Full Fat Range Rover Vogue SE (2010 L322, TDV8)
Discussion
I've been a fan of the L322 since they appeared in 2001, coming close to buying an early BMW-engined 4.4 petrol V8 a few years back when they were in shed territory. Whilst on holiday earlier this year I did some man maths and decided now is the time to scratch the itch, and with no particular rush to buy one, time was on my side to find the spec and condition I wanted - late/2010-MY, not silver, black or grey, and a Vogue SE with as many toys possible. Usually I couldn't care less about colours and trim, but for some reason felt quite strongly this time out.
I travelled around locally looking at a few, checked-out a few specialists stock, kept an eye on the forums and after a while found the one below.
2010 3.6TDV8
Vogue SE with most stuff ticked - adaptive cruise, surround cameras, double glazing, high beam assist, cooled and heated seats, that funky dual-view TV thing, and lots of other stuff I don't need.
Most importantly it's Nara Brown - a lovely turd-rolled-in-glitter colour:
Inside is Ivory leather throughout, which looks like it'll be hilariously good fun trying to keep clean.
The first morning with the car got off to a flying-start with a dead battery, caused by me leaving an OBD tool plugged in unintentionally overnight. A cheap Aldi 5A smart charger revived the battery:
(Note 2x4" wood holding the bonnet up for good measure too).
The car's done 159k miles so lots of bits to do to keep it running sweet - anyone's who seen my Volvo XC70 thread will know I'm not shy of high miles and DIY maintenance. Stay tuned for a similar style of documenting fixes, maintenance and general farting around on the Range Rover.
I travelled around locally looking at a few, checked-out a few specialists stock, kept an eye on the forums and after a while found the one below.
2010 3.6TDV8
Vogue SE with most stuff ticked - adaptive cruise, surround cameras, double glazing, high beam assist, cooled and heated seats, that funky dual-view TV thing, and lots of other stuff I don't need.
Most importantly it's Nara Brown - a lovely turd-rolled-in-glitter colour:
Inside is Ivory leather throughout, which looks like it'll be hilariously good fun trying to keep clean.
The first morning with the car got off to a flying-start with a dead battery, caused by me leaving an OBD tool plugged in unintentionally overnight. A cheap Aldi 5A smart charger revived the battery:
(Note 2x4" wood holding the bonnet up for good measure too).
The car's done 159k miles so lots of bits to do to keep it running sweet - anyone's who seen my Volvo XC70 thread will know I'm not shy of high miles and DIY maintenance. Stay tuned for a similar style of documenting fixes, maintenance and general farting around on the Range Rover.
Thanks all! I'm just happy it's not black, silver or grey.
Good tips on bonnet service position, nearside rear wetness and the ivory interior
First job for all cars new to me is a basic service. Cue a shop around for bits - the local GSF coming up trumps:
The sump takes 9.5L and the oil filter is a good 8" long, so I'm hopeful for longevity of the engine. Service intervals in the history suggest oil changed every 12k miles or so.
Oil dropped in to a large plastic bowl, then drained away in to a 25L container which gets periodically emptied at the local tip:
(Driveway is wet as after initially releasing the sump plug I found that oil goes everywhere - over the top of the subframe, the forward undertray and ultimately the drive. A rapid deployment of the hosepipe was in order)
Air filter is also reassuringly massive. Here's the new one in, I subsequently removed it all so I could get access to the fuel filter (white, in background):
Fuel filter has a plastic lock ring holding it on. The was a laborious PITA to try and remove by hand - found an oil filter wrench in the garage to crack it off:
And the pollen filter. More acreage of consumable - this pops in that flap in background on scuttle:
And voila! A basic service done. The oil filter that came out was also a MANN item, with manufacturing date 12.01.20, which tailies well with the service history; last changed mid 2020 at 151k miles.
Final order of the day was a wash down of the engine and wipe over the vanity covers. Not too shabby at all...
Good tips on bonnet service position, nearside rear wetness and the ivory interior
First job for all cars new to me is a basic service. Cue a shop around for bits - the local GSF coming up trumps:
The sump takes 9.5L and the oil filter is a good 8" long, so I'm hopeful for longevity of the engine. Service intervals in the history suggest oil changed every 12k miles or so.
Oil dropped in to a large plastic bowl, then drained away in to a 25L container which gets periodically emptied at the local tip:
(Driveway is wet as after initially releasing the sump plug I found that oil goes everywhere - over the top of the subframe, the forward undertray and ultimately the drive. A rapid deployment of the hosepipe was in order)
Air filter is also reassuringly massive. Here's the new one in, I subsequently removed it all so I could get access to the fuel filter (white, in background):
Fuel filter has a plastic lock ring holding it on. The was a laborious PITA to try and remove by hand - found an oil filter wrench in the garage to crack it off:
And the pollen filter. More acreage of consumable - this pops in that flap in background on scuttle:
And voila! A basic service done. The oil filter that came out was also a MANN item, with manufacturing date 12.01.20, which tailies well with the service history; last changed mid 2020 at 151k miles.
Final order of the day was a wash down of the engine and wipe over the vanity covers. Not too shabby at all...
Accelebrate said:
It’s always reassuring to find a decent quality set of filters in a new purchase. I’m guessing the RR is too bulky to get inside your garage?
Agreed!I think it'll go in with the suspension lowered in 'access mode' which gives a roof height of around 1.8m. This then gives the potential to lift the car 600mm on the ramps, to joist height (2.4m). Whether there's then any usable room around the car I'm not sure - I might just wheel the lift out on to the drive if I need to do anything invasive underneath.
Diagnostics -
There's an excellent product on the market called IID, made by a Canadian company 'Gap'. This is a bespoke OBD plug-in module with bluetooth connectivity, and an app, to connect to all the modules on the car and interrogate, view live data, log and configure. It's dealership level stuff, much like VIDA is to Volvo.
I had the foresight to buy one whilst searching for a Range Rover, and plugged it in to check codes, errors, etc where I could when viewing cars.
More recently I rejigged an old/obsolete iPad to run the app for some live data and logging.
No notable errors to report, one for a parking sensor and another for a parking camera.
I wanted to change the PAS fluid in the car - usually I do so by sucking out the reservoir's contents, refilling with new and then repeating 3 or 4 times over the course of a month or so. The idea being that the new fluid in the reservoir progressively mixes with old and eventually, after enough changes, you have fresh fluid. However I saw a post on another forum that looked like a neat way of replacing the whole system's contents by removing the return pipe to the reservoir and sucking the oil through the rack, cooler and pipework from there.
I made up some adaptors and bungs from a box of old hoses I have in the garage loft. Terrible picture but you can see the end of the vac pump tube in the return pipe, and a short length of pipe with a stainless bolt bunging the reservoir connection:
I duly pumped away, this cheap and cheerful vac pump has served me well over all manner of jobs for the past 15 yrs or so:
Once clear, I refilled the system with this PAS fluid from Westway - it's the correct fluid as specified by LR. The system took 1.75L once bled.
(Apologies for another terrible pic. I must have been shaking with all the excitement).
The fluid that came out was OK, but looked and smelled suspiciously like red ATF (the correct PSF fluid is green and smells much less sweet).
I made up some adaptors and bungs from a box of old hoses I have in the garage loft. Terrible picture but you can see the end of the vac pump tube in the return pipe, and a short length of pipe with a stainless bolt bunging the reservoir connection:
I duly pumped away, this cheap and cheerful vac pump has served me well over all manner of jobs for the past 15 yrs or so:
Once clear, I refilled the system with this PAS fluid from Westway - it's the correct fluid as specified by LR. The system took 1.75L once bled.
(Apologies for another terrible pic. I must have been shaking with all the excitement).
The fluid that came out was OK, but looked and smelled suspiciously like red ATF (the correct PSF fluid is green and smells much less sweet).
surveyor said:
Please stop this thread.
Under my old work mileage a Ranger Rover was suicide. Now I seem to be doing very few work miles.
A Range Rover would still be suicidal, but a bit of risk never hurt anyone....
And I love the colour by the way!
Under my old work mileage a Ranger Rover was suicide. Now I seem to be doing very few work miles.
A Range Rover would still be suicidal, but a bit of risk never hurt anyone....
And I love the colour by the way!
Apologies but I'm only just getting started (sorrynotsorry, etcs)...A couple of final mechanical 'bits' done to get the car up to scratch - front droplinks were noted in the last MOT as having some play but not a fail. I used the excuse to get the car jacked up on stands to have a good nose around:
Plenty of places to jack the car from and add axle stands. I lifted off the front subframe x-member and put stands on the rails adjacent to lower wishbones. The car has deployable sidesteps which appear to be another great way of unnecessarily draining the battery, and stop you from accessing the jackpoints on the sills.
All looking par for the course given the mileage. Droplinks took a handful of minutes to replace
I dropped the engine undertrays and gave the front end underside a thorough clean out/degrease/scrub. Once done it was then easier to see what was newish and what was original.
Very satisfying. Today's victims were just the droplinks. Rest of suspension looks adequately serviceable bar the lower balljoints which appear scabby but have no play (yet).
Interesting, thanks.
EGR blanking - this is a straight forward fit and forget item on the engine. Pretty simple kit - remove the x-over pipe from EGR cooler outlet to engine inlet and blank with these parts:
The x-over pipes are in the middle of this lot, beneath the loom and it's bracket:
The instructions that came with the kit are very detailed and easy to follow. I found using a trim removal tool the easiest way to release the loom:
X-over pipes out and bagged
And blanks in -
Since doing the above throttle response is improved, MPG seems a little higher and the engine idles noticeably smoother. There was no need to code the car or delete any engine management lights, plus I suspect the engine oil will remain cleaner for longer.
EGR blanking - this is a straight forward fit and forget item on the engine. Pretty simple kit - remove the x-over pipe from EGR cooler outlet to engine inlet and blank with these parts:
The x-over pipes are in the middle of this lot, beneath the loom and it's bracket:
The instructions that came with the kit are very detailed and easy to follow. I found using a trim removal tool the easiest way to release the loom:
X-over pipes out and bagged
And blanks in -
Since doing the above throttle response is improved, MPG seems a little higher and the engine idles noticeably smoother. There was no need to code the car or delete any engine management lights, plus I suspect the engine oil will remain cleaner for longer.
AndrewCrown said:
Wheel Nut Corrosion
On discussion with LR parts dept, the wheelnuts have a thin metal cover over them…overtime water gets underneath and the whole unit expands just a few microns…sufficient to cause the problem.
Thanks Andrew - according to the history that came with the car, the wheel nuts (all of them!) were replaced four times in the first 100k miles/whilst it was serviced at LR. I presume the car was under a warranty of some type and these were all claims...On discussion with LR parts dept, the wheelnuts have a thin metal cover over them…overtime water gets underneath and the whole unit expands just a few microns…sufficient to cause the problem.
One of the first things I did was go round and un-torque/re-torque all the wheelnuts. Two of my 20 were slightly soft - they do indeed corrode/swell under the thin chrome covers
Cant Find a Charger when I need one said:
Loved the Volvo thread so bookmarked this.
147lusso said:
Absolutely loved your last thread on the XC70, so glad to see you pick up one of my favourite car.
I still have the XC70 and it continues to do sterling service! The girlfriend uses it the most as her daily.... thread here that I will continue to keep up to dateThanks for all the other positive comments about the Range Rover
With the mechanicals beginning to take order and the pleasant spring weather, I gave the glittery turd a good clean.
A light polish of the headlamp lenses did wonders:
And I even dragged-out the spare wheel and cleaned out/checked the boot floor.
A run to the tip to dispose of all the oils I'd changed and oil-soaked cardboard and rags I'd accrued doing the fluid changes. Poshest looking car at the tip!
A light polish of the headlamp lenses did wonders:
And I even dragged-out the spare wheel and cleaned out/checked the boot floor.
A run to the tip to dispose of all the oils I'd changed and oil-soaked cardboard and rags I'd accrued doing the fluid changes. Poshest looking car at the tip!
A common fault on the L322 with heated/cooled seats is the driver's one failing. They have several basic 'Peltier' (thermoelectric) heatpumps buried in the seats that blow warm or cold air through the seat perforations. It's a common enough occurrence that plenty before me have dug in to the seats to tear them apart and get them working again. The replacement part from LR is around £300.
In the case of mine it was a simple fix to a cracked air feed duct that fixed it and got the heated/cooled seat working again.
Seat back off to reveal the gubbins. The bit with the barcode on is the heatpump:
Removed. The white fluff at the bottom is the filter/air inlet:
Turned over to look in the outlet you can see the Peltier unit. I tested this with a 12v supply and it heated/cooled OK.
The Peltier includes a spanwise thermistor across the base of the unit. If it detects any anomaly in air temperature distribution it shuts the unit off. In my case I had several cracks on the bellows of the duct that feeds air from the filter to the heatpump. I fixed this with a 2-part epoxy, laminating in some fabric tape to add strength in places:
(The girlf was out so her hairdryer was employed to speed up the process)
And voila! The drivers seat (all of it, including the armrest) heats and cools again.
In the case of mine it was a simple fix to a cracked air feed duct that fixed it and got the heated/cooled seat working again.
Seat back off to reveal the gubbins. The bit with the barcode on is the heatpump:
Removed. The white fluff at the bottom is the filter/air inlet:
Turned over to look in the outlet you can see the Peltier unit. I tested this with a 12v supply and it heated/cooled OK.
The Peltier includes a spanwise thermistor across the base of the unit. If it detects any anomaly in air temperature distribution it shuts the unit off. In my case I had several cracks on the bellows of the duct that feeds air from the filter to the heatpump. I fixed this with a 2-part epoxy, laminating in some fabric tape to add strength in places:
(The girlf was out so her hairdryer was employed to speed up the process)
And voila! The drivers seat (all of it, including the armrest) heats and cools again.
Took the Range Rover down to the Mendips for a long weekend away to celebrate one of the outlaws retiring. It's ability to swallow luggage and 4 adults, then cruise with little effort is very impressive - I particularly enjoyed the adaptive/active cruise control on the M5. Did around 27mpg on this trip; seems to be doing about 25mpg day to day.
In here = 4 x small suitcases, wellies, cool bags, shoes, usual girlfriend paraphernalia:
Done around 1k miles in the car in first month.
In here = 4 x small suitcases, wellies, cool bags, shoes, usual girlfriend paraphernalia:
Done around 1k miles in the car in first month.
I kept getting a 'low coolant level' message on the dash when I started the car, despite the level being absolutely fine. A quick google showed there is a level sensor in the bottom of the expansion tank, which seems to be a consumable judging by how cheap they are to replace and how man people complain.
In this pic the sensor plug is at the bottom. I clamped the two hoses feeding the expansion tank to minimise coolant loss when I took the tank out
I removed the expansion tank (not strictly necessary) as I wanted to investigate the operation of the sensor/switch - there's various claims they also measure the specific gravity of the coolant and warn you when the antifreeze dilution level is low.
The sensor sits in a dry recess in the base of the expansion tank. Around the recess (inside the expansion tank) is a float with a magnet in. As the float moves up and down with coolant level it disrupts the magnetic field (hall effect) around the level sensor, causing a small reed valve to open the circuit/send a signal that the level is too low.
I guess if the weight of the float is tuned it could corroborate antifreeze level in the water based on specific gravity.
I tested my existing one with a multimeter set to continuity and tipped the expansion tank up and down (you can hear the float sliding up and down inside). The sensor on the car never closed the circuit; it was stuck open. I fitted the new sensor and sure enough, it switched as I slid the float up and down past it.
Whilst out I gave the expansion tank a good clean - I found an old hose (I think from a 90s Discovery) in the spares box in the garage that was a perfect fit so I could use the garden hose to back flush it through:
Refitted and topped-up with this coolant from Halfords. It's the correct spec and made by Comma.
In this pic the sensor plug is at the bottom. I clamped the two hoses feeding the expansion tank to minimise coolant loss when I took the tank out
I removed the expansion tank (not strictly necessary) as I wanted to investigate the operation of the sensor/switch - there's various claims they also measure the specific gravity of the coolant and warn you when the antifreeze dilution level is low.
The sensor sits in a dry recess in the base of the expansion tank. Around the recess (inside the expansion tank) is a float with a magnet in. As the float moves up and down with coolant level it disrupts the magnetic field (hall effect) around the level sensor, causing a small reed valve to open the circuit/send a signal that the level is too low.
I guess if the weight of the float is tuned it could corroborate antifreeze level in the water based on specific gravity.
I tested my existing one with a multimeter set to continuity and tipped the expansion tank up and down (you can hear the float sliding up and down inside). The sensor on the car never closed the circuit; it was stuck open. I fitted the new sensor and sure enough, it switched as I slid the float up and down past it.
Whilst out I gave the expansion tank a good clean - I found an old hose (I think from a 90s Discovery) in the spares box in the garage that was a perfect fit so I could use the garden hose to back flush it through:
Refitted and topped-up with this coolant from Halfords. It's the correct spec and made by Comma.
Thanks all
On MPG - it's OK. You hear lots of (the 3.6/6spd) owners say they easily do 30mpg on a run but I think you'd have to be very restrained and stick to 70mph to achieve that. My real world is ~20mile A/B road commutes and pottering around, where it gets 25mpg.
Bobupndown said:
Beautiful RR, still think these late L322s are nicer than the L405 that replaced it. Nice colour and spec too. I do plenty of home mechanicing on a variety of cars but the potential bills on one of these is frightening and puts me off having one. Sticking with my Freelander 2 'mini range rover' for now.
Agreed. However a big pro of the L405 is it's all-aluminium, whereas the L322 only has ally doors, wings and bonnet and the main structure/tailgate is steel, which predictably rusts. I'd have gone for an early L405 SDV8 but the price difference put stop to that.lost in espace said:
I had a similar silver one until recently, the auto started to slip when cold so I got rid. A flush might have fixed it, but I decided the tax was too high and the mpg too low. Take the rear arch liners out and pull back the sill covers at the rear. There will be some corrosion, and a double/triple skinned area in the front of the rear wheel arches/sills, check this area carefully and clean it of any dirt and stick some cavity wax in.
Some great tips here. I plan to derust/rust proof mine over the course of this summer.Dcadders said:
The only thing stopping me getting a FFRR is the fact I know that renewing a 600 RFL yearly and giving the chancellor even more if my cash would frustrate the hell out of me…
It's £630 per annum now, £661 if paid by direct debit, courtesy of the 5% rise in April. My man maths says enjoy them why it's this cheap as the RFL is only going one way for cars like these.SiT said:
What an amazing thread, the colour is beautiful
Funny enough like others on this thread I am looking to come back to the LR fold due to horse towing duties, was looking for another Sport again but seeing your Vogue my head has been turned.
I understand your engine is ‘the one’ in terms of reliability etc, your MPG is also impressive. I only go to the office twice a week so that’s not so much of an issue and paying too rate tax on my 997 so already de-sensitised.
Si
Thank you Si. I looked a RR Sports as their price point is very tempting. But I kept coming back to the fullfat RR and wanted the TDV8.Funny enough like others on this thread I am looking to come back to the LR fold due to horse towing duties, was looking for another Sport again but seeing your Vogue my head has been turned.
I understand your engine is ‘the one’ in terms of reliability etc, your MPG is also impressive. I only go to the office twice a week so that’s not so much of an issue and paying too rate tax on my 997 so already de-sensitised.
Si
On MPG - it's OK. You hear lots of (the 3.6/6spd) owners say they easily do 30mpg on a run but I think you'd have to be very restrained and stick to 70mph to achieve that. My real world is ~20mile A/B road commutes and pottering around, where it gets 25mpg.
G111MDS said:
Another person here that really enjoys your Volvo thread, and looking forward to following this one too.
Thanks!
Thanks both - the colour is growing on me.
I had my gearbox oil 'powerflushed' by the eminent expert Ian Bodsworth (UpdatesbyBodsy) - a chap who comes to your house and does it on your drive. He disconnects the feed to the gearbox oil cooler and connects this to a drain, then connects a new feed from a machine mounted in the back of his van that pumps fresh oil in to the system and drives the old out. Whilst the machine is in operation he runs the gearbox through the gears (with engine running), this flushing the whole box and the torque converter.
Whilst up on ramps/under there he also replaced the diff oils and transfer box.
I didn't think there was much wrong with the box beforehand, no thunks or excessive slip, but post oil change the shifts between gears are much sharper and the torque converter locks up sooner.
I had my gearbox oil 'powerflushed' by the eminent expert Ian Bodsworth (UpdatesbyBodsy) - a chap who comes to your house and does it on your drive. He disconnects the feed to the gearbox oil cooler and connects this to a drain, then connects a new feed from a machine mounted in the back of his van that pumps fresh oil in to the system and drives the old out. Whilst the machine is in operation he runs the gearbox through the gears (with engine running), this flushing the whole box and the torque converter.
Whilst up on ramps/under there he also replaced the diff oils and transfer box.
I didn't think there was much wrong with the box beforehand, no thunks or excessive slip, but post oil change the shifts between gears are much sharper and the torque converter locks up sooner.
SiT said:
Anymore updates on this?!? Found a beauty of a 4.4TDV8 and a re-read of this thread hasn’t helped me a jot!
The horse box needs dragging around the countryside, we need something bigger than a Fiat 500 (Mrs Sits car!) and at the moment an L322 excites me……
Si
None Si, she's running lovely and a joy to cruise around in. The horse box needs dragging around the countryside, we need something bigger than a Fiat 500 (Mrs Sits car!) and at the moment an L322 excites me……
Si
Currently sat in it watching Wimbledon whilst the girlf does who knows what in the shops....
Get one bought!
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