hard starting Freelander..

This Freelander is an '04 with a 2.5 L V^ gas engine..
JUst recently we have had some strange lights on the dash.. I even noticed one day that the gear display D R 1 2 3 4 was scrolling through all these while sitting still.. Then.. we started having difficulty starting.. turned over great but didn't seem to be getting any gas.. checked fuel pump, solenoid, fuses, even took the outlet hose off the fuel pump to make sure fuel was coming out.. to no avail.. tried poking around and undid and reconnected some connectors.. sort of last resort kind of thing...installed a new battery because the other one was shot....
finally... IT STARTED but I don't know why.. and I'm afraid that I
didn't fix any thing.. just got lucky.
If anyone has ANY ideas I would love to hear them...

autobox connectors are known issue for odd problems- make sure they are secure

Could it be yer battery terminals were loose?

Auto gearbox connectors fanatic mentioned are these below. Always a good idea to check they is connected properly. Mine come apart hence the hose clip mod. You'll find them above the auto. Look down in front of the battery behind the headlight.


DSC01080 PnqqrjE

battery terminals were good, but I will check the connectors that are pictured.. didn't try those.. had to have it towed in the rain last nite.. but of course it runs now that it's not raining.. always appreciate the ideas of those who've gone this road before..
Cheers guys

Just as an update on the hard starting Freelander.. after some detective work.. and paying a mechanic 50 bucks to find nothing.. I figured out what was wrong.. taking the shroud off the steering column.. and playing around a bit.. I narrowed the fault down to the electrical portion of the ignition switch.. on the opposite end of where you put the key in. When I tapped it, the car would start fine.. so..taking the switch apart and applying liberal doses of contact cleaner then blowing the switch out with compressed air... I now have a Freelander that starts. I don't have an explanation for the wierd dash lights and scrolling tranny information.. perhaps a short inside with whatever was gumming up the works..
It took a while.. but now it works.
Many thanks for the other ideas.. i did check them out as well.. it never hurts to eliminate as many as possible..