Hi. My son drives a landrover 1999 Discovery 1. The vehicle had a tune up in Oct. Radio was replaced which caused the alert buzzer when you leave lights on to vanish. The real problem is that the car died and we replaced the battery. The car starts and drives for about 10 min and then when you stop at a light it dies and won't start. The idle air control valve was replaced. The car was driven about 10 min and then died when stopped at a light. The mechanic turned up the idle. Now it does not die when you stop in traffic with your foot on the brake but when you stop and put it in park it dies before you turn the car off. It is hard to restart right away but after the car sits for a few minutes it starts up again. . it has been at the mechanic for a month now. Any ideas would be great. Thank you so much

 

crank sensor?

 

I'm sorry I don't know whether your son has a Bosch or Gems engine (I have a Disco II, Bosch) but the principles are the same.

When my crank sensor isn't functioning my truck won't start.

I've had similar problems with my truck. I knew it was bad when the idle dropped. One day I drove 30 miles at 70 mph and returned at 10mph. The solution was finding vacuum leaks (all of which I could hear with the engine running, and by putting my hand over them figure out where a repair was needed) and the mass air flow sensor. The new MAF sensor instantly cleared everything up. Night and day.

Is the service engine light on? Does it flash when this happens? If so and if you don't have a code reader, most auto shops (like Autozone) will read and print your codes for free. My guess is that you have codes for misfires. If you post the codes here I am sure someone will have great ideas on how to resolve them.

 

First of all your mechanic shouldn't have adjusted your base idle. Let me guess, he drilled or otherwise removed the plug and turned the screw? You shouldn't have to do that. There's a problem somewhere and messing with that screw only further masks the real problem. Search for Hot Restart, it's a common problem.

Also the SERVICE Engine light and CHECK Engine light are two separate things and not to be confused. The SERVICE light is Red and just wants you to take your truck in for it's routine maintenance. The CHECK engine light is Orange and indicates there's a problem and you should read the codes.

 

I didn't know that regarding the lights. I was referring to the orange one. I've never seen the red one (and am thankful for that).