Ok guys. Posted about this several months ago and the problem went away so never did anything. Basically book symbol is on my HVAC display. Happened a couple of times last July when the book symbol came on heat would start pouring out of the vents. Turning the car off and on again usually solved the problem. After a week no issues. AC worked great all through August and it was a hot August!!! One thing I did notice was it seemed the A/C was draining water after turning the car off and parking on the driver’s side just behind the driver’s door. If I was on a longer trip when making sharp turns I could sometimes almost hear water moving around during the turn! Usually the A/C does not drain behind the driver’s door... Never any book symbol and always cold air.

So come December the book symbol reappears and heat starts pouring out of the vents again. Really I do not care because our coldest day was -28. However the book symbol really did not go away. So book symbol since December has stayed on about 90% of the time pouring our hot air. In the rare occasion that the book symbol does not appear I can't seem to get heat at all just cool air. So before summer arrives I need to get this fixed. No dealer nearby, I do have a trusted repair shop but fear they won't know the Range Rover HVAC system. They do Mercedes, BMW, and Audi but no British cars. I trust them but would like to have an idea of what the problem is. Here are something’s I am looking to find out.

1. Was told it could be the blend motors, do you all still feel this way?
2. How many "issues" will the book symbol appear for?
3. Can my independent shop hook a computer up to the Rover to read what the computer says is the problem? I know Auto Zone can read the engine faults but what about this HVAC system? Frankly it is the first car I have seen with a warning symbol on the HVAC system.
4. Last but not least any PM I should do on the HVAC system while I am getting it repaired? 02 P38 with 59,300 miles.

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR TIME AND HELP!!!

 

Wow, only 60K and the book symbol. I am pretty sure it is still the blend motors since that is it 90% of the time. The independent will not be able to hook to anything that will tell them the issue unless they invested a bunch of money in a Rover diagnostic system. You may also have another issue that is manifesting itself in the book symbol. You may have a clogging heater core, or another weird electrical issue that is causing it. I wish I knew more to tell you what to do.

 

You think it would be worth me driving 50-60 miles to the dealer so they could hook it up?

 

The HVAC system on rovers is weird. Mine has gotten stuck in HI and LO on numerous occasions. I've gotten into the habit of just leaving it on one extreme or the other. HI in the winter, LO in the summer. Seems to do the trick. I help the blend motors out by turning the fan way down which allows them to move more freely when making their adjustments. There could be many things causing your problem(s).

I noticed a couple nights ago that might A/C compressor would not engage despite putting the temps in their lowest setting. Turns out, the rover HVAC system thought it to be stupid to turn the A/C on when it was 30 degrees out ( I guess it thought it was that smart...). So, it refused to do so. Today it engaged without an issue, as it was 50F or so out. The book symbol on mine comes on after about 10 min of driving every time. Don't know why... It just does. I can eventually get the system to do what I want it to by finessing with it.

I can understand the frustration, but if you want to read the codes on it, then the dealership is the only way to go... If it were me, I would listen to the blend motors with the fan in the lowest setting. I would listen for an jams or creaking. Mine all seem to do their job fine, its something else in the system acting up. Just be patient and pay attention to detail with the system. You'll eventually find your culprit.

 

If you have no intention of getting into the dash and fixing it yourself (which is fine), then my opinion would be yes, take it to the dealer. Even if only for the diagnostics - then you could perhaps have the work done by an indy shop.

 

Your independent Rover shop should have the diagnostic hardware & software to read the fault codes. I assume when you said independent, you meant a Land Rover independent mechanic. If that's not what you meant, stop going to the guy who advertises to fix all foreign vehicles and find a Land Rover specific mechanic in your area. They will save you thousands over what the delaer will charge. The delaer charge on a diagnosis read is minimum $100. My LR independent mechanic in San Diego would often times not even charge me for running the diagnosis. These trucks are so quirky that you really need a Rover specific mechanic but avoid the dealer if at all possible.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I do not have the option of going to a Land Rover independent mechanic. The guy I goto I would trust more anyways. I don't leave my car with just anyone. The closest independent mechanic for Land Rover is a longer distance than the dealer and at that point I would just rather goto the dealer as I have never used the other place. I have great trust in the local dealer it is just the price and distance that are issues. I really don't think you need a Rover specific mechanic on a P38 unless you run into an issue with the HVAC system, lol. The trick with any vehicle is to just find a honest, good, and fair mechanic!

 

LRScott. I had all the fans on the lowest setting today and could not hear any abnormal sounds. Changing the setting between blowing the air out of the front vents, dash vents, and floor vents all seemed to work well. Book symbol was not on this afternoon but I noticed cool air coming out instead of heat. Book symbol came on almost right away tonight leaving work and when the book symbol is on it really pours out heat!!! Which was fine because it was COLD! LOL. This issue would be so much a pain in the *** in summer. On another note I did order Pollen Filters from Atlantic British yesterday and they arrived today. I replaced them tonight and the old ones were awful, I am starting to wonder if they were original. The closest place to me is Atlantic British actually its about a 40 minute car ride, wonder if they can read the HVAC system codes??? I do intend on getting this solved and will keep you all updated. This is a disadvantage to living in a rural area, 80% of the people here drive American cars.....

 

For this I really think a Testbook would be the ticket, my local Indy foreign shops don't carry that tool, I doubt yours does either as you said.

Sound to me like you may have a blend motor issue as you suspect. I had to replace mine, although I also had a dead passenger side fan and some other problems too.

The book symbol can come up for who knows how many different reasons. Heck my complete HVAC system from the heater core to blend motors to fans is all new. Everything but the HVAC controller itself, and I still get the book symbol from time to time even though everything works fine.

 

I beg to differ. HVAC problems are the least of your worries on a Rover. EAS and electrical issues are more common on P38s and much more difficult to repair for a non-Rover mechanic. The problem is a non-Rover mechanic will think he knows what the problem is and fix what he thinks is wrong only to find that it wasn't the problem and guess who gets the bill? Not him. I would probably agree with your statement that it's best to find an honest, good, and fair mechanic but in the case of the Rover, they are designed so different than most other vehicles on the road that you really need to find an honest, good, and fair mechanic who specializes in Land Rovers. (ha). Believe me, if you started going to an LR specific mechanic, you would probably start saying that you don't trust anyone to touch your truck except the LR guy. They'll probably get you back up and running quicker. Also, they have the diagnosis software to hone in on the problem.

Some of the EAS stuff is just swap out parts that you could probably do yourself if you're somewhat technically inclined (bags, pump, block) but other EAS issues are really difficult to diagnose when you're Rover is still sinking to the bump stops and you just spent thousands replacing the bags, pump, and block. But I understand if there is no independent LR mechanic in your area. That bites.