2006 LR3 Leaking Washer Reservoir

[class5kayaker]

Hey everyone,

Hoping someone out there can give me some good news.

Like I said in my intro, I moved from Los Angeles to Montana last summer (I'm in the AF). The moved put me over 500 miles from the closest LR dealership so getting any work done on my 06 LR3 by the dealership (covered under full maintenance agreement) isn't practical. I was fine with changing the oil and performing normal service myself, but my worst fear happened the other week. Something "not normal" has happened to the vehicle.

The problem is my washer reservoir leaks BADLY. If you fill it, it's empty in about an hour. You can see the fluid leaking from the location of the reservoir, but as many of you know, it's NOT EASY to access the reservoir (at least from what I can tell). The reservoir is below the driver's headlight and the only way I can see to access it is by removing the fender "cover" from around the driver's front tire (there's metal "frame" under the headlight). So I tried that when I first noticed the problem and that let me see the reservoir. I saw a bolt holding the reservoir and two nuts were visible in different locations. Although not the easiest to access, I was able to remove both nuts. The problem is the reservoir is still not coming out. It seems like there's another bolt holding it in place, and that it can only be accessed from the front end of the vehicle. Problem is, you have to remove the entire front bumper molding to get to it, which also involves completely removing the passenger-side fender "cover" (not much fun....lots of plastic "pop" fasteners). I really don't want to do that if I don't have to, especially without a spare part on hand (not sure what the exact problem is yet).

So does anyone have an easier way to access/remove the washer reservoir without taking apart the entire front end of the vehicle?? I don't even own a shop manual, so maybe if someone out there has access to one they can look up the method published in the manual, even if you've never done the project yourself.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Class5

[sideview]

There's a TSB on the leaky washer resevoir - the bottom seam spits. Fluid flushed right through to the ground with mine. Unfortunately, you do have to take the front off to get to it AFAIK.

[class5kayaker]

Well, thanks for the quick reply even if it's not the greatest news (lol). Maybe I can convince LR to at least send me the replacement part free of charge.

[stolenheron]

i'm in college at auburn univ in alabama, the nearest dealership is in Birmingham, 2 hours away. My local dealer at my home in Fort Myers, Florida has offered to ship me parts under warranty (for me to install) as long as i send them the broken parts back in a timely manner....talk it over with a dealer, usually they dont care as long as you send the parts back to them..

[class5kayaker]

Thanks for the tip stolenheron. I'll let you guys know how it all pans out.

Oh, and I wish I was only 2 hrs away from a dealership

[Rovin4life]

sell the land rover now before something bad happens.

without an IDS which costs around ten grand no shop can touch anything. without it you cant even find out why the air suspension lights come on. Should it sink to the ground you are screwed. You cant even reset the maintenance light.

plus if you get it shipped to a dealer you will not get a rental from roadside assitance.

there is a priviso about roadside. no rental unless you are fifty miles from home. if you are at your house roadside will pick it up, maybe. But no rental. and the closest dealer will not give you a rental unless you bought it from them.

if you want a vehicle that is easier and cheaper to own buy a land rover discovery one or two. the systems are easier to access and no programming needed.

At this point you will never be happy with your rover ever again as long as you are five hundred miles away.

[class5kayaker]

Well, I got the reservoir fixed in a very round-about way. Three weeks ago after driving on snowy roads my Rover totally lost it's mind. I got the following errors: Transmission Fault, HDC Fault System Not Available, Cruise Control Not Permitted, Special Programs Off, Suspension Lowered, The "Brake" light was amber, the DSC & ETC Light was amber, and the suspension light was amber. In addition to those messages the vehicle lowered itself to the "access" setting and wouldn't raise back up, and the ABS was totally screwy. I guess this is what happens when you're driving a computer on wheels and one little thing goes wrong. On a positive note, I called roadside assistance. They found a wrecker company to tow my LR3 to Spokane (400 miles away) and the dealer in Spokane covered my rental car just like if I was dropping it off for warranty repairs at their shop (their Enterprise guy called the local Enterprise here and arranged it). Two weeks later and I got the vehicle back (roadside assistance towed it back to my home). Didn't cost me a dime and they fixed the reservoir while they had it in the shop. So it was great customer service but still a pain in the @ss (driving a Dodge Caravan around town). The problem turned out to be a faulty ABS sensor, but I guess everything's tied to each other and caused a whole slew of error messages.

Although I love my LR3, I can't risk gong through this again. I had already been planning on getting rid of it as soon as my lease is up in July and not getting another LR. This incident just reinforced that plan.