Parts frustration.

[Disomania]

Th D4 went in today to have the gear shift mechanism replaced due to the 'gearbox fault' issue. Go to pick up the car, and ther's bad news. The new part is not aligning in the car and you can't get from 'P' to 'D'. No problem says I, just put the old one with the funny microswitches back in, and order a new one and I'll come back.

Bad news on that front says the dealer. Apparently the unit has a computer in it (small one) that get's programmed with the VIN number of the vehicle so when you put a new one in, it updates the computers in the car and itself. It will then NOT let you put the old part back as it will not allow it to be reused as it was removed as faulty.

I said that sounds a bit odd, and the dealer said when they spoke to LR, it's a safety thing so you can't use something the computer has been told is defective.

On the up side, they've given me a demo Freelander2 for as long as I need it. Only had 100km on the clock too. I tried to get the supercharged RRsport or the SE D4, but they wouldn't be in that....

[Dorko]

I just had this part replaced too!

Went to drive off, gear box fault. Lucky i was actually on my way to the dealer. All fixed now and I had a FL2 as a loan car.... good fun the Freelander, much better seats too!

Dorko

[Disomania]

Had a call. They have an 'undelivered' car that they've taken the shift module out of. Until the tell the computer to 'deliver' the car, it is in a mode that lets it drive in 2nd gear only at 2000rpm (same as 'limp home' mode I believe). Until they say the car is delivered, the part can be removed and used in another one - so say LR. Just waiting for the call to go pick the beast up. Ho hum.

[Duck's Guts]

Damn, the more I troll these forums, the more I realise & learn just how complicated the electronics controlling my D4 are.

Is it just L/R products that have this level of control? Or are other manufacturers heading down the same path?

[SuperMono]

The old saying "they all do that" has a new meaning.
Most new cars are heavily locked down in electronic form now.

[Disomania]

Duck's Guts,

My son had a (brief) apprenticeship with Landrover/Volvo and both of those are shipped in 'shipping' mode. The vehicles are required to be told via mater computer that they are now sold and can be driven in all gears/engine speed. If you get a D4 that was built prior to the Q093, it will take about 24hrs to pre deliver with most of that on the computer to 'wake up' the car, test everything, then load/test any updates.

At a guess, I'd say that each computer has a BIOS chip that needs to be flashed with the new software. I'd also hazard that they can only be done one at a time, taking about 1/2 - 1hr to complete each function. In the D4 there is the braking computer, engine computer, body computer, gearbox computer, in car entertainment computer, traction control, stability (ESP/DSC/DSP - whatever LR call it), and I'm sure several others.

I received a call about 6.30 from the dealer saying they'd all stayed late to get my car back to me and could I come pick it up. To pull a car apart to provide a part that LR have run out of was pretty good of them I thought - they had the option of putting all this on LR but chose to keep a customer happy. While I really owe them nothing for doing their job, I think a carton may be on the way to show my appreciation for a small amount of 'above and beyond' service - it does still happen sometimes.