Thread: Disco 3 has died on me

Don't fret Don. I pressure washed mine underneath and got similar faults. Have another look in the morning when she dries out a bit. I'm sure this post will be moved to the D3 section of the forum and you will get more replies there . Matti

It sounds as though water has got into the transfer case ecu that is located near the battery on the D3. This ecu is not sealed. It may be OK when its dried if you're lucky.

Lesson Learnt for next time. Never wash the area around the battery box as it is NOT waterproof. What has happened is water has run down the the back of the battery straight onto the transfer case ECU & shorted out the unit.
You may be lucky & it may dry out. If not disconnect the ECU from the plugs & clean with CO2 contact cleaner & hopefully all will be well.
If you remove plugs & can see a build up of mould in the connector then you may have a damaged ECU & it will need to be replaced & reprogrammed to the vehicle.

Good Luck.

Cheers

So is it worth wrapping self annealing tape around the ecu and connectors to make it waterproof, or just some CRC or other waterproofing spray?

Originally Posted by sctsprin

So is it worth wrapping self annealing tape around the ecu and connectors to make it waterproof, or just some CRC or other waterproofing spray?

Have not done it to mine and have done many water crossings with no ECU problems. If I was going to do it I would not wrap the entire thing - just the connectors. The ambient temp is high enough as it is and I would not wrap the ECU in a nice cozy blanket of tape.

Hi Sctsprin,
Sneigy came to the rescue when exactly the same thing happened to me, I found all the terminals corroded, some even broken, the engine bay wash was the last straw. I bought a new tranny module and it fixed everything. I had to reset all my gearbox settings with a faultmate MSV 2 from Blackbox. It isn't simply a plug and play deal. later models I believe they move the tranny module to the other side of the engine bay so it can't get wet.
I got a spare one from TRS in Adelaide. On assembly I used an electrical silicon sealant to stop it happening again. Wrapping tape around might not do the trick.

Originally Posted by Nomad9

I bought a new tranny module ... later models I believe they move the tranny module to the other side of the engine bay

To be clear to the OP, it is the transfer case module, not the transmission (gearbox) module which is located inside the gearbox.

Hi Graeme,
Thank you for pointing out the finer detail.