Gear change, Hill Descent, DSC and EMS whoops

[NavyDiver]

Lost the lot while driving the other night. First notices the Auto transmission seem to not change up from first gear- moved to command shift then back and it seemed to resolve. A few hours later the same thing occured then a Hill Descent failure warning popped up, Then A Engine management failure warning and to make it even more fun the air suspension went down:o. Yikes. Stoped and put car in neutral, turned off the key and the engine kept running :eek:
Move the gear to park and the engine stops. Restart and everything was fine for about ten minutes then this all repeated again. Craig at Ritter had a look and suggested it might be low voltage causing system after system to fail. He suggested Alternator and or battery fault is the likely problem causing all the discos systems to get grumpy:p.
Replaced both battery and Alternator today to be sure. The voltage test on the alternator showed it perfect once then offering a low volatage the next test. Should be right for the next 200,000 now:DComputers do not run very well with power problems:angel:

[connock]

Hi weakestlink

Sounds the same as what mine did, I changed my brake globes and this fixed mine.:)

connock

[Tote]

+ 1 for brake lights, can also be the brake light switch on the brake pedal.

Regards,
Tote

[400HPONGAS]

Same thing again on a mates 09 TDV6 , twas the brake light switch at the brake pedal with only 50000k on it . Easy fix , pity the dealers had to ship the car to Perth and then had to wait three weeks to ship it back again , must have got lost in the Volcanic dust cloud !!! LOL

[bbyer]

If not one of the tail/brake/reverse light filaments, then the problem is probably the brake light circuit switch.

I use the term circuit switch as the double post contacts within affect much more than just the brake light filaments.

The link below is to my gallery on disco3 and towards the bottom is a file related to the brake light switch replacement. Included within is the Ford part number for the switch along with the Land Rover number and the circuit wiring diagram.

If you study the diagram, you will see how the circuits are tied to the hill decent and tranny thru the engine control module. I might add that a feature of the hill decent is that when in operation, the brake light filaments are automatically illuminated. There are also jpg's re my LHD to show you where the brake light switch is located. RHD is the same setup.

DISCO3.CO.UK Photo Gallery - Home > Member Galleries > bbyer (http://www.disco3.co.uk/gallery/index.php?cat=15405)

[NavyDiver]

Thanks gents. Well see if it kicks me again. Funny you should mention the brake lights as Oppersite lock Mitcham put a spare wheel carrier on the back just before this occured:eek:. Wonder if it is connected as it has its own lights wired into the left hand rear light loom.

That is was random was interesting. When you saw all your systemed fall over was it one after another then fixed by a restart? Going to have a look at the rear brakes now;)

[Neil P]

What was the price on this fix ; parts and labour ?
Cheers , Neil .

[NavyDiver]

What was the price on this fix ; parts and labour ?
Cheers , Neil .

It was a ouch at over 1k Neil. Closer to 1.5. keep it quiet for me :D

Give the distance travelled and work still planned I am happy to change the alternator and battery over.

In my inexpert opinion an average battery life is about 5 years. I know some last a lot longer and other die a lot earlier. Lots of environmental factors and usage variables make a exact battery life a guess at best. If we drive off road or in the outback then the insurance of having a new battery and or alternator if needed seems money well spent.

Mine has a dual battery as part of my insurance package. With the new alternator one more possibly weak link is resolved even if it might not have been the cause of my error reorts/faults.

[Graeme]

Are you going to get the alternator overhauled so that you don't buy another one next time?

[NavyDiver]

Are you going to get the alternator overhauled so that you don't buy another one next time?

Would have been a good idea I Graeme, with the two kids in tow I got little time to consider that at the time.

how to guide Doesn't look beyond many handy people. Noted a new topic on D3 battery life got going. It suggested 4 years. Guess my 6 year old battery paid its dues.

[ADMIRAL]

Thanks gents. Well see if it kicks me again. Funny you should mention the brake lights as Oppersite lock Mitcham put a spare wheel carrier on the back just before this occured:eek:. Wonder if it is connected as it has its own lights wired into the left hand rear light loom.

That is was random was interesting. When you saw all your systemed fall over was it one after another then fixed by a restart? Going to have a look at the rear brakes now;)
If they have followed common practice, the wiring will be spliced into the trailer loom, and should have no impact on your vehicle brake lights ? I say that hopefully, as that is how mine is wired. No issues so far.

[NavyDiver]

the gears decided not to change once, took it back and pluged her in, no faults noted at all.

I put a trailer brake controller on recently so we unplugged it and off I go again- Don't you hate intermittent problems!

Today the Hill decent, EMS and DSC reported a error. The suspension stayed up. Stopped and restarted and all was working again. Took her back the Ritter who plugged her in again, fault errors everywhere including suspension but still nothing specific to pin the problem too, We changed the brake controller $99.
Thanks for the suggestion Gents, Will have to wait a week or so to see if it is fixed.

[CraigH]

Had a similar electrical problem on commodore once, kept getting ABS failure coming up.

Turned out to be a weak battery, even though it was starting the car normally.

New battery fixed it.