no ignition or dash

[hammy]

Heya

I have a 95 P38 HSE
yesterday jumped in to go to work, remote opened the doors, got in, turned key, had acessories but no dash when cycling through to ignition. got out the car... stood dumbfouned or 20 seconds and hey presto... dash light on and turned the key and away we go...

got down the road.. dash lights flickering... then she stalled. lights came on a second later and she fired up no problem. drove back home (gave myself the day off too haha) and it flickered (resetting ignition sequence) all the way.

Played with terminals, checked and cleaned every fuse and relay both BECM and under bonnet. Checked 12V to all three BECM power feeds, ok.

Checked earth from fuse box, checked earth from BECM.

Being st paddys day I then slowed the process of elimitation by way of beer.

Ok, got up this morning...slowly....bloody Jamesons.... and went into the garage. No dash at all and everything I do wont change that. The BECM seems to still be working as the dash will still show ignition key in, bonnet open etc etc etc. However, it also showed ignition key in a few times when the key was out, andthe accessories all work perfectly. there is a clicking in the BECM when the key is turned to start but nothing else, there IS a power drain as the light on the 12v lighter adapter for the retro fitted reverse camera dimms when the key is turned.
Car has new TRS engine, NEW battery, NEW cables.

Myabe it's just peed off cos its parked next to a Caterham in the garage.... and its feeling fat or something.

Any thoughts?
Or should I just go back to the Jamesons and call a tow truck toorrow? :)

Cheers in advance

[Hoges]

Have you put a meter across the terminals? The battery may be new....but is it charged? Any means of jump starting it to see whether more (battery) power is required?

[hammy]

Battery is at 12.64V
Load tester shows good
all other accessories work, windows, sunroof, seats, sound system etc.

I can bridge the plug from the key barrel and get accessories but nothing else.

Will go through the electrics in ws manual at work tomorrow, then bring em home on stick and go through it again. When I bought the RR I made sure I had a second car to get to work in ;)

[PaulP38a]

Try "rebooting" the BeCM.
Disconnect the battery for a few minutes, then reconnect.
You will need to reset the windows, sunroof etc
I had a 95 model that exhibited wierdness every few months, a reset seemed to fix it.
Worth a try!
Cheers, Paul.

[hammy]

did the reboot on several occasions, ran multi meter to all power feeds, checked all earths. still no go.
I noted the BECM powers the ECU and there is power to it, so maybe the ecu has an issue. I have delivered it to the boys at Hypertuned in Cairns and I'm sure they will sort it in due time.

Will let all know the outcome.

Cheers

[wayneg]

I cant offer any knowledgeable help but have had a thought that this could possible be a fault of the engine ECU. Not 100% sure on this but could be the one behind the battery on gems and eas box on Thor.
For some expert advice and testing see........Sending your Becm for Test-P38 Range Rover Electrical Common faults and Fixes (http://www.p38rangerover.com/sending-your-becm.html)


Correct me if I am way off the mark here.....

[hammy]

well the hunt is still on.

new becm, new fuse box (apparently they crack or deteriorate at terminal 19?)
still no go.
the boys have got the dash going by forcing it through the becm, but still no dash or power to the engine.
ordered a new ecu yesterday, be here monday.

every phone call is costing me lots of money and I don't even get heavy breathing on the other end!!!

stay tuned :)

[zhoey]

Sounds like the need for a new fusebox.

[Craig_Keira]

Hold on Hammy. New BECM, new fuse box AND new ECU?

It would appear these guys are having guesses with your credit card. I've had this happen to me with a Falcon (of all exotica!). I was charged $800 to not fix it then fixed it myself with a 2nd hand instrument cluster for $165. I delayed exploding until in front of the autoelectrician. His excuse was "I don't know anything about car computers."

When something stops working like this, it's usually because something broke/fried. Not half a dozen things all magically failing at once. The excuse usually goes like this "oh well, yeah the fuse box fried, took out the becm and the ecu. Yeah, real bad mate - unlucky.'" See para above where I was fed exactly that crap prior to finding out he knew nothing.

Has anyone hooked some diagnostics up to your car? Or are they trying to fix it with a test light and a multimeter?

[DT-P38]

Hold on Hammy. New BECM, new fuse box AND new ECU?

It would appear these guys are having guesses with your credit card. I've had this happen to me with a Falcon (of all exotica!). I was charged $800 to not fix it then fixed it myself with a 2nd hand instrument cluster for $165. I delayed exploding until in front of the autoelectrician. His excuse was "I don't know anything about car computers."

When something stops working like this, it's usually because something broke/fried. Not half a dozen things all magically failing at once. The excuse usually goes like this "oh well, yeah the fuse box fried, took out the becm and the ecu. Yeah, real bad mate - unlucky.'" See para above where I was fed exactly that crap prior to finding out he knew nothing.

Has anyone hooked some diagnostics up to your car? Or are they trying to fix it with a test light and a multimeter?

X2. Agree with Craig's concerns... people see range rover badges and assume you are made of money. I hope you have mates at this place otherwise that bill could be more than the cars worth.

Parts for these cars are too expensive to play fix by process of elimination with... there are plenty of tools available to plug in and properly diagnose the cause. Put your foot down with them and find out what they are using to determine the problem before you lose the shirt off your back.

Tell them you will want all your "bad" parts back, they are still yours and you can use them to check up on the job and often reco (like the fuse box... it can be revived if you are patient). And finally, do not pay for parts unless they were actually causing the problem they are supposed to fix for you.

[Craig_Keira]

FYI I do recall reading once that over 80% of all ECUs returned were NFF (no fault found).

Ask for a full diagnosis and code read.

[hammy]

no ECU test required, new one here later today.
BECM replaced.
FUSE BOX replaced.
BECM will activate dash (so no, it's not the dash) when prompted, so thoughts are on the ECU. once replaced should be good.
and yes Craig, as worded, full diagnostics are being run on the car.

as for having my credit card guessed all over (does that stain?) I think they are doing all they can at the mo, including communicating with me well and all they have said does concur with others in the iundustry, so i have no issues with the boys wrenching it.but yeah.... expensive process.
In my business we work on hi tech supercharged and turbo machines with up to 5 on board ecu's so I can appreciate what the guys are doing :)

just another expensive pommie car aye....

[wayneg]

I have got to agree 100% with the other posters that the garage you are using seems to be clutching at straws. Its a bit late now but for anyone else reading this if you had sent your BECM, engine ecu and remote to the place in the link I posted you would know what if any of these items were faulty, had them fixed economically with a guarantee or just returned with a good report
I was once set up for a $3000 part at a Mercedes specialist after they "Diagnosed" the problem. Thankfully I managed to get a loan part from another car and they were rightly embarrassed when it did not cure the fault.
Has your Garage got the genuine Landrover testbook diagnostics?

[Atlantean]

Sounds like a basic power feed problem - If this were a RRC 2 door I would say that you have loose connections- power supply - at the starter motor ( as I remember this is where the power feed comes from for ignition / ignition lights / starter activation )

[ytt105]

I'll give my standard response to anything electrical on these cars.

Have you done the electrical sticky from here
Sticky: Electrical Troubleshooting Updated 2010 (http://www.rangerovers.net/forum/7-range-rover-mark-ii-p38/28663-sticky-electrical-troubleshooting-updated-2010-a.html)

Often fixes many and varied strange electrical issues.

[DT-P38]

no ECU test required, new one here later today.
BECM replaced.
FUSE BOX replaced.
BECM will activate dash (so no, it's not the dash) when prompted, so thoughts are on the ECU. once replaced should be good.


You sort of said it here already. The BECM and FUSE BOX have been replaced but the problem is still there. So get them to put the old ones back as they are not causing the problem.

If you decide not to, at least get the old stuff off them and give it to me please... I will pay the postage to Melbourne for your "not good" parts.

Sorry for sounding sarcastic, it just seems like you are in the process of being taken for a ride. Maybe I am missing something... Might re read the thread.

[hammy]

trigger wire from BECM to ECU
it appears some idiot has poked a multi into this wire some time ago and due to me using the car for dumping jet skis in the water all week, the salt water from my boots has seeped through the underlay, through the tiny hole in the wire left from the MM and black wired it.

I still believe the guys working on it have done a great job. Car runs superb now.

I now have a BECM in unborn state, a full fuse box and a perfect ECU for P38 RR for sale.

think I'll make up a special rubber mat so this can't happen again ;)

thanks for your replaie and advice, some I took, some I jumped the gun on. As for sending the BECM to Mark it was a time frame thing for me and looking back if I had then we would still be chasing ghosts.

cheers