Disco 2 M & Lights flashing when engine is cold

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Bryan Organ

Bryan Organ

Member
Posts
25
Location
Wombourne
We have a Discovery Jan 2004 , we have had it for 14 years, the mileage is now at 114,000.
Recently when starting from cold the engine revs start to go high then the car jolts and the M & S lights flash, along with the D dive indicator. The car is now in 3rd gear "limp mode".
To get rid of these flashing lights and get the car back to normal, we have to stop, switch off, set the alarm, wait a few seconds, switch off alarm and restart the engine.
This process can occur 3, 4 or 5 times until the engine is hot , after which its fine.
The XYZ switch has been checked and cleaned, the ECU has been cleaned after oil was found on it.
So can anybody advise what is causing this and what we can do to eliminate it.
 
Could be your battery . The brain for the auto box is fussy about it’s voltage. And it you only been doing short runs and not giving it time to charge up . It can give the m&s lights on dash . Had it happen on mine and a new battery fixed it . Worth getting checked if battery it old
 
Vanmancan said:
Could be your battery . The brain for the auto box is fussy anout it’s voltage. And it you only been doing short runs and not giving it time to charge up . It can give the m&s lights . Had it happen on mine and nee battery fixed it . Worth getting checked if battery it old
Click to expand...
We have had the battery checked, its only 2 years old. The garage said it was okay. Plus after driving it for a couple of hours, which should mean the battery is charged, once we switch it off for say an hour , it all starts again.
 
Someone said something about ratcheting the gear lever back and forth a few times, , presumably if there's crud on the sensors inside, , I did it to mine and it stopped flashing
 
Interesting idea, so just given a try, it may have improved things because the car only went into limp mode once! After that the engine was warm so it didn't go into limp mode again. This is a great improvement compared with yesterday when it happened 6 times before clearing the problem. So I am going to try this again later when the engine has gone cold again, I'll keep you all posted.
 
I would hesitate a guess that it is to do with the XYZ switch. You say the XYZ switch has been cleaned, does this mean it has been out and apart for cleaning? If so was it setup properly when put back, or is it possibly a bad connection to the XYZ switch plug? The switch notoriously gets water ingress as they are dripped on by the N/S aircon outlet, unless you have done what many have done and re-directed the outlet with a piece of tubing. Is it possible that once apart it was not sealed back up properly and has got moisture inside. I would get hold of a known good XYZ switch, Heathy a trader on D2BC, 01206 211623, will have one and swap it over, making sure you set it properly, and see if that resolves it. It is possible to take them apart and clean them, not difficult, but fiddly, but you need a quick fix.

Tony
 
Hellastony said:
I would hesitate a guess that it is to do with the XYZ switch. You say the XYZ switch has been cleaned, does this mean it has been out and apart for cleaning? If so was it setup properly when put back, or is it possibly a bad connection to the XYZ switch plug? The switch notoriously gets water ingress as they are dripped on by the N/S aircon outlet, unless you have done what many have done and re-directed the outlet with a piece of tubing. Is it possible that once apart it was not sealed back up properly and has got moisture inside. I would get hold of a known good XYZ switch, Heathy a trader on D2BC, 01206 211623, will have one and swap it over, making sure you set it properly, and see if that resolves it. It is possible to take them apart and clean them, not difficult, but fiddly, but you need a quick fix.

Tony
Click to expand...
Hi Tony, Yes our mechanic who has looked after the car for the past 10 years, removed the switch and drilled out the rivets one at a time and replaced each with a screw, then when all the rivets had been replaced he removed the screws and the cover plate. The switch showed no evidence of any ingress of water/oil or other debris. He cleaned the switch to make sure and replaced the cover and the switch itself. With regard to the aircon outlet our mechanic spotted this and has extended the tube to deflect and moisture away.
Further to us trying moving the stick back and forth, I did it again later today and as yet no repeat of the lights/limp mode. However we will test it again after its cooled down overnight. Thanks for your comments, we will hold them on record until/if the situation returns.
 
Hellastony said:
I would hesitate a guess that it is to do with the XYZ switch. You say the XYZ switch has been cleaned, does this mean it has been out and apart for cleaning? If so was it setup properly when put back, or is it possibly a bad connection to the XYZ switch plug? The switch notoriously gets water ingress as they are dripped on by the N/S aircon outlet, unless you have done what many have done and re-directed the outlet with a piece of tubing. Is it possible that once apart it was not sealed back up properly and has got moisture inside. I would get hold of a known good XYZ switch, Heathy a trader on D2BC, 01206 211623, will have one and swap it over, making sure you set it properly, and see if that resolves it. It is possible to take them apart and clean them, not difficult, but fiddly, but you need a quick fix.

Tony
Click to expand...
Hi Tony, excuse my lack of knowledge, but what is "Heathy a trader on D2BC"

Bryan
 
Bryan Organ said:
We have a Discovery Jan 2004 , we have had it for 14 years, the mileage is now at 114,000.
Recently when starting from cold the engine revs start to go high then the car jolts and the M & S lights flash, along with the D dive indicator. The car is now in 3rd gear "limp mode".
To get rid of these flashing lights and get the car back to normal, we have to stop, switch off, set the alarm, wait a few seconds, switch off alarm and restart the engine.
This process can occur 3, 4 or 5 times until the engine is hot , after which its fine.
The XYZ switch has been checked and cleaned, the ECU has been cleaned after oil was found on it.
So can anybody advise what is causing this and what we can do to eliminate it.
Click to expand...
id be working on why engine revs on its own once started
 
Are
Bryan Organ said:
Interesting idea, so just given a try, it may have improved things because the car only went into limp mode once! After that the engine was warm so it didn't go into limp mode again. This is a great improvement compared with yesterday when it happened 6 times before clearing the problem. So I am going to try this again later when the engine has gone cold again, I'll keep you all posted.
Click to expand...
Are you sure it's to do with actual engine temp and not gearbox?
 
Are
Bryan Organ said:
Interesting idea, so just given a try, it may have improved things because the car only went into limp mode once! After that the engine was warm so it didn't go into limp mode again. This is a great improvement compared with yesterday when it happened 6 times before clearing the problem. So I am going to try this again later when the engine has gone cold again, I'll keep you all posted.
Click to expand...
Are you sure it's to do with actual engine temp and not gearbox oil temp or do you let engine warm up and then try to drive?
 
To answer several comments here goes:-
James martin - The engine starts to rev as I drive - ie. its not changing from 1st to 2nd
Joemac434 - The only thing I can say is that when the temp indicator on the dash reaches normal, the problem ceases. As regard to gearbox temp, I have no way of knowing what the temp is in there.
Hellastony - Tony thanks for the info.
 
Its beginning to sound more like the gearbox now, or a combination of that and XYZ switch, as that controls the gearbox lights. Have you checked the oil level in the gearbox, when was it last changed?

Tony
 
Well last week we let the Roean Land Rover garage in Telford look at it and then cleared the faults, but after collecting the car (cold) we had 4 or 5 sequences of the flashing lights/switch off and start again. The intention was to take it back this week, but we needed the car to drop off / collect our caravan for its service.
 
Can i cut in with an M&S of my own. Today the M&S lights started flashing when we were out shopping.
Switched off. and on again, lights still flashing. Drove home in limp mode,10 miles. Parked car..
After about an hour, checked battery readings, 12.53 everything off. 14.41 on tickover.
Started car, NO lights flashing. Am i lucky or is this a sign of more to come.
 
What can I say, I have collected so much info off the net, and time & time again the question of the battery pops up. Could it be that once the engine/alternator has pumped enough power back into the battery post starting, then the "system" runs okay? The simple answer is I don't know, as I was assured by my local mechanic that the battery (2 yrs old) is fine. We have been trying the "moving the stick back and forth" yesterday and today. Today dare I say it the car has been okay even from cold. I will monitor it over the next few days (fingers crossed) and will post whatever happens.
 
janderson41 said:
Can i cut in with an M&S of my own. Today the M&S lights started flashing when we were out shopping.
Switched off. and on again, lights still flashing. Drove home in limp mode,10 miles. Parked car..
After about an hour, checked battery readings, 12.53 everything off. 14.41 on tickover.
Started car, NO lights flashing. Am i lucky or is this a sign of more to come.
Click to expand...
 
Unfortunately only time will tell.
While it is an intermittent fault it is very difficult to diagnose.
At this time only advice I can give is if you have your fault codes read and fault code 705 xyz gear positioning switch fault appears do not take it as given that the switch is faulty only that a fault has been detected in the gear position monitoring electrical system and more investigation is needed before replacing xyz switch at about £450 ffor genuine new one.
 
Yesterday we tried the car again and sadly it went into limp mode 13 yes thirteen times before we cleared the alarms and the car drove normal. Surely someone somewhere knows the answer to this or at least what we should do next.
 
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