbox Fault warning just before its 1st service 5 weeks ago, it had the software update and they said it would cure the gearbox fault message - it did until just over a week ago.

Prior to this I had the Low Battery 3 minute warning with several attempts to cure it, new alternator, system re-boot etc.

Not a happy ownership experience, I had traded in a faultless FL2 a much stronger feeling vehicle, better visability same fuel consumption and NO FXXXXXXG Rattles!

Tony

(06-03-2013 02:45pm)Tony Wrote:  Hi Les, Yes M&D in Inverness, to be fair they have been OK its just a crap car which they did not build it after all.

Mine started the Gearbox Fault warning just before its 1st service 5 weeks ago, it had the software update and they said it would cure the gearbox fault message - it did until just over a week ago.

Prior to this I had the Low Battery 3 minute warning with several attempts to cure it, new alternator, system re-boot etc.

Not a happy ownership experience, I had traded in a faultless FL2 a much stronger feeling vehicle, better visability same fuel consumption and NO FXXXXXXG Rattles!

Tony

Did they ever replace the battery?

(06-03-2013 03:04pm)scrannel Wrote:  Did they ever replace the battery?

Hi Scannel, no I still have the original battery.

I first heard about battery replacement on this forum a few weeks back.

Yesterday searching TOPIX I found LTB00469 - Battery Replacement - AGM and Flooded Type - Tech Bulletins - 414 Charging System - Date 21 June 2012.

I don't know if this is related to the charging and gearbox fault issues, dealer has never mentioned any battery issues.

Tony

(06-03-2013 04:48pm)Tony Wrote:  Hi Scannel, no I still have the original battery.

I first heard about battery replacement on this forum a few weeks back.

Yesterday searching TOPIX I found LTB00469 - Battery Replacement - AGM and Flooded Type - Tech Bulletins - 414 Charging System - Date 21 June 2012.

I don't know if this is related to the charging and gearbox fault issues, dealer has never mentioned any battery issues.

Tony

Tony, here's the issue. A typical automotive battery is designed to deliver as much "power" as it can at the moment of start-up. These batteries do not survive well if they continually lose charge and have to be recharged. You can tell by running a "load test" which tests the battery under load (like starting the car).

There are also deep-cycle batteries which are designed to be discharged and recharged w/o issue. But they are generally considered to have too low a power output (cranking power) at the moment of starting a car. Debatable. And, there are hybrids. If your battery has lost charge on several occasions it's probably shot. My dealer told me before he even ran the load test that mine sounded like it was history. So does yours.

IMHO a good dealer would have checked. And BTW, a low-charge battery can throw off unrelated error messages.

I also had the endless rattle problem and LR took the car back (lease company owned) - some seem to rattle and some are perfect. In fact on reflection mine was perfect for the 1st 6,000 miles and then the interior just took a dive. I've written the experience off to 'early adopter' syndrome as every Freelander loaner didn't rattle.....