KimChance

Hi Landrover addicts, my name is Kim. I am in Abu Dhabi but originally come from Western Australia. My daily ride is a Gulf spec 2000 Disco 2 that is pretty much as it came out of the factory. This is Landrover #5 for me, starting too many years ago with two Series 2a's, a series 3, and a RHD Aussie spec 2001 Disco 2 that I still own in Australia. All the series rovers had (or ended up with) 202 cu inch red motor Holdens, both Discos are 4 litre petrol. I really enjoy the comments on the forum and it is a great help to those of us who are relatively recent arrivals in the UAE. Cheers...... Kim

Hi Basra, It could be that your battery is on the way out depending on its age, but if a cell collapses the battery tends to die without any warning just as Zaaboot experienced. In your case your electrical system is at least giving you some warning so the problem isn't necessarily the battery, it might be, but there are other possible causes. First step is to get an auto electrician to check your battery and also your alternator output. Bosche alternators rarely fail but it is cheap and easy to check if they are giving full performance, it could be that one of your diodes has failed which would mean that you are getting some charge but much less than you should. If that all checks out OK think about your main earth lead that runs between the battery's negative terminal and earth (either the chassis or the engine block). If the earth lead connections look clean externally that does not mean you are getting a full current flow. I have seen earth connections on a Disco 2 where the return to earth was made by a zinc plated connection bolted to the alloy engine block. Zinc and aluminium don't get on well together and even though the connection looked clean there was a very faint layer of corroded material between the two. I polished the corrosion off with emery paper and reconnected the lead still thinking I had wasted my time...... the engine started immediately! This came after wasting half a day trying to track down the cause of the problem. Earth problems are sometimes (but not always) signalled by strange behaviour by other electrical functions, your security system may do something different for example or your indicators may flash as hazard lights. This is caused by current attempting to return to earth through any available route because it can't return through the main earth lead due to insulating corrosion. A visit to an auto electrician is highly recommended, especially if he is a Bosche specialist. Good luck!

Hi Zaaboot, Joyfulrog's advice sounds spot on to me. It sounds like one of the battery cells had completely collapsed so it was just sitting there doing nothing basically, no matter how much charge you fed it, it was never going to give anything back. When you jump started it you completed the circuit from the donor battery and from then on after you disconnected the leads you were running on your alternator output. Only solution is a new battery, you had no other options.

It doesn't work every time, but there is a little rubber vacuum hose that sometimes deteriorates causing leakage and loss of function. Replacing the hose is a very cheap fix if that is what the problem is. I put up with a lack of cruise control in a Disco 2 for three months, thinking it was something electrical and complicated only to find I could fix it in 5 minutes with a spare bit of rubber tubing.

I don't think it is a Rangy at all, my bet is that it is an International Scout from sometime during the 70's, they had the same flush front apron and vertical guards, all the series LRs had indented front aprons. Believe it or not but about 80% of the Scouts came in that same blue/grey colour as the model....and they rusted pretty much the same!

Shukraan

Do you have an email address?

I realise this is an old post but in case anyone has a similar problem, misfiring under load with the Bosche equipped engines, particularly if it occurs around 2300 RPM, is almost always caused by the MAF (Mass Airflow Sensor) becoming dirty. The sensor can be cleaned using an electrical contact cleaner and there are specific aerosol products for MAF application. Cleaning will not necessarily provide a complete solution, but if you get any improvement at all you know you are on the right track. Replacement with a new genuine MAF sensor or at least a genuine Bosche unit will make your engine feel like a new one. They are not cheap but there is little or no labor cost as it is a simple job that almost anyone can do. If the engine still feels unwilling your problem may well be the oxygen sensors which are in each of the exhaust pipes about 450mm from the manifolds, these are cheap to buy and to fit and make a significant difference to your fuel economy and performance. Try to get good diagnostics done first either through an authorised Landrover dealer or an authorised Bosche dealer, it isn't expensive and it can save you time and money chasing down complex problems, often resulting in the replacement of parts that were functioning perfectly well and were not a part of the problem at all. We live in a very dusty environment and the liklihood of the MAF sensor becoming dirty is high.