This make and model has a reputation for leaking transmission fluid either through breather outlets or plugs that should seal but don't. And one of the first signs that a transmission has lost fluid is a refusal to select a gear. Everything an automatic transmission does is through hydraulic pressure. Lose enough fluid over time, and there's insufficient pressure to make the vehicle move.

The good news is your vehicle should still be under factory warranty, so take it to an LDV dealership to be assessed. But don’t try to top up the fluid and drive it there, as this could cause more damage if the problem is something more complex.

Your LDV has a seven-year/200,000km warranty so, in theory, any failure of the transmission within this period would potentially be covered by the warranty. The exception would be if the vehicle has not been serviced correctly. If you or a previous owner has skipped servicing and maintenance, you may find the warranty is void. The other exception would be if the vehicle has been abused or used to tow heavier loads than it’s designed for.

This engine uses a separate cooling system for its intercooler set-up, rather than simply tapping into the engine’s main cooling system. But the secondary cooling system works just the same as the engine’s coolant system, which means the expansion tank also has an overflow function.

When coolant is heated, it expands. If the system is too full, there’s not enough room for this expansion of the coolant, and the overflow function steps in, allowing some of the coolant to escape to prevent over-pressurising the rest of the system. Once that has happened perhaps a couple of times, the system will then have enough room in the expansion tank to completely contain the coolant, even when it’s hot. This is possibly why you’re seeing some coolant escaping.

However, if the coolant level continues to drop, there’s a good chance you have a leak somewhere in the system. This could be contained within the plumbing that routes the coolant around the engine bay, or even a crack in the expansion tank itself. A workshop should be able to do a pressure test which will determine if there’s a leak and where it is. The leak is also often located on the valve that lets the excess coolant when it needs to (a valve that can commonly fail). This is normally at the top of the expansion tank, but the leak could easily be appearing at the bottom simply by running down the side of the tank.