HDC System fault, Special programs not available

[PeterOZ]

Hi Guys,
had to disconnect the battery today as it went flat. So disconnected it and charged it up then reconnected it.


Car started fine but noticed it had all sorts of system faults afterwards.


Special programs not available & cant select any.



Transmission range change not available

Noticed the hi range and low range lights are flashing


Also the green mountain symbol on left guage is lit as is the orange system fault symbol under the temp guage.


I tried resetting by lock / unlock the car 3 times. No good.


any thoughts? Do I need to reset something?


hope somebody has some wisdom on this one.
cheers
Peter

[tonyci]

Hi Peter
Have you tried a hard reset. If not would be worth a try details in the Frequently Asked Questions section.
Cheers
Tony

[PeterOZ]

mate how do I do that?

[tonyci]

As per this
ow to Hard Reset
Removing the key from the ignition and let the vehicle sit at least 5 minutes to lets all the ECUs go to sleep so they won't be damaged by the reset. Then, undo the battery -ve terminal, then undo the battery +ve terminal and touch the two cables together to short them (You may have to place a screwdriver to get the 2 cables to touch). This is known as a hard reset.

**PLEASE** take care not to drop & short the cables together on the battery & create an arc as this will lead to damage. Note that this is touching the CABLES together, and does not involve the battery at all!

If you have a dual battery system installed, you MUST remove the negative terminal off all auxiliary batteries BEFORE you touch the cranking battery terminals.

And only after you have done the HARD RESET and reconnected both cranking battery terminals, then you can reconnect the auxiliary battery negative terminals.
Cheers
Tony

[tonyci]

That was taken from the FAQ section on the forum. Several threads on this, seems to clear a lot of battery related faults.
Good luck
Tony

[PeterOZ]

tried it without success. Forgot my iphone was on the edge of the engine bay and slammed the bonnet down on top of it. No more iphone!

[Graeme]

How charged up is the battery? Voltage can be high enough to start the engine but too low to prevent the disabling of various functions to conserve the battery.

Pressing the suspension raise button is the usual method of clearing the flashing lights unless the fault (eg low battery) is still current.

[SBD4]

Battery Aziz - YouTube

Sorry Peter, I couldn't resist it. You are having a bad day!

Aside from the battery perhaps being on its way out, could be a small draw on the battery like here:

www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-rrs/153579-d3-battery-drain-fuse-fl17.html

[PeterOZ]

yeah mate tis the way it goes. Anyway off tto apple Store at Carindale tomorrow for a refurb iphone 5.


As for the issue with the D3 I have no idea at all. I can still drive it ok just no off road functions. Will give MR a call on Monday and see what they have to say about it.


Obviously when I disconnected the battery I have upset something or the other.


cheers

[PeterOZ]

ok seems the fault has been cured. Rad that if you put it into offroad height you can then cycle though the special programs. Tried it and yes it worked!


Could select all programs and select low range. I then lowered it to normal height and special programs all worked. All I can think is that upon putting the car into offroad height it forces an ECU load to clear any corrupted data sitting in the ECU buffers.


Now to see how the battery goes . . . .

[Graeme]

It probably didn't need to go into off-road height, only that the raise switch be pressed to take the suspension ecu out of its error mode, perhaps then requiring the lower switch to be pressed to cancel the off-road height mode request.

If the suspension ecu is not fully operational as well as every other system that special programs uses then special programs are not allowed.

I suspect the suspension or some other ecu considered that the battery voltage was too low to run the compressor and therefore the suspension ecu went into a basic mode, with the visual indicator being the flashing raise and lower LEDs.

[PeterOZ]

So far so good though the battery is definitely on way out. Trying to work out which one to get.

[jonesfam]

When I was recently having my battery changed the bloke doing it hooked some little thing up to the battery cables before disconnecting the battery.
When I asked him why? He said it kept enough voltage going through the car that all the electronic systems would not go nuts when the battery was removed.
The car was as per normal after the new battery fit.
Jonesfam

[discotwinturbo]

When I was recently having my battery changed the bloke doing it hooked some little thing up to the battery cables before disconnecting the battery. When I asked him why? He said it kept enough voltage going through the car that all the electronic systems would not go nuts when the battery was removed. The car was as per normal after the new battery fit. Jonesfam

They do that so radio codes etc are not lost on your average car, However, Discoverys like a good reboot every now and then. Brett...

[willem]

I don't know if you've fixed this yet, but I reckon if you replace the battery you'll fix the problems.

Willem

[PeterOZ]

It's fine for the moment. Battery has give grief once more. Have to a deep charge for a day and so far it is behaving.

[WhiteD3]

I'd be checking the battery volts at start-up.

[PeterOZ]

Did that

[putauaki]

Hi all,

Sorry to Hijack this thread but I have been having HDC issues, Car alarm going off, suspension always lowers when vehicle is parked and the occaisonal transmission fault. Have I mentioned the radio playing classical music when preset 3 is selected prior to starting the car?

I have noticed that the battery is holding 12.7 volts with the terminals off. As soon as the terminals are back in place the voltage drops to 12.4 volts. There is a dip when cranking and the voltage across the terminals gradually increases to 12.7volts. Not sure how to check the alternator.

Oh and my left hand brake light is always double brightness.

So I have been reading around and have come to the conclusion that it's either (or a combination of) the battery, alternator and/or brake light switch.

Does anyone have any ideas for me at all? I would love to call a mechanic but getting to one at the moment is really not an option. At least for the next couple of months.

Thanks in advance!

[PeterOZ]

Vintage across the terminals with engine running?

[putauaki]

with the engine running the voltage gets to and stays at 12.7 volts

[PeterOZ]

That is low. I'd expect it to be around 14 v

[putauaki]

So... getting a new battery might be the go? I guess i am worried about the voltage drop also though

[PeterOZ]

Possibly a short in the plates.

[PeterOZ]

Though I would expect the voltage to rise with the engine running.

[putauaki]

Sorry, I don't quite know what you mean by in the plates. I'm not experienced with auto electrical faults.

[PeterOZ]

Plates inside the battery. They can collapse and short. You then get a loss in current capacity and voltage

[putauaki]

Ahh right! Is there anyway I can check the alternator for faults?

[Plane Fixer]

In short your battery is stuffed and the problem may have cascaded to the alternator.
First thing I would do is replace the battery with the correct capacity one and go from there.

[putauaki]

Righto, sounds like a plan! Thanks for the help team! I'll let you know how it went.

[putauaki]

Hey all, managed to get the battery replaced at Mechanics for under $200. All up, no more fault codes! However the engine now idles higher when the AC is on. Reckon that's normal?

[jonesfam]

Hey all, managed to get the battery replaced at Mechanics for under $200. All up, no more fault codes! However the engine now idles higher when the AC is on. Reckon that's normal?
Very!:D

[4evershiva]

hey guys, HDC fault error code. however, the error disappears once I turn on and off the car. doesn't happen all the time but happens say once in 2 or 3 days. from a read through of the previous posts, is this something related to the battery. taking it for a service in a couple of weeks to MR automotive.

[4evershiva]

volts between terminals were less than 14v at idle condition. white powder discharge around negative terminal. RACQ load test performed shows battery not charging sufficiently. Replacing battery now. hope that will eliminate the fault from occurring.

[Nicky]

volts between terminals were less than 14v at idle condition. white powder discharge around negative terminal. RACQ load test performed shows battery not charging sufficiently. Replacing battery now. hope that will eliminate the fault from occurring.
Look at CTEK smart chargers, will tell you everything

[austeve01]

Look at CTEK smart chargers, will tell you everything

I'll 2nd that one .. they're great

Cheers

[4evershiva]

hmm...got the battery replaced by RACQ...but got the error message again this morning....turned off the engine and on...fault cleared and all good...this seems to happen once in 2 days...heading to fraser island in june...don't want this to happen there and make the trip dreadful...any suggestion as to what I need to look at next?? how about checking the transfer case ECU? piece of advice and DIY instruction towards doing the check on transfer case ECU.