M

Micklee

New Member
I have recently inherited my dads Range Rover which he really looked after. Its an R Reg Range Rover 2.5 DSE Auto and in amazing condition, however we are having some problems with it which is preventing us from enjoying it.
It was flat bedded to us as it hadnt been used for some time and I didnt have the confidence to drive it, When it got to us the battery was fully charged for us, however when we went to start it a couple of days later it did not start so we had to jump it. We took it home and recharged the battery but once again have been unable to start it. The problem we think is that in the night randomly orange lights keep flashing on the car and we dont know why. Is it an electrical problem or do you think we need to replace the battery? I am not very car savvy but do have a good mechanic who can help me but if its just a battery then we can just get a new one.
 
The very first thing when diagnosing any issue on a Range Rover is to ensure you have a known good and healthy battery, else you will spend the rest of your days chasing your tail on spurious faults!

So get a known good battery, and hook it up.

The P38 has a very annoying immobiliser and security system....in some circumstances, a flat battery will cause the Engine ECU and the BeCM (Body Electrical Control Module) to lose their sync codes.....what this is is the two ECU's have the same code number stored and when you turn the key, the Engine ECU and the BeCM talk to each other and check to see if they have the same code as each other...if they do, the car starts, if not you can't start the car.

Depending on the model year, if the codes are out of sync, the car will crank or if it is another model year, it won't ....the change over was around 1999 and I don't remember which one cranks and which one doesn't....but this may also be a cause for the non-start issue you have.

It can be solved with diagnostics to recode the sync codes between the ECU's.....

Also, there is a key synchronisation system where the key has to be synced to the car, but this will bring a message up on the dash to say something like, 'KEYCODE LOCKOUT' or 'PRESS REMOTE BUTTON' or something along those lines....

The P38 is a stupidly complex car when it comes to the security system, hence why the insurance is so low because they are next to impossible to steal even if you have the key.
 
Micklee said:
I have recently inherited my dads Range Rover which he really looked after. Its an R Reg Range Rover 2.5 DSE Auto and in amazing condition, however we are having some problems with it which is preventing us from enjoying it.
It was flat bedded to us as it hadnt been used for some time and I didnt have the confidence to drive it, When it got to us the battery was fully charged for us, however when we went to start it a couple of days later it did not start so we had to jump it. We took it home and recharged the battery but once again have been unable to start it. The problem we think is that in the night randomly orange lights keep flashing on the car and we dont know why. Is it an electrical problem or do you think we need to replace the battery? I am not very car savvy but do have a good mechanic who can help me but if its just a battery then we can just get a new one.
Click to expand...
Hi thanks for that. If we can jump start the car does that mean the Engine ECU and the BeCM talk to each other? Also we do not have a manual. Can a Range Rover Mechanic sort this if this has happened. The key were reprogrammed when we got it to Weymouth.
 
Saint.V8 said:
The very first thing when diagnosing any issue on a Range Rover is to ensure you have a known good and healthy battery, else you will spend the rest of your days chasing your tail on spurious faults!

So get a known good battery, and hook it up.

The P38 has a very annoying immobiliser and security system....in some circumstances, a flat battery will cause the Engine ECU and the BeCM (Body Electrical Control Module) to lose their sync codes.....what this is is the two ECU's have the same code number stored and when you turn the key, the Engine ECU and the BeCM talk to each other and check to see if they have the same code as each other...if they do, the car starts, if not you can't start the car.

Depending on the model year, if the codes are out of sync, the car will crank or if it is another model year, it won't ....the change over was around 1999 and I don't remember which one cranks and which one doesn't....but this may also be a cause for the non-start issue you have.

It can be solved with diagnostics to recode the sync codes between the ECU's.....

Also, there is a key synchronisation system where the key has to be synced to the car, but this will bring a message up on the dash to say something like, 'KEYCODE LOCKOUT' or 'PRESS REMOTE BUTTON' or something along those lines....

The P38 is a stupidly complex car when it comes to the security system, hence why the insurance is so low because they are next to impossible to steal even if you have the key.
Click to expand...

Diesel will crank all day and not start if security codes do not match. But my guess would be duff battery.
 
Micklee said:
I have recently inherited my dads Range Rover which he really looked after. Its an R Reg Range Rover 2.5 DSE Auto and in amazing condition, however we are having some problems with it which is preventing us from enjoying it.
It was flat bedded to us as it hadnt been used for some time and I didnt have the confidence to drive it, When it got to us the battery was fully charged for us, however when we went to start it a couple of days later it did not start so we had to jump it. We took it home and recharged the battery but once again have been unable to start it. The problem we think is that in the night randomly orange lights keep flashing on the car and we dont know why. Is it an electrical problem or do you think we need to replace the battery? I am not very car savvy but do have a good mechanic who can help me but if its just a battery then we can just get a new one.
Click to expand...

Look up on RF interference. Unless it has Marty's fix, Brian's bodgit or a gen 3 receiver you will kepp killing batteries.

Also, diesel will be 13.8V set point unless someone has upgraded the alternator so that will kill calcium batteries.

I have a Platinum 642X in mine. Barely spins before it catches although I have Beru glow-plugs too.
 
Welcome to LZ :D
Do not despair. The P38 is a great car. The Doozle is a little under-powered for my tastes, but quite economical and a great workhorse.
If it starts ok when "jumped" then your issue is probably the battery going flat because the RF fob receiver in the car keeps triggering a "wake-up" cycle on the car that sucks 2A for 5 mins every time before it goes back to bye-byes.
It can also be a problem with the doorlock and bootlock gubbins that can put a drain on things. A known good battery and some simple fault-finding can get to the bottom of it fairly quickly.
Good Luck.
 
DanClarke said:
Welcome to LZ :D
Do not despair. The P38 is a great car. The Doozle is a little under-powered for my tastes, but quite economical and a great workhorse.
If it starts ok when "jumped" then your issue is probably the battery going flat because the RF fob receiver in the car keeps triggering a "wake-up" cycle on the car that sucks 2A for 5 mins every time before it goes back to bye-byes.
It can also be a problem with the doorlock and bootlock gubbins that can put a drain on things. A known good battery and some simple fault-finding can get to the bottom of it fairly quickly.
Good Luck.
Click to expand...

Or more likely the battery is simply fooked. Fully charge the battery disconnected from car and see what voltage drop you get over night. :D
 
Iirc does the eml or diesel fault light flash if the ecu's are out of sync on the diesel?
 
If you need to ask them probably, yes, you need a new battery.
Check the voltage when it's running, if it's 13.8v - 14.5v or there abouts, then it's charging ok.
Charge the battery over night, take off charge, leave it for an hour or 2 and if the voltage has dropped below 12.4v then it's well past its best
 
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