4.6 went mad on Sunday...TC failure, alternator fault you name it!

Driving back from a nice Christmas break with wife + 2 sprogs and all was fine.....for the first hour! Happily doing about 70 on the A12 when the car stated: Traction Control Fault, then the dials started bouncing up and down, then gearbox fault, then traction control failure, followed by TC Overheat and more bouncing dials and finally alternator fault! The car wouldn't changed down from 4th gear so we stopped (stalled into!) at a service station and then it wouldn't start again!

Called RAC and they sent recovery....we jumped the car and it didn't show any faults....not wishing to take the risk I recovered it home and it started perfectly with no issues on the recovery truck....ran it for about 30 mins and nothing came up on message centre

Do any of the highly knowledgeable members have any idea what might be going on in it's brain?????

I have had a problem with the dash backlighting/interior lights and headlights pulsating when the car is running recently.....is this the alternator or the battery?

PLEASE HELP........I can't aford to take it to the dealership again!

Many thanks in advance to the knowledge pool!

Nick.

ps. I love my car

Snap! Fortnight before Christmas, needles bouncing and same faults. Stuck on my spare battery and checked outputs etc. 14 Volts running so all ok. Thought it was just short running pulling the battery down. Less than a week later, same again, checked outputs, 11 Volts and dropping. Alternator Fault!. New alternator in, checked outputs and now 14.5 Volts and no bouncing needles. Only problem though if the car is a Gems engine it's a 120 Amp alternator costing about £100. Mine's a Thor, 150 Amp - £370 - eek! Just as well my warranty kicked in.

You need to go find a new or re-con alternator for deffo!

before you lob out on a new alternator check the voltages from the alt then at the starter then at the battery I had the same problem and it was corrosion in the cables so by the time the voltage go to the battery it was down to 11 ish starting at 14+ just a thought as new cables are only 3 or 4 quid each - the reason for the faults is that the car shuts down systems as the voltage drops

sandyt said:

before you lob out on a new alternator check the voltages from the alt then at the starter then at the battery I had the same problem and it was corrosion in the cables so by the time the voltage go to the battery it was down to 11 ish starting at 14+ just a thought as new cables are only 3 or 4 quid each - the reason for the faults is that the car shuts down systems as the voltage drops

Click to expand...

Worth a try for the sake of a few quid and a lil time, thogh if it's windings, diode pack....... needs another unit

Hi, I had the same problem about a month ago....

Problem was that my Alternator was not charging all the time, (had traction failure, gearbox....you name it, it said it!!) and some days not a problem.
My replacement was going to cost over £350 as it's the 150amp, so I took it off (very easy to be honest) and took alty to auto spark, he diagnosed the problem as brushes worn down and replaced them and I think the regulator was also changed, it only cost £45 and hey ho all is fine.
Make sure you fully charge your battery before starting it again otherwise you will get the traction failure message again (this can happen with a low battery)
Hope this helps you.

Forgot to say, I was allowed to retain my old unit so it could be in line for a new brush box/ regulator too then I'll have a spare! Should also have said I checked all my leads and connections first, they were all good so the replacement unit was actually after all that was done.

Brilliant guys.....I knew there were higher beings out there in Range Rover world that could come up with some excellent suggestions! THANKS A MILLION

I have a new battery to fit and will probably take the alternator off for a re-furb, but replace with a new one in the meantime just to be safe!

Does anyone know a good car sparks in the Fulham area of London that might do a good job?

Plus I might have to invest in a multi meter!

Nick.

PS. It is a 1995 4.6 HSE....so the cheaper one!