V8 Disco starting problems

Vernon.

This sounds like the failed immobiliser syndrome. BTDT. LR can bypass it to check if that is the failure. Depending on where you are, if you call Venture Land Rover and see if they will let you speak to Steve Knight (I spoke to him on Saturday and he told me they do replacement spiders - some LR dealers will try and put the newer crapper system in - ask me how I know!). He should be able to help source the part if :

1. It's the failure
2. Your dealer trys to flog the new kit to you (it's a PITA - I have it fitted)

If you do get to speak to Steve...tell him I sent you ;-)

Neil Brownlee

Thanks for the prompt reply.

What is BTDT and can you tell me more about immobiliser failure? are there any other symptoms?

Depending on where you are, if you call

What is this spider? is this the immobiliser module? Any ideas on cost?

Any idea what the cost is likely to be for new kit? and what is wrong with it?

Can I just get them to disable it and not bother with immobiliser and or get an alarm company to fit a thatcham cat 2 instead?

many thanks

Vernon

Had the same aswell, just bridged the spider and everything was ok. The spider is situated behind the radio/air con controls.

"Neil Brownlee" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:c1gdbf$pi1$ snipped-for-privacy@titan.btinternet.com...

Vernon,

Be aware - if they have been cranking your engine for prolonged periods (as the AA did with mine) - it CAN damage the Cats......

Neil

This had crossed my mind. Is there any way of checking or preventing damage?

What is BTDT and can you tell me more about immobiliser failure? are there any other symptoms? - BTDT - Been There. Done That ;-)

Depending on where you are, if you call

What is this spider? is this the immobiliser module? Any ideas on cost? £300 for the new kit, £100ish for a replacement.

Any idea what the cost is likely to be for new kit? and what is wrong with it?

Can I just get them to disable it and not bother with immobiliser and or get an alarm company to fit a thatcham cat 2 instead? It can be bypassed....but the insurance comp. won't be happy!

Neil

many thanks

Vernon

Vernon, as you have 12 volts on the LT coil feed, the fault is likely to be with the trigger unit in the distributor.

Make sure the connections to the distributor from the coil are in good condition.

HTH

John

On or around Tue, 24 Feb 2004 20:14:19 -0000, "Vernon" enlightened us thusly:

recent no-spark syndrome in my V8 (Lucas DLM8 distributor) was caused by a leaky rotor arm, which was earthing the spark to the shaft.

lovely sparks from the end of the HT lead, until you plugged it into the distributor cap.

but that may not be your problem, by the sound of it. If there are some sparks, I'd not have suspected the immobiliser, I should've thought that would be no-sparks.

On or around Wed, 25 Feb 2004 06:53:24 +0000 (UTC), John enlightened us thusly:

or the amp unit. which is either on the side of the distributor or mounted near the coil.

and don't buy an amp unit from Land Rover, Halfords et al do 'em for about

pickup in the distributor you have to get from LR, costs about 70 quid and comes complete with the baseplate - there are 3 types, depending on what it fits - 2 remote-amp and onew with amp on distributor. The 2 remote ones have different plugs.

Austin,

When the spider fails, the solder cracks....it's not a total immobiliser failure, the engine still cranks etc....That's why the immobiliser is usually *not* suspected ;-)

Neil

If it rattles - they broke it :(

Neil

Try a new rotor arm and a new amplifier (in that order) for about 2 pounds and 22 pounds respectively.

Can't see why ECU would give a weak spark, nor why the immobiliser would either.

Where are you checking the spark? Is it weak on all the plugs, or just one? While you are fiddling with the ignition I would change all the leads (if one bit of the ignition is old and shagged then the rest probably isn't far behind).

RAC man sounds like a bit of a dead loss - the guys I've had have all been superb and much more thorough than this one sounds.

To answer all those questions above.

I tried looking for a spark from the main lead out of the coil, before it gets to the distributor. It was there but very very weak, barely visible. RAC man did the same and then tried a new lead - same result, then he tried a "new" coil he had in his van, the results were the same. I asked if his coil was compatible he said it "should" be and anyway it should give a strong spark.

Eventually he gave up and said he would arrange transport to local LR dealer this morning.

Rang dealer this morning, can't help for at least a week, but happy to receive vehicle. Recovery people turned up at 9am as promised and said they had a garage and were willing to look at the problem today, and if they could not fix it they would transport it to LR dealer at no cost to me. (Their garage is 10 miles from here, LR dealer is 200 meters away) Their labour rate £40 -LR £70 so I had everything to gain, especially as they said they had a fair amount of experience with LandRovers (I woudner why?)

I agreed, they rang at lunch time to tell me it was the coil and they could repair it and return the vehicle to me by 1630 for a total cost of £75 inc VAT.

I think all in all that this third party garage gave a 5 star service, but I am not as keen on the RAC man, who I would class as completely incompetant. In this day and age I would expect him to have a parts manual to ensure the coil he tried was at least compatible if not the correct part.

Many thanks for all the replies I hope this helps someone else out too!

Vernon

GAK!

When my coil failed the AA charged me a whopping £21 to fix it...and then I had to buy a new set of cats due to 45 mins of cranking

Neil

Indeed had the RAC patrolman been competant then I too would have only paid for a coil!

As it is the garage that did the repair charged one hours labour £40+vat which isnt too bad, and they did return the vehicle to me. Coil was £23 or something like that

On or around Wed, 25 Feb 2004 22:41:22 -0000, "Vernon" enlightened us thusly:

the coils for electronic systems are not the same as those for points systems, and the RAC bloke should know that.

Glad you got it sorted. Do you know what make coil you had to start with, Lucas or Bosch? And did they fit the same make back or a differant one? Thanks Richard

incompetant.

Halfwits. 1 pound summat IIRC. Might have been priced wrong, or maybe my memory is shot, but I'm pretty sure it was that.

It was a Bosch one - orange top to it. Not had a chance to look at what is in there now, but it does seem to run much better (might be my imagination?) certainly seems to have more go about it.

If I remember I will have a look at the weekend and post here?