Dead Discovery

[DigitalNY]

With muddy hands I type... I just got back home from twelve hours of adventure that was both fun and frustrating. Some friends of mine and myself went out offroading today in the mud.. It was raining.. This would have been an alright idea if I hadn't been driving a completely factory 96 disco 1..

Well .. we hit some water.. It bounded up over the hood with about 200 yards to go and it was obvious we weren't going to make it... I made it out doing 15+ mph in reverse. We got turned around and made it another ~300 yards before the engine stalled.

Now I have a disco1 that has been towed to town that for the life of me I can't get to start.. When placing the key in the on position prior to starting I hear a rapid relay rattle from the passenger footwell. If I wait for the majority of the lamps on the instrument panel to test out and extinguish I can turn the engine over but it seems the fuel system isn't energizing.

I've had issues in the past with it just spontaneously activating my hazard flashers I think this may have to do with the ECU or Inertia switch as I'm currently unable to lock the doors without the vehicle immediately unlocking them again..


Any Ideas? I'd like to get it running enough to get it home...


DigitalNY... In muddy upstate NY

 

[hawkrider]

Check if you have pressure at the fuel rail.Listen to see if your fuel pump is working.Mine crapped out when crossing a puddle as well,I'm not sure if it was happy coincidence or due to the water but I replaced it with a $75 Chevy pump from NAPA and all is now good*.

I freaked when I heard the relay tripping rapidly as it wasn't the fuel relay as I have seen described and I didn't read any mention of it doing so when the pump has gone on others' Discos but such it was with mine.



*er,so the right side markers on the bumpers no longer work and the right headlight is dim...at least it runs.If it ever dries out,I'll chase down the bad ground...hope it's just a bad ground.

 

[DigitalNY]

Has anyone else ever had what appears to be alarm ecu issues in a system with a bad fuel pump? The vehicle as far as running condition was fine prior to this. Granted, it was a bit annoying when my hazard flashers would spontaneously come on when I parked but at least it ran.

I've disconnected the battery, let it sit and jumpered the inertia switch out of line. I've turned the key on waited and locked / unlocked doors and it still it unlocks the doors every time I try to lock them. The key locks on the outside of the disco don't do anything.

Now, if it is the alarm ecu is there anything I can do about it without a LR dealer? The nearest dealership is 100+ miles from my home and where the landrover is.

And to answer your question, no pressure at the schraeder valve on the injection rail.

*bounces head off desk*

DigitalNY

 

[DigitalNY]

Completely unprepared it seems I went back to the discovery to check the fuel pump. No sound from the pump. The fuel sender wasn't registering fuel level either. After playing with the 6 pin to 4 pin cable that runs from the top of the fuel tank to the connector on the frame above the drivers side wheel well I got fuel level to register but still no fuel pressure at the rail.

I didn't have a large enough screwdriver and mallet or pair of channel locks to get the locking ring off the top of the tank otherwise I would have checked the fuel pump itself.

It looks to me like the wiring for the fuel pump goes from that 6pin to 4pin cable up into the back of the vehicle under the drivers side brake lamp. Where does it go from there and are there any common points of failure that I should check?

I'm going to have it towed tomorrow to my house so it's easier to work on. It's sitting in a gas station parking lot right now about 12 miles away.

DigitalNY

 

[joey]

Sounds like the Alarm ECU got cooked... or the relay to the fuel pump got wet.... I would bet on the ECU though.... This is the down side of driving a Gasoline Disco in deep water.

 

[DigitalNY]

Joey,

I've popped the cover off what I believe to be the alarm ECU. (Green plastic module at passengers footwell) and it looks intact, no burnt electronics or cold solder joints or anything visible. Without the pinouts for the IC's I can't really test components in-circuit and it looks like a testbook is needed to swap one.

What are the chances that it's the spider? I'm not hearing the fuel pump run, The locks want to stay unlocked unless all the doors are closed (If I sit in the drivers seat, close the doors and press the lock down they will stay locked), oh and I just noticed that I have no headlights.. I have tail lamps, dash lights and lights on the shifter but no headlights.

Will the alarm ecu and the rest of the system work with the spider bypassed? (pins 2&3 for fuel, 4&8 for ignition and 6&10 for starter)?

I can't think of what it may be, it seems electrical to me but I'm not really familiary enough with the immobilization system or electrical system to track down the issue if it ends up being the actual wiring harness. This isn't really what I wanted to do a week after purchasing my LR, especially being 100+ miles from a LR dealership.

DigitalNY


EDIT: Oh, and I didn't have any water enter the passenger compartment or wet anything on the interior of the firewall near the alarm ecu, but I did find the pad over the fuel pump access hatch damp.

 

[joey]

Ok with the info you just provided (or maybe I didn't read everything before... it does happen)

Doors are not supposed to lock when the drivers door is open, they will all unlock to prevent isues.

Headlights may very well be either a fuse issue or the headlight switch is having issues.

You can always direct wire the fuel pump or check the fuel pump relay. (remember it is only 6 volts)

 

[DigitalNY]

Hrmm... Methinks the discovery just didn't like being wet because it's been a day and a half and suddenly it starts this afternoon!?!

One of the things that I had tried this morning was the EKA Code Procedure just in case the alarm was in some quasi-armed stated. Now my alarm works, which it hasn't since I got the disco two weeks ago. Prior to today the alarm did absolutely nothing on lock / unlock. Now it works like it should.

I think I'll take some time and go through the wire loom, look for bared wire and seal all the connectors.

Also, I noticed that alot of people had problems with the fusebox under the hood on the rovers that had relays under the hood. Is there also an issue with the fusebox on discoveries that have all their relays (except main & fuel pump) inside? I haven't really torn mine open to look at it.

DigitalNY

 

[Moose]

I had that happen once. Drove into ~18" of water at 35mph (was deeper than I anticipated ), and truck wouldn't do anything except turn over for 18 hours. Sitting in the sun seemed to help

 

[DigitalNY]

The only thing that's not working now is the fuel level sender. I'll have to research that and check the wiring from the sender forward. Any areas in particular stick out in your mind that I should check for wetness / connection issue?

DigitalNY