Discovering the D4

[aus86inch]

Spent the day on Sunday checking out my new truck, decided to have a bit of a sleep in the back whilst admiring the inside LOL. then proceeded to the front, popped the bonnet to look around.
Removed all the plastic bits and the head lights and the front grill to find a lot of the wiring had no conduit or even insulation tape on quite a few areas :confused: to rolls of insulation tape to be exact.
now the scary bit, bunch of wires pushed down hard onto a sharp metal plate in the brake booster compartment :eek: even to the extent there was coloured shavings below it.
bit disappointed since it is only 1200km young :(
have attached photo, maybe others should check there's out, time and tape is cheap compared to short circuit.
question, i have posted a photo, laying on ground looking under near side rear quarter panel next to exhaust, that style of plug is it waterproof, mud etc as it is very exposed.
sorry about the long thread but does anybody have a protection plate under the transfer case / gearbox to protect the sensors sticking out :) phew got it all out, i,ll take a breath now
thanks Andrew

[TerryO]

Yes it looks quite horrendous and goes against all the things you always believed were reasonable standards, but the only thing is they have been building them like this since the D3 and its rear to hear about shorts ever.

I'm not saying it doesn't happen, just I can't remember the last time I read about it, if indeed I have.

Re auto protection plate check out Gordon's site ... http://www.greenovalexperience.com

Congrats on the new wagon.

[Epic pooh]

Mine has survived 9 years of being wired like that ... No problems ! I must say that some of the joins like that under the car used to worry me a bit until I worked out that it's to make it easier to wash the muck out !

[Mungus]

[QUOTE=TerryO;2211809]

I'm not saying it doesn't happen, just I can't remember the last time I read about it, if indeed I have.

QUOTE]


Must have missed my recent thread re: No headlights etc.. Terry. Ended up being a squashed wiring loom shorting the Canbus cable to earth.

[Meken]

Connector looks watertight (best to pull apart to check) it's the exposed wiring I'd be unhappy about pretty exposed to a stick or rock damaging it - at least some more conduit or wrapping in tape would give it a bit more of a chance.
EDIT I guess if an electrical connector under the vehicle was not waterproof and LR advertise a wading depth that would immerse the connector then a big not fit for purpose argument arises !!

[ade]

I just assumed the plugs are water/dust proof

[TerryO]

[QUOTE=TerryO;2211809]

I'm not saying it doesn't happen, just I can't remember the last time I read about it, if indeed I have.

QUOTE]


Must have missed my recent thread re: No headlights etc.. Terry. Ended up being a squashed wiring loom shorting the Canbus cable to earth.


Yes I did miss it Mungus, a question though if you don't mind? How did the wiring loom get squashed behind the head light?

[aus86inch]

I will be down the back of the vehicle this weekend, just ordered my sliders from Brad so will get to and make a few protection plates/covers as well as run conduit and tape around the rest of the exposed wiring.
plan to go for 12 months plus pulling a van through the outback & want to protect the vulnerable bits as much as possible.

[silkhammer]

Glad to hear I was not the only one to be somewhat shocked at the standard of protection / securing of the cabling under the bonnet and body!

My father (die-hard Nissan man) pointed this out with great glee when we were checking the vehicle out after I took delivery, and after years of owning only Japanese & Australian made vehicles, I was struggling to argue!

I may follow your lead with some tape and cable ties to try and tidy the thing up a bit... know that it will probably never be an issue but will feel better anyway.

[winaje]

Could be that the looms are more open to allow easier fault finding... :wasntme:

[LandyAndy]

I was looking under the front seats for somewhere to store the first aid kit.
It looks very unfinished/poverty pack under the passenger seat!!!! Whats that metal bracket for??? DVD player or something????
Guessing it will make a good place to put a Icom UHF with remote handpiece.
Andrew

[sheerluck]

I was looking under the front seats for somewhere to store the first aid kit.
It looks very unfinished/poverty pack under the passenger seat!!!! Whats that metal bracket for??? DVD player or something????
Guessing it will make a good place to put a Icom UHF with remote handpiece.
Andrew

Did you not even get the DVD player Andy? You'll be saying next you didn't bother with the minibar or hot tub!

[LandyAndy]

Did you not even get the DVD player Andy? You'll be saying next you didn't bother with the minibar or hot tub!

I didnt require the minibar,knowing I had a maxibar waiting to get removed from the D2;););););)
Hot Tub,I thought that was a standard Defender OEM product:):):):):)
Andrew

[LandyAndy]

A mate dropped in today,a fellow D2TD5 owner.Asked me what the hell was a brand new D4 doing in my driveway with my LANDYANDY plates on it.
Told him I was going to buy one,guess he thought I was bull****ting.
He took it for a spin,I tell you,you automaticaly gain a permagrin when you steer a D4.He did.
Totally impressed him,thought it was a V8:cool::cool::cool::cool::cool::cool:
He is VERY tall,like just over 7 foot.Loved the leg/head room compared to his D2,then the power,silence,hifi,brakes.
Andrew

[JamesH]

Totally impressed him,thought it was a V8:cool::cool::cool::cool::cool::cool:
He is VERY tall,like just over 7 foot.Loved the leg/head room compared to his D2,then the power,silence,hifi,brakes.
Andrew

What did you go an do that to him for? He's now totally depressed sitting at home with a calculator and his bank statements. Sigh. We've all been there and it's not a good place.

[LandyAndy]

Just back from the weekly shopping trip.
As I pull into the bottleshop carpark a customer turns back and starts looking at the D4.Mate thats a neat Discovery he tells me.Then offes me to swap a D2 for it:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
Told him I have one Im trying to sell.
Andrew

[Zute]

Hey, now there's the problem. Trade it or sell it privately.
Do you explain the Three amigos and have them walk away. Or wonder that you've given someone a hole lot of pain ?

[scarry]

Back to the OP......:p:)

Mine has done heaps of off road and k's on corrugations.

Initially is was very concerned about cables or hoses chafing.The D2 needed lots of attention in this area,and it had bugger all wires and hoses than a D4.

I have had all the underneath panels off,grill out,etc,etc,and have not found a wire rubbing at all.Air hoses as well as coolant hoses need to be checked as well.

One of the coolant hoses does rub on the traxide dual battery mounting plate,if you have one,easy fix.There is also a coolant hose that runs down the left side of the radiator and can rub on the radiator fan shroud hold clip,which is sharp,another easy fix.There is also a clip that is screwed into the plastic rocker cover that holds a coolant hose off the A/C pulley,mine was loose and the hose was about 1mm off the pulley :(
Note mine is a 2.7 so the hoses are probably different than yours.

There is also a massive electrical plug around the rear diff area(mine is E diff)that is often covered in wet mud,but has never been an issue.

Overall i recon the wiring and hoses on the D4 are generally well secured,unlike previous LRs,even the sons Puma is a lot worse.

As others have said,not many posts around about any of these sorts of issues.There are some around about corrosion in wiring terminals,up in the left front guard behind the plastic splash guards,but these are on the UK D3 sites.

[aus86inch]

I am just fussy i guess, preventative maintenance. as well as getting to spend time in the shed while the wife is in the house LOL

[Jimlr]

Some playing, and after some YouTube research, uncovered the following:

Press and hold VALET soft key on nav screen for about 25 seconds, and it brings up some kinda service menu....software version numbers and stuff. None of it looks editable.

[LandyAndy]

Some playing, and after some YouTube research, uncovered the following:

Press and hold VALET soft key on nav screen for about 25 seconds, and it brings up some kinda service menu....software version numbers and stuff. None of it looks editable.

Did that last weekend whilst out pootling.It had enter pin codes or something and not set up.Got out of there asap before I did something I couldnt undo.
What is Valet??? Will try and remember to ask the salesman when I call in tommorow.
Andrew

[Mungus]

Valet mode locks the glove box, cargo space and touchscreen, so a parking attendant can drive lock/unlock the vehicle without that access.

[LandyAndy]

Valet mode locks the glove box, cargo space and touchscreen, so a parking attendant can drive lock/unlock the vehicle without that access.

Cheers for that.No wonder it asked me to set a pin number.
Andrew

[Jimlr]

Ahhhh, no.....u need to press and hold that valet "button" constantly for 25+ seconds to get into the hidden menu....it won't ask u for a pin if you keep pressing - it will pop up the hidden menu.
like you I got scared and got the hell outa there quick!

And a funny thing ... The menu has a jaguar logo at the top;)

[LandyAndy]

Try pressing it for a shorter time;);););)
Andrew