I convinced my LR dealer that the warranty work done to date on my 2010 TDV8 to cure low speed drivetrain shunt has not worked and that further work is required. To date the rear differential has been replaced twice, the transfer box openned up for inspection and the gearbox mechatronics replaced. The gearbox specialist who the dealer sends their transmissions to (and installed the replacement mechatronics) agrees the problem I 1st raised over 4.5 years ago is still there. They now need to spend a lot of time working their way through the remainder of the drive train to try and identify where the issue is being caused from.

They noted that my front tyres are severly worn (not much life left) compared to the rear which are not even 1/2 worn. They indicated that they have seen significant issues on modern permanent 4wd vehicles where there is a big difference in wear between the front and rear tyres. They said it can cause problems for the transmission management systems due to the speed differences between the front and rear wheels and their inability to effectively deal with that - they indicated that measured speed differences as low as 1-2km/h between front and rear can cause problems in some vehicles. To that end they have requested that all 4 tyres be replaced with evenly worn ones before they undertake any further work.

This means I need to buy 4 new tyres and throw away 2 perfectly good rear ones to fix a warranty issue - any comments out there.

I would replace the 2 worn tyres.

There shouldn't be much difference between front and rear then.

and they need changing anyway

Meiang wrote:

They noted that my front tyres are severly worn (not much life left) compared to the rear which are not even 1/2 worn. They indicated that they have seen significant issues on modern permanent 4wd vehicles where there is a big difference in wear between the front and rear tyres. They said it can cause problems for the transmission management systems due to the speed differences between the front and rear wheels and their inability to effectively deal with that - they indicated that measured speed differences as low as 1-2km/h between front and rear can cause problems in some vehicles. To that end they have requested that all 4 tyres be replaced with evenly worn ones before they undertake any further work.

This means I need to buy 4 new tyres and throw away 2 perfectly good rear ones to fix a warranty issue - any comments out there.

But has the difference in wear between front and rear been present for the four and a half years whilst you have had the problem? Unlikely - and hence unlikely to be the cause of your complaint?

Agree that all four tyres should be replaced though, as even a 1km/hr difference in speed reported by the sensors can influence system behaviour (was recently told that by ZF themselves).

As your tyres are showing uneven wear perhaps you have worn bushes in the front suspension and/or the alignment needs to be adjusted.

How would you describe the problem you are having i.e. when exactly does it occur and how often? 2008 MY Java Black TDV8 HSE

There has been a noticable wear in the front tyres from very early on in its life and at about 1.5 years from new I noticed the front tyres very badly shredded (i.e chunks of rubber missing) and worn down quite a bit more after a 3 week stay at the dealer for warranty work. I naturally thought some mechanic at the dealer had taken the car for a good thrash and accused the dealer (who became very indignant at the accusation). They told all the recent RRS models fitted with 20 inch Goodyear Excellence tyres showed similar front wear - a characteristic of the tyre. This has continued since with the chunks of rubber missing over time getting bigger - the bigger chunks missing are now about 15mm x 10mm in area and 1-2mm deep. The general wear is very even across the front tyres and I have had the wheel alignment checked a couple of times with no out of spec alignment reported.

At 27,000km (16,700 miles) the front tyres are close to the tread limit and look like they have been on a drifting car really worked hard. According to the on board instrumentation (I check regularly) I have never exceeded an average speed of greater than 25-30km/hr. It is driven slowly most of the time and does a school run twice a day.

The handling of the car is fine with no noises or indications that bushes need replacing. The whole front end is very tight as you would expect with a car of very low km. I had the dealer replace the front ARB bushes at 15,000km due to a slight knock at the front left under certain circumstances.

The problem occurs on most corners slowing down and then accelerating or when down shifts occur under light or trailing throttle or when the lockup clutch engages/disengages under light or trailing throttle.

Took the plunge today and have ordered 4 new tyres - Michelin Latitude Sport 3. I wanted Falken Azensis FK-453CC but there are none in the country and no delivery date for new ones. the Michelins are 50% more expensive han the Falkens

I hope the Michelins are OK -not much else to choose from here with +ve user feedback

Well at least it is never wrong to fit new tyres - peace of mind with children in the car every day.

Presumably the high temperatures in your location shorten the life of tyres. Certainly didn't like the description you gave of lumps of tread falling off. Odd that they were wearing so unevenly front to back. The fronts tend to wear a bit faster and more on the outer shoulders and can be swapped with the rears to even things out.

Even in the UK where we have more choice of tyre specialists it is hard to find a place that can really set up the alignment properly. There's plenty that think they can - but they can't. Usually best to go by personal recommendation and then have the alignment set up when new tyres are fitted.

Would you say the transmission problem feels as if you have been hit from behind by another vehicle? That's what most people mean by 'shunt' in this context. I wonder if your fault has something to do with the daily diet of low speed short runs you mentioned?

My own car used to do that shunt when I first bought it (33,000 miles) but a combination of gearbox fluid change, software updates to engine and gearbox, clearing the adaptations, hard reset, diesel cleaner, new brake pedal switch, new brake light bulbs, cleaning the MAf and MAP sensors and overhauling the mechatronic combined with using premium fuel and getting it out on the open road regularly for some proper use seems to have cured it.

(I still have the weird fault with the torque converter lock up clutch momentarily opening and then closing again at motorway speeds that I was trying to fix but that's another story and I'm working on it. Current hypothesis based on some recent live data recording is the gearbox temp sensor could be at fault) 2008 MY Java Black TDV8 HSE

Meiang wrote:

Took the plunge today and have ordered 4 new tyres - Michelin Latitude Sport 3.I hope the Michelins are OK -not much else to choose from here with +ve user feedback

Anyone else used the Falkens on RRS ?

Here are some pictures of the tread for the Michelin Latitude Sport 3 which I have bought as replacement tyres. Much more aggressive than the standard tyres fitted originally and more so than the performance 18 inch Falken F453 tyres fitted to my Honda Civic. I did want Falken F453 CC tyres for the RRS but none in the country.

I am having my rims painted gloss black before fitting the tyres - Hope it looks OK.

Here are some pictures of the tread for the Michelin Latitude Sport 3 which I have bought as replacement tyres. Much more aggressive than the standard tyres fitted originally and more so than the performance 18 inch Falken F453 tyres fitted to my Honda Civic. I did want Falken F453 CC tyres for the RRS but none in the country.

I am having my rims painted gloss black before fitting the tyres - Hope it looks OK.

Gloss black should look the goods I bought some 18" wheels off a guy with a black 07 RRS, he'd replaced them with gloss black 20's, looked great!

As for wear on drivetrain parts caused by tire wear, I wouldn't worry about it personally. My own Sport has never had a pair of tires on the front that matched 100% with the ones on the back, and it's been running like that without issues since I've had it.

These cars are pretty hard on tires you'll find. I'm happy if I get 40K out of a set. MY08 RRS TDV6, Chawton/Black, sunroof, hk, 268k km
2001 Audi A4 1.8T quattro 5mt sport, 340k km
1990 Nissan Pintara TRX, lots of mods, 438k km

I received my gloss black wheels with Michelin Latitude 3 tyres this week.

WOW what a difference. The wheels make the car look seriously good but the tyres what a difference from the Gooyear Excellance tyres that were on before.

The ride is totally different - more comfortable, less tire noise, less rebound over bumps, substantially better feedback from the steering and less understeer.

Amazingly the rattle from the main tail gate latch has mostly disappeared. Only seriously big bumps now cause a rattle.

Tyres definitely worth the money.

Any improvement in the transmission shunt you were experiencing? 2008 MY Java Black TDV8 HSE

There has been no improvement on drive train shunt with the new tyres.

The transmission people and myself are working on a solution. The problem most likely is a combination of electrical power supply to the transmission/transfer case and backlash some where in the drive train.

The car goes in next week for a few weeks of testing. Hopefully some resolution can be obtained.

Have you tried a transfer box clutch calibration? Visiting from DISCO3.CO.UK
2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 Auto HSE Zambezi Silver