To buy or not to buy? / Fault code help

Hi all,
I'm looking at buying a '52 plate L322 HSE 4.4 V8 (great condition inside and out - 70k on the clock). Before buying it I wanted to make sure it was checked over by the mechanic I normally go to for any problems and he is someone I trust as he is also a good friend. So he checked the car over, put it on the ramp in his shop and tested it structurally, with no issues - however he plugged it into the diagnostic kit and it returned quite a few fault codes which I will list at the end. The week before it was sent into the garage the owner took me out in it and demonstrated everything working, and everything was absolutely fine. There was however an issue with the sound system (although it is the HSE it has all options - ie Satnav, TV etc) which he says only stopped working a week or 2 prior to taking me out in it - basically one day he got in and switched on the cd player and there was no sound, for any of the modules, including no sound for the satnav voice etc. After reading on forums etc it seems it is a fairly well known problem which is caused by water ingress in the boot where the amp is (gets corroded and can possibly damage the electronics, requiring a new amp/clean up corroded connectors), however due to this he has been using the car with the sound system loom disconnected as he thinks it has been drawing current from the battery even with the ignition off (again, probably due to a short somewhere if corroded). Either way, the sound isn't a factor to influence my decision on buying the car as either way I will have it fixed. My main concern is the fault codes and after having been in the car and everything being fine, when I spoke to the owner after the car had been checked over, he said it was very strange because when he drove it home from the garage the car was playing up, he said it wasn't extreme but the throttle seemed to be revving unnaturally/unusually compared with normal and how he felt it was strange it had only happened after being put on the diagnostics.... The list of codes the garage gave me are as follows:

Engine - 140 - Electronic Thermostat Control

ABS - Intermittent System Down

Steering - Incorrect CAN message

Transfer Box - OX52F3 - EG52 Lost from CAN
Transfer Box - OX52F1 - Encoder Signal Error
Transfer Box - 21222 - 52E6 Unknown Code
Transfer Box - OX52ED - INSTR2 Lost from CAN
Transfer Box - OX52F2 - INSTR3 Lost from CAN
Transfer Box - OX52E7 - ASC1 Lost from CAN
Transfer Box - OX52EC - ASC2 Lost from CAN
Transfer Box - OX52E8 - EGS Lost from CAN (could also be EG5 - his hand writing aint great!)
Transfer Box - OX52E9 - DME2 Lost from CAN
Transfer Box - OX52EB - DME1 Lost from CAN

Ok, so most of the codes appear to be from the transfer box - I have looked around and I believe I am right in saying that alot of these codes can be due to the transfer box motor needing cleaned/fixed or replaced and I know that he has never used it as he has never had any need, so it's likely this could be a cause? I know that also if it is the motor, it can cause an ABS code aswell due to the link of hill descent with the braking system. The other common culprit appears to be the thermostat sensor needing replaced which can cause the system to put out a whole load or fault codes. And a third cause I have seen can be due to the wiring loom needing replaced/loose connection etc. Has anyone had any of these symtoms and can perhaps advise what I should do? The car is a fantastic buy at the price I have agreed (should I decide to buy it) and I would really like it, however I don't want to buy the car to then have to spend a fortune getting it fixed. If it's the transfer box motor or thermostat sensor, I would have a go at fixing it myself/ paying £400 for a replacement motor etc, but I'm not willing to spend 1000's getting lots of little bits and pieces to try and resolve the problem should that fail. Basically, I need some advice from anyone more knowledgeable, as I'm sure 99% of you are Maybe the "entertainment" system loom has upset it... who knows. Any speculation/advice/facts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Ollie

PS - sorry if this is the wrong forum to post this in, question forum wouldn't allow me to post a new thread, cheers

You've got the right section

Which happens to be the same section I usually avoid cause I know nothing about them :doh:

BUT.......I do happen to know that the transferbox sensor has an earth that often causes issues with multiple codes....for what thats worth.

The knowledgeable butlers will be on-line later when the lordships are doing the rounds on their estates

Water ingress and corrosion in the stuff in the left hand sideof the boot can cause all sorts of problems, a mate over here was quoted €2k to replace the box. Personally I would walk away.

Yeah I remember reading that earthing connections are cause for issue aswell, thanks for that And datatek, when you say the "box" are you reffering to the transfer box or the amp? I've seen things that say the transfer box is usually not problematic, but rather the motor that changes it into low ratio and I've seen reconditioned motors for around 4-500 quid. The car is going back to my mechanic on tuesday as the owner wants to find out why suddenly there are some problems after being on the diagnostic, so looks like the diagnostic has certainly upset something electronic. And I've said to the owner I'm still willing to buy it, but only if I can have someone diagnose the problem and know that it's not going to cost more than £500 to fix. The price I am getting it for is fantastic so it's worth it should the problems not be massive. Keep any info coming as it will certainly be helpful to my decision - thanks for the advice so far

Did the diagnostics friend clear the faults then read again, these faults could no longer be there and are from service work done in its life time.

He is not a land rover specialist and therefore may not have known that, but that is the kind of news I was hoping to hear I will ask the owner to get this done then, and see what the results are! Thank you very much! I've always thought these forums were more useful than a mechanic! Looks like there's proof in that!

pumpkinboy1991 said:

Yeah I remember reading that earthing connections are cause for issue aswell, thanks for that And datatek, when you say the "box" are you reffering to the transfer box or the amp? I've seen things that say the transfer box is usually not problematic, but rather the motor that changes it into low ratio and I've seen reconditioned motors for around 4-500 quid. The car is going back to my mechanic on tuesday as the owner wants to find out why suddenly there are some problems after being on the diagnostic, so looks like the diagnostic has certainly upset something electronic. And I've said to the owner I'm still willing to buy it, but only if I can have someone diagnose the problem and know that it's not going to cost more than £500 to fix. The price I am getting it for is fantastic so it's worth it should the problems not be massive. Keep any info coming as it will certainly be helpful to my decision - thanks for the advice so far

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I was talking about the electronics box in the left side of the boot behind the trim.

Ahh sorry I read your first post wrong! That's not so much of an issue as we can live without sound, but I'll have a go at fixing it/find a second hand replacement if we get the car

pumpkinboy1991 said:

Ahh sorry I read your first post wrong! That's not so much of an issue as we can live without sound, but I'll have a go at fixing it/find a second hand replacement if we get the car

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Sound, phone, sat nav and other systems can be affected. The fibre optic loop goes through the box and if the box fails it interupts the data, I believe it's possible to buy a link for the fibre optic line to link the box out. I have repaired one, it was the pins had corroded off the connector Took it apart, dried the electronics bypassed the connector fixed a couple of dry joints and lo it worked! Saved the owner €2K

All codes cleared, so bought the car - what can I say - AMAZING!! Can't get over the sound of that big V8 Only thing to do now is sort the sound system Thanks for all your input guys!!

so what was the problem then? or the solution to it lol

Well when we had it vetted by our usual mechanic his diagnostics kit found a list of errors (at the start of this thread) and then quite a few people said that the list resembled work that is carried out on the RR during it's lifetime - so we had them reset and rescanned and none appeared again and it has no problems so the only issue was the system reading old codes which had previously not been reset, etc

You know I have heard that so many time, its just unbelievable how bloody lazy some people can be, they should wipe out what they have done and leave it clean for the next mechanic that come along, surly it doesn't take that long to do it?

Yeah probably not,but that requires effort! Although I do know some things that are more intricate can't be reset by a basic diagnostics kit, think some of them need a fully capable BMW system.

Yea I wasn't thinking, some people use non dealers (indi's) to do the work and they just dont have the set-up or gear to clear the faults