Numerous failures, but could it be an ECU error?

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Originally Posted by 33chinacars

Time to buy an IIDTool or simular if you haven't got one already. Thats to clear faults.

Gary

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Hi Gary and while I am tempted to get something to clear the faults, the more I think about it the more I think this vehicle has had a problem from the day it rolled off the production line.

I have had problems with the sound and nav system from the day I bought this thing and they were never properly fixed, no matter how many times I put it in to be serviced and/or to get the problems addressed.

Every time one problem was fixed ( if they could fix it ) a new problem surfaced.

The alternator failure is another sore point as this vehicle is not fitted with a dual battery system and I only run 4 x 55w driving lights and even these are only fitted if I’m doing a long trip, which is vary rare and because the sound system is so useless, the first thing I do in most time when I get it to drive, is to turn the screen off, so no current load from the sound system.

And as I hate air conditioning ( in any vehicle ), it’s only on if the wife is with me.

So power usage in my case is well bellow average so why did the alternator last such a short time.

As above, the more I think back, the more weird problems I can remember, both before but more so, after the alternator failed.

About 6 months back, the Park Brake failed and would not release.

I NEVER drive to release my Park Brake, I have always released it with the switch before driving. On this occasion when it would not release using the switch, when I went to back out of a parking spot, it came off with a thud.

Two or three days later, it came good and has not missed a beat since.

The Global Opening is not working at this time and hell only knows what else is not working.

The air conditioning is another mystery operation.

As above, my wife has the air conditioner on when ever she is in the vehicle and when on, I turn on the seat air conditioning.

The passenger seat works every time. Mine might work and then won’t work.

For example, we can go to get the mail, my seat doesn’t work. I get out and get the mail, get in and the seat is now working, get out to fuel up, get back in and it’s not working again. Stop to do some shopping, get back in and it’s working again and again, the passenger seat never misses a beat.

I have to be honest and say that while the RR was under warranty, Land Rover were totally useless at addressing the problems with the sound/nav system, and I now think I should have laid the boot into them to fix the problems while it was under warranty and maybe I wouldn’t have all the problems I now have.

Sorry to hear of all your troubles Tim. Have no idea how to fix any of them. Sounds like a Friday afternoon special finish with a long weekend hangover. I would be pizzed off with it too

Gary

Unfortunately this sounds like the dealer through and through. They really have no idea what they are working with, in saying that, with the complexities of vehicles now days, work shops really need someone like an electronic engineer with all his toys (to be able to analyse CAN signals ect) on staff or on call at least. The dealerships can only “diagnose” a problem if one of the ECUs log a fault and report a code for them; if there’s no code they are truly stumped.

Back when my D2 was purchased, it had a strange engine surging issue at highway speeds that would come and go. No faults and luckily for me the workshop manager at the dealer took my word there was a problem and kept looking, I would leave the car with them for weeks on end, they could get it to do it occasionally but no ideas. Searching of the internet back then returned three other cases (all OS) described exactly as mine was doing. I printed these write ups out, took them in – they all reported a new engine ECU as the fix. Dealer told me that if the engine ECU has a problem the Trans ECU will report it – they could not comprehend the possibility of an ECU being faulty thus not passing any fault details about itself! Over the next 18 months they replaced every sensor, harness and connector under the bonnet, and during this time if I had found another vehicle that suited our needs it would have been sold. I eventually exploded in the dealership one Saturday in a very unprofessional rant that essentially emptied the building of customers. That afternoon a new engine ECU was fitted under protest of the experts in the workshop. We still have the car and it has not missed a beat since. My point is that quite often they really don’t understand what they are looking at.

Geez Harlie, that would have done me in for sure...

I can't see why they didn't take a punt on replacing the ECU earlier - when I was working for a large diesel engine manufacturer, replacing the ECU was almost first thing on the list if a truck came in with an issue that didn't throw a fault code - if it didn't fix it, you swapped them back and kept looking, and put the new one back on the shelf - nothing lost. Sounds like the dealer was a total tosser...

They're not cheap but it's one of those times when having a VCM or T4/T5 would come in very handy. Would allow you to make sure all the software versions for the various modules have been updated correctly and not missed by the dealer.

There was a fairly major looking software update for the audio system available that comes up in the main screen of SDD when a VCM is hooked up, not sure exactly what it does as it told me my car had already been done when i tried to run it. The LR diagnostic software also allows you to view the activity on the various busses to see the sort of communication drop outs described by others. I half suspect a lot of the dealers have no idea how to use their own tools for anything beyond the most common tasks.

The seat fans can crack inside, the drivers seat cooler on our 08 was similarly temperamental but was throwing an overheat code that could be seen in SDD. Turns out the little plastic air conduit between the fan and the vent inside the seat had cracked so it would work intermittently.

Shame you're not down here in Vic or I would have been happy to hook up to my VCM kit and see what it says for you, but may be worth finding someone other than your dealer with one up there.

Hi ariddell and thanks for the offer. If only I was closer.

Thanks for all the info folks.

I haven’t driven the RR for nearly a week but today, before taking it out for a spin to the post office, I measured the battery voltage and it was 12.53 which is not bad.

Still, going to replace it when time permits.

Now where would be the best place to get the fault codes cleared? Not sure I want a dealer to do it.