I know that noises are very difficult to diagnose, but I wonder if anybody can help me to diagnose an odd noise on my 2004 L322 4.4 V8 petrol ( ZF Gearbox)

I have only noticed it recently . In first gear there is a very noticeable whining/whirring noise. As soon as it changes into second gear , the noise disappears.

If I put the gear lever over into manual mode and select first gear, the noise remains and increases in frequency as I go faster.

I tried it in low ratio, still the same

I tried it in hill descent mode , still the same .

I have checked the tyre pressures, ( thinking about diff wind up ) all ok.

I have checked the oil level in the gear box as per the instructions ( gearbox at 40 degrees C while shifting through the gears etc) -all ok

I don't think it is diff related or or fan belt or air con ,it definitely sounds more like a gearbox/drive train issue.

The gearbox has always been a bit lazy to change down on certain gradients since I have had the Rangie ( 5 years ) and it tends to hold onto some gears when cold, or after being run then cooling down for a while .

For that reason I changed the gear box oil and filter about 2 years ago ( and refilled with ATF LT 71141 ) but It didn't seem to make much difference

Other than that , it drives like a dream and the gearbox is smooth .

I could see no evidence of water or glycol in the transmission fluid when I checked the level this morning , so the heat exchanger is probably ok.

The noise is there if the engine is hot or cold, temperature seems to make no difference

( The Rangie has done 88,000 miles , which is the point where they tend to fail according to everything I have read)

Has any body got an idea what this whirring noise could be ? at the moment I am thinking that it could be an early warning of gearbox failure.

Never read about one whining, hopefully Phil will read this as he's the man who will know...

Just one more thing to check is the catalytic convertors, if they fail internally they can vibrate at the right frequency and cause a similar type of noise, usually do it in lower gears as well...

Give them a smack (not too hard) with a wooden mallet or similar and see if they rattle, they should sound quite dead if they are fine.... Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

Cheers Pete, thank you for the suggestion

I will definitely give that a go to eliminate it, but from the noise it is making I'm fairly sure that the problem is more gearbox related. Its big , its black and we call it THE BEAST !

Strange it only happens in first, from what I can recall I don't think there would be many bearings specific to first, and as such you would think it would happen in more than one gear.

If its specific to one gear you should also be able to rule out front and rear diffs, and as its in both hi and low, the tfr box also sounds ok.

Strange. There is nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer😜😜
FFRR 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography Santorini Black.
Fiat 500x 1.4 multiair Lounge 2015
2010 LR D4 Commercial 2.7 TDV6

Yes it is a strange one, and to be honest most of the problems I have had with the Rangie over my 5 years of ownership I can find the answer to the problem by doing a search on FFRR or by googling other forums , ( that is why I don't post on here very often ) , but despite searching various forums and doing google searches I can find nobody else who has had this problem before.

When checking the gear box oil level, I did not have any way of measuring the temperature, so I used the FGG method of finding 40 degrees C. I have just ordered a laser thermometer from a certain auction site to measure the gearbox temp accurately to completely eliminate any possible gearbox oil level issues. I don't think it will make much difference but I don't have many straws to clasp at the mo. Its big , its black and we call it THE BEAST !

You can't measure it anywhere near correctly with a gauge, the oil temp sensor is deep in the gearbox and the difference between the sump and the sensor will be massive, it is designed to be filled at a temp the sensor measures, you need an IID tool or something similar to measure it.

Having said that the difference in level between hot and cold is negligible, can't believe it would make a difference to your problem Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

An update on the problem .

I drained and refilled the transfer box oil , and found that it was low .

About 600 ml came out of the transfer box , which was very cloudy and seemed rather viscous .

I refilled with 1 litre of BOT 26 oil .

The noise is still there , but it is much less noticeable - but what I have noticed is that a problem I had since buying the Rangie 5 years ago has gone .

Normally, when accelerating hard (ish) from cold from a busy roundabout for instance , it used to have an odd noise which would disappear when easing off the accelerator ( but it would never do it when hot) - That noise has gone , so possibly the low oil level in the transfer box was something to do with that.

Only the front diff oil to change now , rear axle-transfer box and gearbox all done . Its big , its black and we call it THE BEAST !

Craig (Cam Tech Craig) recently posted a warning on diff oil changes being needed regularly based on some issues he noticed with client cars, it sounds like yours also urgently needs the diff oils to be changed ! MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

I did the rear one last year, but to be honest there was not much point because the oil that came out was spotless. I bought the oil to do the front one at the same time but never got round to it . Going to do the front one this week . Its big , its black and we call it THE BEAST !

Mate, I know what you mean and it happens to me a lot as well. Get the parts and then all kinds of other things happen in getting the work done  MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!