Transmission valve block?

[2002 Freebie]

Anybody hear of an issue concerning this part?

My wife took in her Freelander today, to have the fuel pump recall done. While there they told her she needed to have the transmission valve block replaced, to the tune of $2200. I have personally never even heard of this part. I'm hoping for a less expensive alternative if, indeed, this is an issue.

Has anyone heard of this fault with the Freelander?

I'd really appreciate any input on this.

[2002 Freebie]

Ok. I hope somebody can give me some words of wisdom here. I got the vehicle back, telling them I wanted to wait on the repair.

After driving it for awhile the transmission display showed a flashing 'F-4' and hill descent control symbol, with an exclamation point. I turned the engine off and back on and it went away.

I haven't seen that display return, but something tells me it won't be the last of it. If anyone familiar with this situation, please let me know what I'm in for.

Thanks for any input.

[2002 Freebie]

I'd like to know, too, if anyone has any input on the flashing f-4 message, and what that might denote.

Thanks again.

[2002 Freebie]

OK. It turns out it's the problem is the transmission valve body. Apparently, it's going bad before it's going bad before it's time. My wife mentioned to the advisor that she saw the flashing F-4, along with the hill descent symbol with an exclamation point.

Now, I know the solenoid is a part of the valve body, and it's been identified as a pretty common problem with transmissions. And I know dealerships would much rather replace whole parts rather than repair smaller ones. Would it make more sense to look at the solenoid?

[2002 Freebie]

Well, I decided to give it a little wait so I can have the codes read when the warning signals show again. But it's been almost three weeks since the last episode of the symptoms I described, with nothing. Vehicle drives fine (I do love the way these SUVs drive and handle when they're working right).

I was told a 'P1748' code would signal a need to change the 2/4 brake solenoid on the transmission valve body. Apparently, that job is all that's needed in these cases, but the dealerships like to replace the whole valve body unit (obviously at much expense to the customer).

So, I've been driving the vehicle every day since, waiting for the codes to reappear. I've probably put 1000 miles on it with no incident, whatsoever. Hopefully, if the symptoms do come back, this is all it is and I won't have to spend $2200 replacing the entire unit, as the dealer wishes.

Anyway I hope this information can help somebody, even if I can't get any advice here. And I'll be sure to post my findings if there are any further developments.

[2002 Freebie]

Well I took the vehicle to a local AAMCO transmission shop, just to get a second opinion before spending $2500 on this repair. They turned off the codes and kept my truck for two days, running diagnostics on it. One interesting thing was that the guy called me and asked if someone had worked on the vehicle, and I said that the dealer had. He told me that the valve body unit was disassembled. The dealer hadn't even put it back together. He thinks that's why I was getting the faults and corresponding codes.

They tested and tested the individual solenoids and the unit itself, finding absolutely nothing wrong with either. All components are working exactly as they should, according to this transmission shop.

I sure don't want to believe that the Land Rover folks were trying to pull a fast one on my wife. But it's been over a month. I've been driving it every day and there hasn't been a repeat of the code, fault or anything else since. Certainly I'll keep watching it, and I'll report back if there are any developments, but it seems that there's nothing wrong with this vehicle. The truck has never driven so beautifully.