D3/LR3 and RRS tips, and what to look for/check.

A.J.M

Explorer
Having been on here for a while and seeing the love for modern LR products. I thought i would give a write up on my experiences and readings from looking, buying and running my own D3.

Will break it down into a rough buyers guide, then onto maintenance as your truck puts on the miles and then some simple tips to make it better and what can be unlocked if you know someone with a faultmate or similar.

So. Buying one.

As with any other car, a good and healthy service record is always important. You will find that for the warrenty they are dealer serviced, then after that stage they either fall out of the dealer network to good local garages/indy's or they remain with the dealers for servicing. This falls down into personal preference.
If you are unsure about the record. You can always give it a full service and change everything so you know where you stand for the age and quality of the filters and oils. You may have some software updates missing if the car hasn't been main dealer serviced. These can be added at a good indy or a faultmate, IID tool etc.

The bodywork should be straight, with good shut lines and no rust. A rusty modern LR has been abused or badly repaired after a smash. I would personally walk away and find another example unless you are wanting a beater or off road only car. The paint work should be in good condition and the bumpers should show no droop like the old D1's do with age.. They may have factory or aftermarket privacy glass fitted. Some like them, other's don't. So personal choice for that.

The T5 chassis is part of the car's inherant strenght for off roading, towing and crash protection, and should only have surface rust. My own D3 is an 04 model and only has surface rust present. The bodyshell's may have some surface rust around the welds underneigh and around the rear diff area. A rub down and paint is all that's needed. I have never heard of a UK D3/RRS fail an MOT due to rust. I would expect this to be the same for cars in any country worldwide. There is no rust horror stories like the D1's rear boot floor, the D2 rear chassis or the RRC all over rust issues...

The interior's are well made, and depending on your location and the spec of your car, it could range from cloth to leather seats, in 5 or 7 seat form. The driver's seat base can wear and tear with age. You can buy a replacement seat cover from your local dealer or supplier if yours is torn. It's 4 torx bolts to remove the base and you then unclip the cover off. Be careful if you have heated seats as you don't want to damage the elements.
The lower glovebox clips can break with age, and also from getting pressed to remove the box to allow access to the pollon filter. The catch on the upper box can fail as well. Mine did and it's a pain to remove and fit a replacement... lol.

There should be no water leaks into the car, if the front footwell has a leak, check the pollon filter first to see if it's blocked or has a leak, the sunroof models need the drains cleared from time to time. The drains at the bottom of the car can block up and the easiest way to solve, is to trim an inch or so off the drain to allow the water to run freely again.

The heating controls and system should work with no issues. Some car's may have the rear air con fitted, If so then check the pipes under the car as they can go rusty with age and stop the system working. Usual course is to replace with copper pipes. The air con should blow cold and the heated front and back windows should work as well. You may find that some of the front heating elements fail with age. In the UK, we can get replacement screens covered under insurance, with a small excess if the screen has a (ahem ) crack in it that can't be fixed....

All electric windows should work, the early models only have drivers side only one touch feature, later models have Driver and passenger side one touches.

The sat nav should work normally. The disc will likely have never been updated since the car was bought. Mine was still an 04 map. You can buy the latest 2012 disc from dealers or find copies on ebay. The choice is yours for that.

The suspension is either coil or air suspension. As standard the Base seat 5 is the only UK D3car to have coils. They also lack the Terrain response. All RRS are air suspension.
The air suspension is a key feature for on road manners, off road ability and towing with it's self levelling ability.
It can have faults, if you think you have a fault. the easiest way to check is to disconnect the battery and leave the car unlocked over night.
This means the car cannot auto level to maintain the alarm system so if you have one corner that's sunk down. That's where the fault is. You can then check the air lines for leaks. The block valves can stick as well.
The air reservoir tank can leak with age and the pipes from the compressor to the tank can also leak with age/damage.


The transmissions are either 6 speed manual or auto for the D3/LR3 and auto only for the Sport. From personal experience, the auto suits the nature of the car better.
The manual is a decent enough box but the ratios are wrong and it feels wrong to have a car of such weight with a clutch.
The X Y sensor's can go with age, also the clutch can be burnt out by poor driving. If you have one and tow, use low range to move about. Less wear and tear on the clutch. If you have a failing clutch. Replace both flywheel and clutch at the same time.

The auto should shift smoothly and change up/down with the command shift. If the lever is stiff to move, you need to grease the linkage. It's a simple job to do.

The engines are 2.7 tdv6, 4.0 v6 or 4.4 v8. All are good engines. The Diesel is not available in the US. The 4.0 v6 is not available in the UK or European markets afaik.

The tdv6 is a belt driven engine, these need changed every 105k OR 7 years, whatever comes first. It would be a good idea to change the tensioners at the same time.
If you have a 07 diesel. CHANGE THE OIL PUMP AS WELL!! i cannot stress that fact enough, there is a design flaw on the 07 pump casing which causes the bolt to fail and sheer. Result is one dead engine. You have been warned!
The 04-07 Euro 3 diesels can have the EGR valves blanked and removed. The 07+ can shortly get a blanking kit that doesn't switch on the engine warning light as the EGR's are tied to the engine systems.
The turbo actuator can stick. This can be freed up and does not mean you need a new turbo. I have done it myself to mine.
Engine boost hoses can split with age, usually shown up as large black clouds from the exhaust under acceleration.

The 4.4 v8 should have it's radiator flushed as some seem to suffer from blockages. Some can suffer thermostat issues as well but otherwise the engine has no issues. It's a Jag unit and has proven very reliable as they rack up miles.

The 4.0 v6 is a Ford unit. I have no experience of this engine so will leave this blank till a owner can comment and allow me to update this part.


Servicing.

All engine's should get a service annually.
I would personally change the oil every 6 months or 7,500 miles as clean oil in your engine is always good to have.
I would also change the air filter every year. LR say 3 years but the amount of dirt etc my year old filter had means mine gets an annual change.
In the UK we can get a full tdv6 service kit with air, fuel, pollen and oil filter, 6 litres of Castrol 5w30 oil delivered for £70! I buy one every year and change everything. At that price it is frankly rude to do anything else.
Fuel filter is 5 years if you go with the book, and pollen is 2 years iirc..
This all depends on how you want to keep the car, and cost to buy the filters etc.

The diff oils should be done every 75k, the front takes 0.6 litres of oil and the rear is 1.1 litres. As ever, remove the top plug before the bottom. No one wants to have an empty diff and a stuck filler plug...
The autobox should be flushed every 100k in normal use, 75k is doing lots of towing. That is the recommendation of ZF the box makers.
The transfer box should be done every 75k as well. Buy the "special" ( yes it's labled that, i'm not making this up! ) oil from your local dealer.


What breaks and when...

They do have well known wear and tear items. These are as follows.

Front lower wishbones, they go from 80-110k. If you hear a knock over bumps, it's the ball joints, if you hear a knock under braking it's the wishbone rear bush.
Now. Depending on where you live, you may, MAY, be able to remove the bolts and nuts without having to angle grind the arms off.. A new arm is £120 a side. You may need new nuts and bolts for it. Remember to apply copper slip to new bolts.

The arb bushes all round can wear from 80+k, again can be identified by a knock over bumps and the start of sloppy handling. These can be changed easily on the driveway if you wish. You may wish to buy new bolts or you can leave the old ones. That is up to you. Cost is roughly £80 for a set from a dealer. There are 2 designs, make sure you get the newer one as the base is thicker over the older one.

The rear upper arm bushes on the D3/LR3 can wear. A knock and the loss of a smooth ride is the usual giveaway. Jack your car up, support on stands and give the wheel a shake. If you have movement, then you need new arms. Mine when i got mine changed, had almost a full inch of play. So slacker than a $10 hookers snatch...
Go for RRS arms. They fit but are a better design so wear slower. They are £30 a side more expensive than the D3 arms but worth it.

The rear hub bushes can wear as well, both top and bottom. You may find the rear upper arms need an angle grinder to remove them, along with the hub bushes.
I would have a full set of bushes, with fixings ready to do this job.

Drop links can wear as well. Bank on 100k a set under normal use. Go LR for replacements and get the nuts for the other sides.

Front wheel bearing's can go from 80+ onwards. Go for OEM or Timkin's as these are the better quality makes for the bearings.

Check your brake pipes from front to rear. LR in their wisdom make them from steel and they rust through. i've had mine changed so would urge ALL D3/LR3 and Sport owners to go check them ASAP. I got copper ones fitted. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO TAKE THE BODY OFF FOR THIS. If your told otherwise, i would challenge that. Mine were done on the driveway.

The lower steering column can wear from 100k ownwards, if you have changed all the rest and still have a knock over bumps. This is likely the cause. £70 from dealer and 30 mins to fit. It's fiddly but doable.

The air compressor's wear out with use. They get noisy as they wear. They should run for 30 seconds max on start up to build pressure in the system. You can rebuild the pump or upgrade to the AMK version, that requires a software update though to be done.

Check the rear propshaft bearing, they seem to be wearing out on the D3 and you have two choices. Replace the bearing with an aftermarket one, or buy a new propshaft.

The alternators can go, round about 80-100k or so. Usually a failing alternator gives up warning messages in the dash. HDC fault, transmission fault, suspension fault etc can all be triggered by a failing alternator.

Batteries failing can give the same symptoms. Replace with a good quality one.

Brakes.

They have disc's all round as standard.
The tdv6 models have disc's that allow 17s to be fitted.
The V8 allow 18s to be fitted. Aftermarket wheels in 17s can be made to fit.

You can upgrade them. Either with better disc's and pads or going up spec.
A popular mod for tdv6 owner's is to upgrade to V8 disc's. They are an inch larger so need the V8 caliper carriers for front and rear.

Another route is to upgrade to RRS Brembo calipers. Like i have. These are not available to the D3/LR3 as standard but bolt on with no issues. You are stuck to 19s due to the size of the caliper though.

Upgrades and unlocks.

If you have an IID tool, faultmate or similar. There are a few things you can unlock to make things a bit nicer.

3 flash indicators can be enabled. These are simple, nudge the indicator either up or down and you will get 3 flashes in stead of 1.
Clock on the dash. You can enable a 2nd clock in the top left section of the screen on the display. Very handy when you can't see the clock on the radio due to sunlight etc.
Sat nav, can be unlocked to be used on the move.
If you have halogen headlight's you can upgrade to Xenon's or the adaptive xenons.
The D4 Cupholders can be fitted to the D3, these have extra grips to stop bottles etc falling out the holders when you drive.
You can split open the headlights to remove the amber strips to give the front end a facelift.
The D4 lights can be fitted to D3's with some extra wiring.
Same for MY10 RRS lights to pre MY10 cars.
I would check Ebay for a spare wheel protector. Here in the UK, there have been many thefts of the spare wheel.


Tips and tricks.

Simple one first. Disable the seat belt bong.
Put key in, turn to position 2, but don't start it. Insert and remove the seat belt buckle into the holder 9 times. You have 1 min to do this. The car should bong once. Then you will not have the bong from the car when you need to move it without having a belt on.

When a bulb blows, replace it with a genuine bulb. They can be huffy with cheap bulbs. I've seen first hand the mess a cheap bulb that blows can make of electrical systems.

Xenon bulbs don't usually blow, the light output does however, dim over time. My own 04 has the adaptive xenons and the bulbs were the originals. The light output was terrible. New osram bulbs sorted that issue.

Many people fit a 2nd leisure battery and cross wire them to the main one. There is space for a 2nd battery under the cover that houses the brake pipes.



If there is any other points, check's for engines, etc then please post them up. This would be good to make a buyers guide for potential owners and also a point of reference for existing owners to check on.
 
Last edited:

unseenone

Explorer
The Bong is once at 39 to warn of potential bridge freezing, and 32 to confirm everything is frozen. It does not bong "up", unless in Colorado or California.
 

UK4X4

Expedition Leader
3 weeks too late for me !

2005 TDV6 RR Sport- near Aberdeen but was bought down south where salt is a rarity and not the norm !

A few things to confirm and add.

Mine came with the upper turbo hose split, bogged on low rev excelaration, a silicon replacement is available 70GBP Britpart from Ebay

easy 30 min swap, with some hot water to ease the install, the hose clips come of with the hose, there are some small spiked tabs holding them on to the tube


GPS

mine came up with GPS fault after 2 weeks of ownership, found some reports on line- probable cause is GPS receiver on the roof- sharks fin...

Sharksfin replacement is aprox 150GBP.............you can get a small 7GBP antenna from ebay to check this, simply plug in to the box under the passenger seat and put on the roof. Works fine..........waiting for a day without snow to remove the sharks fin, remove old reciever from the inside and replace with my cheap replacement, maybe 45 mins to do this and a 9mm drill, theres a write up on the UK RRSPORT website on how to do this.

Rattle clunk

I have one at the front, I have not tracked it down yet, hit a speed bump square on no noise, ie not suspension

drop one wheel and shimmy I get the noise, could even be the plastic covers under the bonnet, need to track it down as its anoying.

4WD system

mines been a highway chelsea tractor, don't thinks its ever been engaged !

Tires
Mine came with sporty numbers not a sipe or traction groove in sight

looking at available tire sizes right now, not sure on availability and what happens when the air system fails and I'm on bump stops

as winter is here and the snow will soon be settling, these road tires have to go !
 

Colin Hughes

Explorer
Good detailed writeup. Thanks for the tip on the clock in the upper left of dash. Will add that soon. It's going to have the Bluetooth module updated so will do both at the same time.
Re: the Sharks fin. I thought it was for satellite radio. Mine doesn't have one, looks like it was there previously as the connector is sticking out but my NAV works just fine. ??
 

UK4X4

Expedition Leader
Last edited:

PWCAN

New member
Excellent write up - thanks ! One thing missing is adjusting the handbrake shoes inside the rear discs. If you dont do this then can bind slightly and on long run starts to get hot and can get severe vibration. If get severe vibration start suddenly check to see if rear wheels hot. If they then handbrake shoes binding.

Had this happened to me. I let it cool down and then could drive off again and everything seems ok. However, will come back again. Adjusting mechanism as described in manuals or number of web links on this. LR3 - Nice ride but lost a lot of fundamental values of LRs past. I think D2 last of the real LRs.. shame D2 has such a large rear overhang.
 
Last edited:

454

Exploder
I've been exploring my IID and can't find how to add the clock to the upper left of the trip computer screen. Any tips? Thanks!
 

Ray_G

Explorer
Believe it's part of the CCF for the instrument cluster, you want to update it to the MY 06+, there is one option for it that won't have the aux heater light come on when the headlights do, but I forgot which one. GAP should have it in their quick ref guide.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

454

Exploder
Mine is an '07. It has the clock as a choice when you scroll through the MPG, avg speed, etc., with the stalk button. I'd just like to also have the clock full-time in the upper left section of the screen.
 

454

Exploder
Well, I looked through every sub folder on the CCF and saw nothing even close. First World Problems.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,533
Messages
2,875,612
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top