Nothing but issues : xdrive /abs Light, transferbox ...., ideas please

[cooa99]

Hi guys,

It seems I have a few issues on my 2005 3.0d Sports and I am at the point of repair or letting the old girl go, though I would rather keep her.

Current know issues prior to this weekends debacle were :-
1) All 4 tyres getting close to legal limit. Reasons I had not commuted to buying a new set is that Michelin Latitude Diamaris are no longer in production and I cant find any * rated tyres.

2) Some kind of oily leak on front passenger side that leaked onto the cv joint gaitor. Initial thoughts was that this was a power steering rack / pipe leak but difficult to tell so indy told me to use the car a bit more (since area was relatively clean) to see if the accumulation of oil may show the culprit. That was 5 weeks ago.

Anyway over the weekend, the handbrake, ABS and Xdrive lights stayed on on the dash. Whenever I turn off the ignition, I get a clicking noise under the car. So I plugged in my CS110 scanner for diagnostics the following are showing up

1) glow plug cylinder 1,2,3,4,5, 6 -> How come I did not notice this in the feel of the car while driving?
2) 4F7AEGS: Signal from transferbox is faulty

Car is booked back in tomorrow to the indy for diagnostics ... and I am dreading the repair costs. This is turning out not to be a good month, I have just scrapped my other car Golf tdi Mk4 two weeks ago after 330k miles

[marti]

123456 glow plugs...sounds like the controller has gone.....under the scuttle panel If I remember rightly.

As for the transfer code etc. delete all the codes and go for a drive and re-read....I never had * rated tyres on my e53 in 8 yrs of owing her and she's still going strong with the chap whom bought her off me.....

Hows the battery??....if its down on voltage it will throw all sorts of things including trans fail safe....should be 12+volts on cranking and 13 to 14 volts strated up.

[Waka]

I'm pretty sure * rated tyres aren't mandetory on E53s. I certainly didn't have any on my car when I had it. I bought a set of Toyo Proxes and they were brilliant (and pretty good value).

[X5Sport]

Diamaris aren’t ‘*’ marked and I don’t believe that the E53 has the ‘sensitivity’ to tyres that later models developed - probably because much of the tech was borrowed from LandRover....

Glowplugs won’t show up as an issue in this weather, nor is there a DPF to worry about. New controllers are BERU and not silly money. You can test the plugs with a meter. They normally go open circuit so anything more than a few fractions on an Ohm will confirm whether they really have failed. If they have then start applying a releasing agent well before getting them done as they tend to stick in the head. Replacing snapped or stripped plugs gets pricey - my X6 was £800 at an Indy so a main Dealer would have been

E53 Bosch Plugs are about £14 each, BERU controller around £50. Worth changing the lot because if the plugs are going they will cause the controller to fail - if they haven’t already.

Transfer box error could be wiring if the car drives alright. Ping kkx5 a PM, he’ll know for sure.

[cooa99]

The diamaris are without a doubt ‘*’ rated. Marked as such on the tyres themselves. Which one of the proxes? and which other tyres do you guys recommend?

I had the battery replaced about 5 months ago so should be in great shape. Unfortunately I did not have enough time to use the CTEK or reset the fault codes, I had to drop the car off at the indy and pick up a hire Car to get to work.

[cooa99]

Indy have given me a call to say the issue with the transfer case was a damaged cog inside it. So they have replaced that , cost of part is about a tenner!

They are now trying to find the source of the fluid leak

[X5Sport]

That sounds like a major result. Most of us dread hearing the phrase ‘transfer case fault’ as that usually equates to bank account emptying.

[marti]

Excellent result....bet your chuffed

[Leslie]

Little plastic worm gear on the e53s wears a flat spot and can no longer mesh had read about it so good result there.

[Waka]

The diamaris are without a doubt ‘*’ rated. Marked as such on the tyres themselves. Which one of the proxes? and which other tyres do you guys recommend?

From my old thread I found here:
https://xdrivers.co.uk/forum/viewtopic. ... o&start=15

They were Proxes S/T, but I'm not sure they make them any more. £103 9 years ago seems a a bargain!

[cooa99]

My good news did not last

I got the car back yesterday and last night after a couple of hours of driving the drive/abs lights came up again, so looks like whatever they did not fix the issue. I will have to drop the car back again this week. I have had to Hire a car last week for 3 days to get to work. Looks like I will have to hire a car again while I don't have my car.

Can I still drive the car like that to work which is a 120 miles daily round trip or its a no no for this type of fault?


IF a new transfer case is way to go, how much am I looking at?. I am almost tempted to call it a day after 11yrs of ownership, its been a good girl till now.

[cooa99]

Ok, just got a call from the indy.

Issue is either the servo motor in the transfer case or the whole transfer box which includes the servo. servo is £900 and transfer box (which includes the servo) is £2700

I am lost for words. Not sure what to do now considering the car value

[Leslie]

There is a guy on here can fix them sure someone will come up with his name soon

[kkx5]

That would be me
As for Toyo: sorry, rubbish on xdrive e53, e70, e71. We did well over 20 transfer boxes damaged by toyo's.
As for Michelin Diamaris: great tyres and 100% star rated.
As for tyre sensitivity: E53 is one of the worse one.

[cooa99]

Thanks kkx5 for sorting me out a transfer case!

I am well shattered after the the 9hr round trip.