Strange electrical problem

**td express** · 25th October 2009, 06:47 PM

Just received a message from a friend of mine on a camper trailer forum we are members of, and he has an 01 TD5 Disco He has just had this problem come up with dash light but with a bit of a twist, as it includes his brake controller. This was what he described to me what was happening,

''Over the weekend a red warning light appeared on the dash. Its the one that indicates that the differential has been locked. It does not stay illuminated all the time and occasionally the Traction Control illuminates and the ABS lite illuminates.

When the red warning light goes off it illuminates every time I put my foot on the brake.

Three questions.

1. Do you know what may be causing this?

2. Would this fault impact on my brake controller working because I noticed that there was no output reading and the controller, when I was applying the brakes whilst towing.

3. Is it possible that the brake controller has caused the fault.

If you have any ideas I would appreciate it.''

I was thinking maybe a low battery in the car might be the issue but not exactly sure. So any ideas that I can help him with would be greatly appreciate,

**dmdigital** · 25th October 2009, 07:01 PM

If he can unplug the brake controller from the wiring (some have a plug on the back) then he should be able to verify if that is causing anything.

**td express** · 25th October 2009, 07:13 PM

yeah, he just told me that the controller (p3), has been in the car for a few months without any prior issues, and that the problem first came up when he wasnt towing anything

**dmdigital** · 25th October 2009, 07:44 PM

P3 has a cable plug on the back so he can disconnect it. I had trouble with a P3 myself, the unit continually drew a very small current all the time so I removed it. It was also in a D2 TD5 but I didn't get anything like described.

**td express** · 25th October 2009, 07:47 PM

thanks mate,
Ive told him to remove it all together, like you said, taking it out of the equation totally and see what happens.

**LandyAndy** · 25th October 2009, 09:49 PM

Wiring loom to gearbox/transfercase rubbing thru from rubbing on tailshaft etc????
Its been mentioned before,but with no trailer brake involved.
Derek,how much current do those prodigys draw??? I thought it was designed to go to "sleep" until it detects a trailer being plugged in.
It MAY be my electriggery thief causing flat batterys.
Andrew

**dmdigital** · 25th October 2009, 10:05 PM

ANdy the P3 shouldn't draw any. The POS - I mean P3 - I got kept up a constant 0.2A draw and wouldn't go to sleep. Checked everything and suspected unit was faulty. If I unplugged the unit there was no current draw on the wiring harness and with the unit plugged in there was no current draw at the trailer plug until the brake peddle was pressed. Doesn't sound like much draw but its enough to cause problems over time.

That's when I learnt buying it was a mistake. Even sent e-mails to Tekonsha and never received any reply.

**bruiser69** · 26th October 2009, 03:39 PM

I'm afraid it sound like the "3 Amigos" i.e. ABS modulator, brake sensor or wiring loom. Do a search on forum for three Amigos.
Cheers..b

**grumpybastard** · 26th October 2009, 05:21 PM

I cant quite see why the CDL engaged light and brake controller would ever play together?

I have had the CDL light illuminate on the HWY for no apparent reason and before i could pull over it had turned off again, that was 2 years ago and has never happened since.

Could the brake controller be a "red herring" in all of this?

Does he have the CDL lever fitted?

**td express** · 26th October 2009, 07:32 PM

ok...heres the outcome

It was looking like it was pointing toward the controller being the problem,and turns out it partly was.
As they are wired to the brake light switch, some investigating was done in that area which led to finding that the brake lights wern't working. So you guessed it, a blown fuse was the problem. Fuse replaced and all seems good now, no strange lights on dash.
My friend is getting it looked at by his Landrover mechanic on Wednesday just to make sure nothing else is wrong, but at this stage, it appears to have been fixed.

Strange, I know but probably something to remember in the future.
Thanks everyone for your help, much appreciated.

Thread: Strange electrical problem

Thread Tools

Strange electrical problem

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions