Thread: Disco 4 Aftermarket Xenon Lights installation

Originally Posted by Torero22

I will check with the RTA, technical support - Will post what I find out. Holmes is very suspicious, He thinks someone may be arguing a point of view rather than a fact ! Tor

Good luck finding someone in a govt department with some expert knowledge, and if you do then getting a definitive answer. The ones left who were not made redundant know better than to commit themselves to a position.

Maybe it's different outside of qld.

Originally Posted by Torero22

I will check with the RTA, technical support - Will post what I find out.

Holmes is very suspicious, He thinks someone may be arguing a point of view rather than a fact !

Tor

If it wasn't so, D3s/D4s and RRS would not be ADR compliant for fitment with Bi-Xenons which they clearly are. If they were not complaint they would have not been given ADR compliance.

Take it as fact that the self levelling ability of the D3/D4/RRS meets the ADR requirements for Bi-Xenon - people with the right expertise have told you this a few times.

If you use the google AULRO search function you will find many of the answers to the things you seek.

Garry

Tor, to help you understand a little better how the car does this. It has a height sensor for each wheel. If additional weight is loaded onto the vehicle (a trailer for eg) there will be a drop in the suspension bearing the weight (rear suspension). The height sensor will detect this and the suspension ECU will do its job and direct more air the rear suspension until the sensors read the correct level. Car is now level again.

Also, you will notice that, on cars that have auto levelling lights, they do a self test on start up, tilting the lights down and up. The disco does not do this because it is the suspension that levels the whole vehicle.

Being an engineer, you're going to enjoy finding out all the little tricks the D4 has in its box.

Originally Posted by SBD4

Tor, to help you understand a little better how the car does this. It has a height sensor for each wheel. If additional weight is loaded onto the vehicle (a trailer for eg) there will be a drop in the suspension bearing the weight (rear suspension). The height sensor will detect this and the suspension ECU will do its job and direct more air the rear suspension until the sensors read the correct level. Car is now level again.

Also, you will notice that, on cars that have auto levelling lights, they do a self test on start up, tilting the lights down and up. The disco does not do this because it is the suspension that levels the whole vehicle.

Being an engineer, you're going to enjoy finding out all the little tricks the D4 has in its box.

Thank you dear sir - a technical description - yes I am a bugger for detail and can't stop until I get it. Good description and yes I am enjoying learning about the vehicle. The more I learn the more I am enjoying it !!!!

Thank you all for your patience with me.

Cheers
Tor

Originally Posted by Graeme

Kev,
The high beam power wire powers the shutter and the high beam fill-in globe in the bi-xenon assembly or the just the high beam globe in the halogen assembly. There is not a separate wire for the shutter.

It could be that when the CCF is set to bi-xenon that a higher initial current draw is considered acceptable whilst not acceptable for halogens or possibly for bi-xenons the power is pulsed very quickly for a very brief moment to make the globes start-up more quickly, or for some other reason that I can't think of.

Removing and replacing the headlight assemblies is very simple and quick once you know how to remove the grille and release the 2 headlight assembly retaining catches.

A dealer may not be able to change the setting with their equipment as LR bundle certain features into a market package but non-LR equipment will change the setting. My Faultmate is keyed to mine's VIN so wont work on your vehicle but an unlocked device owned by a LR specialist workshop would. If your dealer can change just that setting then that's all that's needed. I would be getting the settings changed in both vehicles after doing the swap.

In your situation you might need to consider the possible reduced salebility of an earlier SE fitted with halogens when they were fitted with bi-xenons and a buyer might be upset if they bought the vehicle only to discover later that the good headlights had been removed. Perhaps you might consider getting a s/h set from the UK for your new vehicle.

Edit: CCF - Car Configuration File. It is referenced by the various ecus when they need to know if a feature is fitted so that different actions can be taken for different options or the actual specifications of a feature, eg tyre rolling radius to allow the ABS sensor signals to be converted to a speed signal (RRS have approx 29" tyres whereas Discos have approx 30" tyres). The CCF also has build information that is just notational and not used by any system, eg towball fitted/not fitted.

Thanks Graeme,

I had a 52,000ft concept that the CCF is a 'Library' of what is and isn't enabled in the car. I didn't realise that it goes beyond that, including non-electronic configuration items, until you mentioned it.

I've always suspected, mentioned in earlier posts, that the CCF would/could be pivotal in the operation of the Xenon Headlights, otherwise there would be no need for a CCF upgrade. However was unsure to what extent.

Well meaning individuals that have discussed this, have possibly muddied the water querying about loom differences, how much the actual headlight module does and doesn't do, etc. I've worked in the aviation and defence aerospace industry for years and know that operators, even with a level of engineering authority, don't get access to all the data about their platform. So I guess there are similarities in that regard, that LR Dealers don't get the complete picture and it's only the intrepid owners/vendors that are willing to work with the data they have and reverse engineer the rest, that work stuff out.

So it appears that the circuit splitting occurs inside the light module, initiating shutter opening, etc and is not driven by a separate part of the wiring loom itself. That's very useful to know for folks that may be trying to spot an obvious difference.

I understand what you say about the resale attractiveness of my older D4 if it's had options removed, although I would always fully disclose this. Maybe, I should look at the second hand parts market .... it would probably give me more time to find a contact in Brisbane that can guarantee a result.

Thanks again for your help mate.

Cheers,

Kev.

My wiring diagrams were down-loaded from Topix therefore LR dealers can get that info too and more info that isn't available through Topix as well as specific training provided by LR. However whether they've had the time or inclination to look closely at specific information or what's actually in vehicles means that they don't always have the whole picture. AFAIK a bi-xenon upgrade is not a dealer-fitted option so a dealer wouldn't necessarily know exactly what's involved. I can only guess at what different ecu processing occurs for the different lights but I can read wiring diagrams and I poke around my vehicle with a multimeter and oscilloscope and I have a diagnostic tool that can change values in the CCF.

Originally Posted by Graeme

My wiring diagrams were down-loaded from Topix therefore LR dealers can get that info too and more info that isn't available through Topix as well as specific training provided by LR. However whether they've had the time or inclination to look closely at specific information or what's actually in vehicles means that they don't always have the whole picture. AFAIK a bi-xenon upgrade is not a dealer-fitted option so a dealer wouldn't necessarily know exactly what's involved. I can only guess at what different ecu processing occurs for the different lights but I can read wiring diagrams and I poke around my vehicle with a multimeter and oscilloscope and I have a diagnostic tool that can change values in the CCF.

Now your in trouble - fresh brains to pick

1) Do some of you guys work for LR ?
2) Is the CCF file retrievable ? so that it can be printed or saved ?
3) How much was the tool ?
4) Now - Canbus - I have some threads I am following where people are reverse engineering the protocol specification of the info exchange occurring within this serial Bus. Anyone got a partial or full spec ?
Anyone got a interface circuit ? I would like to connect a notebook and log all activity to reverse engineer it if nothing is available ?

Tor

For 3, the most commonly recommended tools are:

IIDTool (IIDTool for Land Rover - GAP Diagnostic) - permits a range of functionality in a simple fashion, limited CCF editing/modification, somewhere around the $500 mark (depending on model you get).

and

Faultmate (https://blackbox-solutions.com/shop/) - most advanced tool, complicated (you sound like this one would suit you!), equates to the dealer system at least (or better I would say), does very advanced CCF editing etc. Cost for a D4 is about $1200.

There are other options, but these are (IMO) the two stand out options - IID tool for folks like me, Faultmate for the more advanced user / tinkerer !

HTH

edit: Tor, you might find this .pdf interesting (http://www.disco3.co.uk/gallery/albu...escription.pdf) - it is the "lesson/training document" on D3 air suspension from LR; there is probably a D4 equivalent, but the general concepts are the same and the system is pretty much the same.