over it

[Rabrover]

Living in the bush does have its advantages,but owning a Disco 3 is not one of them.Purchased an 06 disco 3 hse one owner job, low kms,never seen dirt ect . Definatley the best vehicle ive ever had the plessure owning until some warning lights appeared on the dash.Long story short have tried many times to have the vehicle repaired by licensed dearlerships in neighbouring towns only to have a vehicle which lowers itself whilst driving (very handy in the bush) aplies the front abs brakes by itself and deactivates special programes all whilst in transit. One month on no closer to a result, i have spoken to landrover australia who where as helpful as they could be over the phone.Thousands of dollars spent on what our neighbours call the giant letterbox , totally deflated. Last advice was it could have been the brake light bulbs (Narva bulbs are not suited to late model landrovers??????) As it turned out this was not the case and if so how good would it be if you were of road and your car decided to lower itself due to a faulty bulb.Does have me wondering about the four star safety rating , half way across a river with your family in the car !!!!!!!!!! One saving grace is my 98 defender has now managed to tow the disco on several occasions (using a car trailer) but would be asking a bit much of her to cross the ranges to gain some assistance.Sighning of as deflated, broke and a little heart broken,But as we say in the bush there is an up side to a down side,,WE happen to have the flashest letter box in town . ANY ADVICE WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

[Graeme]

The lowering to about access height occurs when any fault is reported by the brake system. IMO its a stupid feature but can be got around by various means. The front brakes being applied problem could be a faulty park brake switch because operating it for an emergency stop is a feature, although also not good if it decides for itself to do so. Getting yourself a D3 specific fault code reader will go a long way to diagnosing faulty components, which I would not be without as I'm also nowhere near a LR dealer or specialist LR workshop, let alone when I go travelling further away from major centres.

[SBD4]

Brake light switch may also be an easy and cheap thing to try if it has not already been done yet.

[Rabrover]

Any advice on the location of the brake light switch would be great.This is something that was changed by the dealer prior to to the ABS problems!!!!! They thought it may have been the cause of the other problems.

[Disco4_tech]

Look to the top of the brake pedal arm and you will see a little switch that can be pushed in and out

[sheerluck]

Any advice on the location of the brake light switch would be great.

It's under the trim underneath the dash on the driver's side, above the brake pedal. The switch itself is a blue and white assembly about 50-60mm long, with a plunger one end and a plug the other.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/09/1406.jpg

[newhue]

Living in the bush does have its advantages,but owning a Disco 3 is not one of them.Purchased an 06 disco 3 hse one owner job, low kms,never seen dirt ect . Definatley the best vehicle ive ever had the plessure owning until some warning lights appeared on the dash.Long story short have tried many times to have the vehicle repaired by licensed dearlerships in neighbouring towns only to have a vehicle which lowers itself whilst driving (very handy in the bush) aplies the front abs brakes by itself and deactivates special programes all whilst in transit. One month on no closer to a result, i have spoken to landrover australia who where as helpful as they could be over the phone.Thousands of dollars spent on what our neighbours call the giant letterbox , totally deflated. Last advice was it could have been the brake light bulbs (Narva bulbs are not suited to late model landrovers??????) As it turned out this was not the case and if so how good would it be if you were of road and your car decided to lower itself due to a faulty bulb.Does have me wondering about the four star safety rating , half way across a river with your family in the car !!!!!!!!!! One saving grace is my 98 defender has now managed to tow the disco on several occasions (using a car trailer) but would be asking a bit much of her to cross the ranges to gain some assistance.Sighning of as deflated, broke and a little heart broken,But as we say in the bush there is an up side to a down side,,WE happen to have the flashest letter box in town . ANY ADVICE WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

You know, if it stops in water hirer then the door sills insurance companies tend to write them off. How ironic it would be if it lowered itself on a water crossing.

[NavyDiver]

Put LED bulbs in the brake lights. Stop stressing and look at the same issues most or many of us have already resolved. this might help http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-rrs/145750-d3-led-rear-lights-brake-tail-blinker.html

[SBD4]

What things have the dealership tried to do? Might help to shed some light on a few things. Also if you can be specific about the kinds of errors you are getting it reveal quite a bit about what is going on.

Bad battery and poor earth strap connections can also manifest themselves with a wide variety of weird errors too.

Note also that some dealers are not up to scratch so keep that in mind. A good independent will make your dollar further and usually really know their stuff.

[scarry]

Note also that some dealers are not up to scratch so keep that in mind. A good independent will make your dollar further and usually really know their stuff.


X2 ^^^^^^^^^^ what he said

VERY good advice!

[CaverD3]

Sounds like poor dealer knowledge to me.
Did the dealer say if it had any DTCs (fault codes) stored?
The brake bulb issue is only caused when a globe fails and shorts the filament. So a short anywhere in the wiring can cause this.
Low voltage can also cause this and can have many causes; failing battery, failing alternator, loose connection, current drain.
No DTCs stored for these issues and dealers will tend to rely on them instead of doing old fashioned diagnostics.
Dubbo dealership does not have the best reputation so as said, try an indi.

[Yorkie]

X2 ^^^^^^^^^^ what he said

VERY good advice!

probably not many in his area judging by location.

[lpj]

I ran into a mate on the weekend that is a lover of the brand and is on his 3rd RRS. He was telling me about his 2010 RRS HSE having a hissy fit on the way to the Airport. He had to leave it at 7 Eleven and get a cab.

It turns out that the engine went into limp mode- Why?

It was low on oil. While my mate loves the brand, mechanically minded he is not. It had not had a single service and had 45,000 km's and no service. Because he hadn't bothered to learn how to use the service menu, he hadn't checked the oil and didn't know how many KM's he had done. He runs a very busy business so I guess it just wasn't front of mind. The upside is he can afford to update any time he likes. The downs side is that some unsuspecting mug buys his second hand abused RR.

He has had trouble with his two previous RR's and now I know why. I feel sorry for the person that "inherits" when he updates.

[rb30gtr]

Is it the 07 update that didn't have the light bulb fault issue?

I just replaced all 4 rear globes and they were causing any issues anywhere else in the vehicle.
$7 for 4 globes from Supercheap, SCA globes.

[scarry]

I ran into a mate on the weekend that is a lover of the brand and is on his 3rd RRS. He was telling me about his 2010 RRS HSE having a hissy fit on the way to the Airport. He had to leave it at 7 Eleven and get a cab.

It turns out that the engine went into limp mode- Why?

It was low on oil. While my mate loves the brand, mechanically minded he is not. It had not had a single service and had 45,000 km's and no service. Because he hadn't bothered to learn how to use the service menu, he hadn't checked the oil and didn't know how many KM's he had done. He runs a very busy business so I guess it just wasn't front of mind. The upside is he can afford to update any time he likes. The downs side is that some unsuspecting mug buys his second hand abused RR.

He has had trouble with his two previous RR's and now I know why. I feel sorry for the person that "inherits" when he updates.

i know a guy who has had two late model RR burn,no fault of his.He loves the vehicles and has another two at the moment.
And no i don't know the full story why they burnt.

[Rabrover]

Thankyou everyone for your help. Turns ot that the original info recieved on this site is correct (brake light switch) This had been replaced by the dealer but not installed correctly!!!! This was the cause of the front brakes activating themselves. By simply giving it a slight twist it made quite a loud sound like a spring being released . Disconnected the negative for twenty minutes Thus resetting the computer all problems solved. Contacted the dealer they where sorry but could only offer a discount on future work. To sum it up a $23.45c Part cost me just over $3500 given the purchase of another car $2000 towing labour ect our beloved landy has to go. Hopefully one day somebody on the central tablelands is able to service these vehicles. I spoke to landrover australia they could not believe that our closest dealer did not even want to look at the car and our second option two and a half hours away could not install the part correctly. We still have our 98 defender (no computer) so still happy days ahead. Thankyou all again

[austeve01]

Living in the bush does have its advantages,but owning a Disco 3 is not one of them.Purchased an 06 disco 3 hse one owner job, low kms,never seen dirt ect . Definatley the best vehicle ive ever had the plessure owning until some warning lights appeared on the dash.Long story short have tried many times to have the vehicle repaired by licensed dearlerships in neighbouring towns only to have a vehicle which lowers itself whilst driving (very handy in the bush) aplies the front abs brakes by itself and deactivates special programes all whilst in transit. One month on no closer to a result, i have spoken to landrover australia who where as helpful as they could be over the phone.Thousands of dollars spent on what our neighbours call the giant letterbox , totally deflated. Last advice was it could have been the brake light bulbs (Narva bulbs are not suited to late model landrovers??????) As it turned out this was not the case and if so how good would it be if you were of road and your car decided to lower itself due to a faulty bulb.Does have me wondering about the four star safety rating , half way across a river with your family in the car !!!!!!!!!! One saving grace is my 98 defender has now managed to tow the disco on several occasions (using a car trailer) but would be asking a bit much of her to cross the ranges to gain some assistance.Sighning of as deflated, broke and a little heart broken,But as we say in the bush there is an up side to a down side,,WE happen to have the flashest letter box in town . ANY ADVICE WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.



Hi

I had similar issues to yourself. Short story for me was it turned out to be faulty starter battery. Replaced it and not had the problem since until the alternator failed. Replaced it .. all good again.

Cheers

[Bearman]

Another happy forumite, isn't it good to see a problem solved by the collective knowledge and the "willing to help" attitude of members of this great forum. This is the sort of thing that makes owning a landrover memorable.

[CaverD3]

Poor dealerships have a lot to answer for.
LR wanted to authorise other service centres but dealership contracts would not let them.

[BigJon]

Is it the 07 update that didn't have the light bulb fault issue?

I just replaced all 4 rear globes and they were causing any issues anywhere else in the vehicle.
$7 for 4 globes from Supercheap, SCA globes.

Don't be surprised if the cheap globes cause trouble or don't last long.
I don't stock anything other than Philips globes for that reason, they seem to be the best.

[PAT303]

My RR only like Philips globes. Pat

[Torb]

Thankyou everyone for your help. Turns ot that the original info recieved on this site is correct (brake light switch) This had been replaced by the dealer but not installed correctly!!!! This was the cause of the front brakes activating themselves. By simply giving it a slight twist it made quite a loud sound like a spring being released . Disconnected the negative for twenty minutes Thus resetting the computer all problems solved. Contacted the dealer they where sorry but could only offer a discount on future work. To sum it up a $23.45c Part cost me just over $3500 given the purchase of another car $2000 towing labour ect our beloved landy has to go. Hopefully one day somebody on the central tablelands is able to service these vehicles. I spoke to landrover australia they could not believe that our closest dealer did not even want to look at the car and our second option two and a half hours away could not install the part correctly. We still have our 98 defender (no computer) so still happy days ahead. Thankyou all again

I'm glad that you got it sorted in the end. I'm still going with my problem. I get the HDC Transmission Fault error followed by the car lowering itself.
My local LR specialst has changed my brake light switch twice to no avail and then I bought a brand new battery that initially looked promising but now the error is back. Have replaced the brake light buls in the rear but that didn't fix it.
I'm in two minds whether to take the car to a dealer or keep taking it back to the specialist. Seems like they are just asking me to spend money until we find the fault. Why can't the diagnose the exact fault and then ask me to spend money.

I'm like you OVER IT:censored:

[ak]

I remember thinking when the D3's first came out and the first few years reports on reliability where good and thinking Land Rover had finally nailed it and reliability is finally up there with the Jap brands. After reading many of these threads now days it honestly just makes my heart sink about the brand we all love some much.

[Silenceisgolden]

I remember thinking when the D3's first came out and the first few years reports on reliability where good and thinking Land Rover had finally nailed it and reliability is finally up there with the Jap brands. After reading many of these threads now days it honestly just makes my heart sink about the brand we all love some much.

Hop onto a few of the Jap brand forums, or even VW - you might think more kindly of Land Rover when you see what the others do.

[crawal]

As a person looking at getting into a D3 , i have crawled the other forums . try reading the Prado one you wonder why they still buy them.
As for the Patrol they are all waiting for them to go bang!! (yup i own one a 4.8 though for the moment)
so still looking for low km D3 SE diesel ....

[Graeme]

I get the HDC Transmission Fault error followed by the car lowering itself.The suspension lowering is a direct result of the brake system reporting a fault. I suspect there is a wheel speed sensor giving intermitant faults so check to see if the wiring harness behind the left front wheel has come away from its chassis clip and had insulation worn from the wires allowing them to touch together as this is a common occurrance.

[101RRS]

The suspension lowering is a direct result of the brake system reporting a fault. I suspect there is a wheel speed sensor giving intermitant faults so check to see if the wiring harness behind the left front wheel has come away from its chassis clip and had insulation worn from the wires allowing them to touch together as this is a common occurrance.

Would this show up if the codes were read? I have a spare brake switch in my spare parts and just changed the tail/stop lights to LEDs - now i might check the wiring harness behind the front left wheel and provide some padding as a precautionary measure so I don't have this issue.

Garry

[TerryO]

I remember thinking when the D3's first came out and the first few years reports on reliability where good and thinking Land Rover had finally nailed it and reliability is finally up there with the Jap brands. After reading many of these threads now days it honestly just makes my heart sink about the brand we all love some much.


My D3 costs me a fortune in services and repairs. However that is because I use it for what it is meant for and then some, meaning it breaks things or more to the point I break and wear things out on a regular basis.

These vehicles are great bits of gear that were way ahead of their rivals and in many cases still are years later and I for one are very happy with my old D3, especially given it is well over 8 years old.

[Torb]

The suspension lowering is a direct result of the brake system reporting a fault. I suspect there is a wheel speed sensor giving intermitant faults so check to see if the wiring harness behind the left front wheel has come away from its chassis clip and had insulation worn from the wires allowing them to touch together as this is a common occurrance.

Thanks for the suggestion Graham, will check it tomorrow morning and report back. Apart from this fault, and the control arm bushings, this car is fantastic. But this ongoing problem is taking it out of me for sure.

[SBD4]

I'm glad that you got it sorted in the end. I'm still going with my problem. I get the HDC Transmission Fault error followed by the car lowering itself.
My local LR specialst has changed my brake light switch twice to no avail and then I bought a brand new battery that initially looked promising but now the error is back. Have replaced the brake light buls in the rear but that didn't fix it.
I'm in two minds whether to take the car to a dealer or keep taking it back to the specialist. Seems like they are just asking me to spend money until we find the fault. Why can't the diagnose the exact fault and then ask me to spend money.

I'm like you OVER IT:censored:


Take a look at these threads. Definitely some good pointers to check on:

DISCO3.CO.UK - View topic - Transmission Fault, HDC Fault, Suspension Lowers (http://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/topic85672.html)
DISCO3.CO.UK - View topic - HDC, TRANSMISSION AND PARK BRAKE FAULT (http://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/topic44647.html)
DISCO3.CO.UK - View topic - Hill decent control fail / suspension lowered during driving (http://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/topic89834.html)
DISCO3.CO.UK - View topic - BONG - Transmission fault suspension lowering (http://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/topic88642.html)
DISCO3.CO.UK - View topic - Transmission Fault, HDC Fault and Suspension Lowers - WEIRD! (http://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/topic34546.html)

Brake Light Switch
Non Genuine bulbs
Capacitor Assy (RF Supressor) bolted to transmission(fuse blows)
TCM
Poor earth connection on battery
Battery in poor condition
Earth strap issues
Fuel filter (recall??)
bad Injector
Steering angle sensor
suspension height sensor
Rear ediff module
Chafed wiring front wheel well
Poor connection for harness in rear wheel well
water in TCM wiring/corrosion.
etc. etc.

If you can get the fault codes read then that will help to provide more detailed info on what is going on. As said in the threads above the order in which these occur matters. Get the repairer to give them to you, then post them up here - some of the guys are sure to be able to offer some advice.

[Geedublya]

The brake light switch is a pain in the arse. I had mine out on the weekend while doing some other things and it has a mechanism that does not allow it to operate correctly unless it is installed (twisted in) into the correct position.

This mechanism can jam the plunger out. I found that even though I had installed the switch correctly the plunger jammed out causing the brakes to applied slightly (I did not notice this) when I drove a couple of kilometers the brakes heated enough so that they were significantly applied and a bunch of faults started appearing (transmission, HDC, ABS etc). I was sitting on the side of the road in the pouring rain wondering how I long I had to wait for the brakes to cool down enough to limp home very slowly when I heard a pop as the plunger settled back into the correct position.

I drove home and pulled the switch out again and installed it a few more times to find that indeed the plunger can jam causing the problem.

I was tempted to replace the switch with the new spare I carry, however I have left the original in there and have had no further problems.

[Torb]

Thought I give you an update on my problem with the HDC transmission fault message. Quick recap: have replaced the brake light switch twice and then a new battery.
Took it back to MR Automotive yesterday and after three hours of investigations they found that one of the circuits going to the brake pedal didn't have power. Turns out to be a bad connection in the wire loom under the dash board. They didn't try to locate the exact point as that would've taken a long time, instead bypassed the circuit and the problem is fixed.
Luckily the bad connection was off this time, all the other times when I took it in to them the connection had closed and hence they couldn't find the fault. This was a tricky one for sure.

I really hope that this is it and this error doesn't come back.:p

[Ashes]

You can add starter motor to the list as a possible culprit if you get these type of faults when starting the car..mine had that problem. I also had similar faults when I first got the car which were sorted by a new battery.

[theresanothersteve]

Don't be surprised if the cheap globes cause trouble or don't last long.
I don't stock anything other than Philips globes for that reason, they seem to be the best.
Gotta agree with this advice. Wouldn't trust anything from a 'supermarket' like SCA for anything critical.
I can also remember when Narva was considered cheap and nasty, and still stay away if I can. Probably unjustified now, but we all have idosyncracies...

[rb30gtr]

Gotta agree with this advice. Wouldn't trust anything from a 'supermarket' like SCA for anything critical.
I can also remember when Narva was considered cheap and nasty, and still stay away if I can. Probably unjustified now, but we all have idosyncracies...

All 4 globes for the rear of my disco cost $7 all up and have not had an issue yet. SCA all the way.