Thread: Disco 4 Engine System Failure Warning - beware!

ok,, so we no that the car gose into " power safe mode" when it detects a problem with the system, would you rather the car loose power but still be driven or everything all at once and stop the engine,,

you will loose PAS/brake assistance/ and other things, and then you will be were ever the car stops, hopefully a safe place,

or be able to atleast drive the car allbe it at 30kph to the next safe place off the main rd or into a survo and call LRA,

i no the problem is annoying BUT saying this needs a recall??? do you even no what the problem was??

it could of been somthing simple and your off on your happy way again,

as to the battery systems, i have seen countless bogged sys and they do play havoc with this cars as we all no, and it is cos of this bogged ones LR says take them all off and then we will look at the car,

we have now had a few d3/d4 with batterys systems fitted buy approved elects and the car has failed, they stand there ground saying its the car NOT the batt sys,

we prove buy taking it off and the car is fine, but that is not saying ALL battery systems are fitted incorectly,

im with tobbie on this one,

Originally Posted by LandyAndy

I had a chat with TimNZ a few weeks back about non genuine options.
I suggest you contact Tim,about his woes.He told me that your "approved" gear isnt and will result in a no warrantty job.

Hi Andrew, and your correct, my gear is not approved but is on LRA’s recommended accessories list, as sent to all the dealers.

When LRA tested my gear, they told me it did not cause any problems and when I asked about it being officially approved I was told that this is never done with third party accessories.

Cheers for the heads up anyway Andrew.

BTW, there is a device that replaces a fuse in Toyotas, that causes the alternator voltage to increase by 0.6 to 0.7v and these must be removed before the Toyota goes in for a service or if it’s discovered, the warranty is voided.

So if you have any mates using this device, warn them.

The D4 is different to the D3 in terms of both the charging system and the protective circuits employed. Dual battery systems that work with the D3 would not necessarily be (even tacitly) approved for the D4. I know that quite a few dealers have been reporting blown ecu's on D4's with dual battery systems, to the point where LRA are now stating they won't warrant a vehicle with such systems fitted.

Tim's Traxide system is certainly the best suited one I've come across for the D3, but maybe another look at it's suitability for the D4 needs to happen with LRA's approval?

Cheers,

Gordon

So the D4 in question here was running a modified tune at the time this problem happened?

thats easy then, they have enough money to pay for it when it brakes cos it has a chip,

and the worse ones of all are the dpchips, had few problems with them lately,

prity much, asking for trouble,

I have one of Tim's Traxide systems installed in my D4, complete with the aux battery in the original D3 under bonnet location.

It's been in operation for 4 weeks now, including 1 week with fridge drawing from it. No problems experienced.

Hi Duck’s Guts and thanks.

the way the SC80LR works means that the vehicle, D3 or D4 simply has a bigger battery.

While there may be problems with the way other brands of DBS work and I can’t comment on that, but if there is a problem with the way mine works then there are going to be huge problems for D4 owners down the road when their cranking battery finally fails.

To date, not one single problem has arisen with any D4 using my gear, here or overseas and I suspect that my gear, again because of the way it works, is actually resolving problems.

I have had so many D3 and D4 owners tell me that they have had repeated “Low Voltage Warnings” prier to having my gear installed, but not a single warning once my dual battery system is in place.

This situation may also occur with other brands of DBS but I have not followed up on anything but my own gear.

About 6 months ago, during the installation of one of my kits into a Range Rover Sports, the auto electrician fitting the gear, told owner once the kit was fitted, they had tested the set up and had flattened his battery down to something like 11 volts and the SC80LR did not isolate.

How they supposedly achieved flattening the cranking battery down to 11v in just an hour or so is of interest to me but anyway, the owner had been getting “Low Voltage Warnings” prior to the installation and with what the auto electrician had been spinning him, he was now very nervous about taking him RRS on the holiday he was about to do.

I informed him that if he had so much as a “Low Voltage Warnings” come up with out actually having low batteries, I would refund his money.

He has never been in touch so I take it all is STILL well.

The problem is that there are loads of experts out there and the next time you get a flat tyre, don’t tell your dealer what brand of diesel fuel you were using or you will be told this is what caused the flat.

You may the tyre story is B/S ( and this one is ) but that’s how bad things are now and not just with LR. Now having stated this, I do know of at least one DBS system that has caused heaps of problems with the D3 and would most likely cause even more problems with a D4, but these systems separate the cranking battery after supposedly charging it and then charge any auxiliary batteries.

Why on earth you need to do such a ridiculous operation in the first place is beyond me and with the HUGE alternator in the D4, you can easily charge 4 large batteries in a low state of charge at the same time and I have done just this on a number of occasions with my wife’s D4 and not a single problem with my gear or the D4.

A side note, I am so fed up with the poor quality of work “professionals” ( mostly auto electricians ) are doing that I am now installing my systems in D3s and D4s.

A manufacturer cannot void the whole warranty. They have the right to refuse a warranty claim if the failure has been caused or contributed to by non approved accessories or modification. The claim that a diff failure is due to aftermarket shocks would not wash if there was a dispute and the owner pushed the issue, there is also an anti-competition isssue in that case.

Adding anything to your vehicle will run the risk of a warranty repair refusal and could cause you hassle with LR in the event of problems. If they claim it is something else causing it you may need to fight to get the claim approved.