P38A Phantom gearbox/alternator/EAS fault

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Well, you certainly aren't leaving anything to chance Sandy.
I hope it was the CPS and if it never comes back that's wonderful. :D
I would keep the DVM in the glove box for a while; and the moment the Rev counter stops, pull over and check the volts at the battery terminals. If less than 14.3 then I'd change the Alternator. When mine went I was 70+ miles from home with a contra-flowed M25 to negotiate......... which was exactly where the battery volts finally dropped too low for the coil-packs. :(
After a 4-hour wait I was eventually recovered to home. This, I have to say, was no fun at all, reliability is what motoring needs not variability. Ha! Ha!
 
alexmcrobbie said:
Hi Marty,

Thank you SO much for your advice.

I replaced the crank position sensor today and took the car for a run. The fault didn’t present itself and after clearing the existing fault codes everything seemed fine. The “ENGINE SPEED HIGH/OUT OF RANGE” and “SIGNAL FAILURE” faults from the gearbox ECU don’t seem to have came back either, but time will tell if the new CPS has fixed the problem.

I’m fitting a new, and even beefier battery tonight (over 100Ah and over 1000cca) just to be absolutely positive that this isn’t what’s causing the issue. Will perhaps put a new alternator in next week to rule that out too.

I’ve checked out as many connections as possible (fuse box, connector plug under coolant tank, all the wiring from the engine bay back to the BeCM (including checking and cleaning BeCM connectors with contact cleaner)). Will check the alternator exciter wire you’ve mentioned as well to rule this out.

Also, picked up a couple of decent little 270lumen LED lights off amazon which have really made it easier to work after the early winter sunsets.

View attachment 138814


Cheers,
Sandy
Click to expand...
Well done guys, I like the look of those work lamps. Are magnetically attached to the bonnet?
Don't suppose you have a link for those do you?o_O:)
 
Grrrrrr said:
Don't change too much! 1 thing at a time and see if the fault returns. That way we'll know what was really causing the issue.
Click to expand...

Haha, yeah I’ll try my best not to change too much at the moment.

Went to halfrauds and picked up one of the Yuasa Black series batteries with lifetime warranty (with trade card it came to about £110).

Will hold off and not buy an alternator for the moment though to see if it was the CPS/battery/contacts/earth fault which caused the issue.

Sandy.
 
Good to see it might be sorted!! (I hope it is!)

Loving the underbonnet lights... a mate of mine and myself have been considering mounting a couple permanently under the bonnet and wiring them in so they come on when the bonnet is open... Haven't got around to doing it yet though!

Hope the issue is solved for you now!

Marty
 
DanClarke said:
Well, you certainly aren't leaving anything to chance Sandy.
I hope it was the CPS and if it never comes back that's wonderful. :D
I would keep the DVM in the glove box for a while; and the moment the Rev counter stops, pull over and check the volts at the battery terminals. If less than 14.3 then I'd change the Alternator. When mine went I was 70+ miles from home with a contra-flowed M25 to negotiate......... which was exactly where the battery volts finally dropped too low for the coil-packs. :(
After a 4-hour wait I was eventually recovered to home. This, I have to say, was no fun at all, reliability is what motoring needs not variability. Ha! Ha!
Click to expand...

You’re absolutely right, variety might be the spice of life, but I’d rather things were predictable. Actually I take that back, you can usually predict that a P38 will break haha :confused:

I’ve got a multi meter in the car at all times so I’ll definitely bear that in mind and will check the voltages if the fault presents itself again. :)

Sandy​
 
Mark Piercy said:
Well done guys, I like the look of those work lamps. Are magnetically attached to the bonnet?
Don't suppose you have a link for those do you?o_O:)
Click to expand...

Hi Mark, they do have a magnetic base and have great little hooks which are ideal for hanging from the bonnet latch springs. I’ll have a look at my amazon account and get a link for you :)

Sandy
 
martyuk said:
Good to see it might be sorted!! (I hope it is!)

Loving the underbonnet lights... a mate of mine and myself have been considering mounting a couple permanently under the bonnet and wiring them in so they come on when the bonnet is open... Haven't got around to doing it yet though!

Hope the issue is solved for you now!

Marty
Click to expand...

Hey Marty,
If you do decide to wire up some permenant under bonnet lights then it would be great to see a write up with some photos! Given the amount of time we spend under the bonnets of these cars it seems a good idea to have some more permenant lighting.

Cheers,
Sandy :)
 
alexmcrobbie said:
Hey Marty,
If you do decide to wire up some permenant under bonnet lights then it would be great to see a write up with some photos! Given the amount of time we spend under the bonnets of these cars it seems a good idea to have some more permenant lighting.

Cheers,
Sandy :)
Click to expand...
I'm glad to say I spend more time in it than under it!!:p
 
Hello Sandy,Ive got the same problems you have described my p38 is a diesel manual.As the alternator fault lit up on the dash I presumed this was the fault also gearbox fault transfer neutral EAS light comes on and has a mind of its own.so had the alternator reconditioned the last owner had a new battery installed last august.Starts off the key got mil light flashing when changing gear,pulls well.Problem is getting worse instead of happening 20 mins or so into a journey its beginning to vairy also the fluctuating rev counter drops to zero and doesn't come back up and revs sit high.Have noticed that when changing gear the rev counter can drop to below idle very fast other times it climbs a few 100 rpm electric windows have also stopped working and sunroof and mirrors.Has the crankshaft sensor cured your problem?Any one else experienced these faults.These cars are an addiction.

Many thanks
chris
 
cj01 said:
Hello Sandy,Ive got the same problems you have described my p38 is a diesel manual.As the alternator fault lit up on the dash I presumed this was the fault also gearbox fault transfer neutral EAS light comes on and has a mind of its own.so had the alternator reconditioned the last owner had a new battery installed last august.Starts off the key got mil light flashing when changing gear,pulls well.Problem is getting worse instead of happening 20 mins or so into a journey its beginning to vairy also the fluctuating rev counter drops to zero and doesn't come back up and revs sit high.Have noticed that when changing gear the rev counter can drop to below idle very fast other times it climbs a few 100 rpm electric windows have also stopped working and sunroof and mirrors.Has the crankshaft sensor cured your problem?Any one else experienced these faults.These cars are an addiction.

Many thanks
chris
Click to expand...

Have a look at the CPS. Nanocom would pinpoint it.
 
Hi Wammers I don't have any diag gadgets.I thought CPS would have made it a none starter.Sorry for the ignorance not up to speed with all the gadgetry on p38`s 200/300 defenders is my experience.Thanks for your reply.

cheers
chris
 
cj01 said:
Hi Wammers I don't have any diag gadgets.I thought CPS would have made it a none starter.Sorry for the ignorance not up to speed with all the gadgetry on p38`s 200/300 defenders is my experience.Thanks for your reply.

cheers
chris
Click to expand...

Not if it's intermittent. Rev counter is driven by engine ECU at three pluses per revolution six per power cycle. Where do you think it gets it's pulses from? If you play with it, under no circumstances remove the bracket the CPS mounts on. Remove the CPS from the bracket only. If you remove the bracket it needs a special tool to position it. Various ECUs, EAS, gearbox, low range Etc need to know engine RPM if they are not being fed it they will throw a fault.
 
Hi wammers I'm listening I will not disturb the CPS bracket.I will have a look at the wiring to the sensor.Time to take her off the road its getting to stressful to drive when this fault occurs.

cheers
chris
 
cj01 said:
Hi wammers I'm listening I will not disturb the CPS bracket.I will have a look at the wiring to the sensor.Time to take her off the road its getting to stressful to drive when this fault occurs.

cheers
chris
Click to expand...

Good luck.
 
cj01 said:
Hi Wammers I don't have any diag gadgets.I thought CPS would have made it a none starter.Sorry for the ignorance not up to speed with all the gadgetry on p38`s 200/300 defenders is my experience.Thanks for your reply.

cheers
chris
Click to expand...

Put your location in or check the International Rescue map. Someone might be near.
 
Hi guys replaced the cps today.still the same faults occur mil light even more noticeable with every gear change.Could this be the 4 th injector?is there a way to check it?Thanks for all your help.Really like the p38 wish I had made the jump sooner.

cheers
chris
 
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