Ok the saga continues , removed all wires from back of ignition switch and made no difference so have ruled out ignition problem . Starter still span when battery connected , until it eventually would spin no more , so suspected Solenoid fault on starter , removed old starter and replaced with new one , old starter confirmed not working by direct connection with jump leads. , now engine did turn over for a bit , (battery is good by the way )but would not start , as soon as battery is connected ignition lights come on including glow plug light , without the key in the ignition !,but nothing electrical woks at allso suspecting earth problem , in process of cleaning up replacing neg feed from battery to gearbox via chassis, are there any more earth points , have seen reference to bulkhead earth point on other posts , is this the one near the top on the drivers side with small black cables , or is there another one ? Is there an earth from gearbox to engine or chassis to engine , a location would be helpful as I have some under body protection fitted so its not easy to see everywhere .
Thanks

buy a haynes manual !! its easy as **** to wire up !! always check earths first on your landrover !!!!

I presume you have a 300tdi fenda,
I had this sort of problem with mine found it to be earth strap from batt/chassis to gearbox, and i know on my vehicle it was the only one.

Best way to test if it is, is to get a jump lead from earth terminal on batt to good contact point on engine, try to start it up and run then to see if the problem lies with the earth

Hi Yes it is a 300tdi, thanks for the advice shall go an give it a try , with the jump lead

I've just had a load of wireing issues on my 300tdi. As has been said before look for any earths first. Then trace the routes of the wireing looms and see if there are any damaged areas. I had damage to a cluster of wires as they exited the rear chassis leg. Insulation had started to perish causing shorting between the group if wires themselves. I think it had got damaged when the rear cross member had been replaced.

Another area to check is the engine loom as it comes up between the bulkhead and the engine. If unprotected wires are too near the engine that can rub and wear the insulation against the main block.

If lights are on anywhere when the key is removed you can remove fuses one by one from the fuse box. When they go out it will at least identify the circuit that has a fault. I found the trick with wireing faults was to be methodical and try and rule out things as you go.

Good luck ��

Fault found , you were right Simon , discovered short on main loom that comes into baulkhead over the top if the gear box , it was actually shorting on the gearbox , wish I'd seen it sooner , before I cleaned up and remade the earthing points ! Only noticed it when I was testing starter by putting live feed on spade terminal .
Just got to try and repair it now !
Thanks for all your help
Paul

Glad you got it sorted, cleaning the earths etc would not be a wasted job though