When owning such a modern complex vehicle like the P38s and the L322 repairs and faults are going to pop up every so often, compared to other big vehicles like the VW Toe-rag the Range Rover is by far the better choice and proven to be so
This section is going provide info on various known aspects of the L322 which was presented to the world in 2002 and is still current but there have been changes through the years, so far all of them good but better still when Ford did there thing to the L322 as they let the Land Rover/Jag group do its own research and development VS what BMW allowed.
My favourite of the L322 is the Supercharged version, it some how feels like what a Range Rover should be like despite it still looking like the 2002 model powered by the BMW 4.4 V8 which is pretty good, simply putting it the Jag powered supercharged version is no walk in the park and is very quick. (not for the feint hearted)
Known problems are going to be listed in priority, bare in mind if you ask a Land Rover dealership about these problems you will always be told that its not so and its odd that its happened to your vehicle, first up is applicable to ALL Range Rovers from 2002 to current models:
Gearbox service:
Oil and filter should be replaced every 40 000km as a maximum, Land Rover say its filled for life……so I guess the filter never blocks up does it, well they are very wrong, filters are blocking up and oil does break down regardless of the oil being fully synthetic, there’s more than enough proof on the net to support this known problem.
With the gearbox service you can be certain it will be time to pull the radiator out for a good clean up internally, the lower radiator cores are blocking up and causing damage to the gearbox due to the sediment build up on the lower cores, the transmission cooler return pipe is being partially restricted within the lower part of the radiator and the cooler system is basically a heat exchanger for the transmission.
2002 L322 (BMW 4.4 V8)
Water pump:
Water pumps should be inspected carefully for bearing wear, the correct method is to remove the fan and viscous coupling to be able to loosen off the fan-belt, only then is it possible to determine the wear extent on the water pump, they use needle roller bearings on a water pump that has a side load…….what were they thinking as deep groove ball bearings are the preferred selection with a side load (serpentine belt), needle bearings are designed for low bearing loads
Alternator:
Another odd setup is the water cooled 150 amp alternator and these do fail, the repair is not to complicated but removal procedures need to be carried out as per workshop manual.
The problem here is they don’t tell you to descale the housing once you have removed the alternator....
There again this is a sure sign that there was a water leak and the owner merely topped up with water and over time the coolant additive breaks down to such an extent that it then only contains water, water from a tap contains limescale, some areas more so than others.
Limescale is very damaging to any cooling system and the first attack will be on the radiator core.
I think you'll get a better idea when you see the pictures below, now imagine what the radiator core looks like, in this case the owner will be bringing back his vehicle for a radiator clean out as he has been informed of possible failure if its not carried out.
Replacement maybe required but it will depend on the extent of the build up when the specialist radiator company opens it up.
Update Re L322 alternators:
We can now refurbish your original alternator and comes with a 6th month garantee
Price is R5200 for a servicable unit.
We require your old unit or an additional surcharge will be applied of R1800
More info to follow on audio problems, important info on battery disconnecting as they literally have a disconnect bomb attached to the positive lead.........not joking..
To follow shortly, pictures and further info on the L322 radiator saga
So you found yourself wondering all the way to the bottom of this page, good for you and I hope that you are able to take in the below picture to be of serious concern.
The below cooler was removed from a 2003 L322 after being refered to us by the guys at ZF, for obvious reasons this part of the transmission coolling is nothing to do with them, parts are sourced from LR for now but we will be importing coolers from the UK very shortly.
Land Rover SA wants your left leg when you buy it from them..
I decided to cut open this faulty cooler to determine what was really going on inside.
The signs are obvious and the debris is a combination of casting sand and muck, possibly from lack of replacing/flushing cooling system
