I have a running 03 disco, and recently bought a very clean '00 for about half of what they typically sell for in this area. The '00 supposedly ran great and was running fine, and the next morning would not start. The owner told me a friend determined there was no spark. Seemed like a simple crank position sensor failure, so I bought the truck. The owner had gone to the junk yard and picked up a set of coils which he gave me.

I got it home and installed a crank sensor, still no start. With no scanner and going by the workshop manual and basic tools, I'm trying to troubleshoot. If I'm reading the manual correctly, in the event of a crank sensor failure, the check engine light will remain on when you crank the engine. With the harness to the sensor unpluged, the light stays on, when plugged in it goes off under cranking. Is that a safe assumption that the ECU is getting a signal from the sensor(though maybe not a good one)? Since not wanting to replace coils is not necessary, I unplugged the harness to the old coil and laid one of the (new) coils on top of the intake and plugged in the harness and a plug wire. I got no spark. The harness has power to the center pin. I then took a nail and inserted it to the right side of the terminal and clipped the end of my circuit tester to that and the other end to the center pin. I got no ground through the harness when cranking, but remained to have power to the center pin. If I understand the manual, the center has 12v with the ign on and the grounds are pulsed by the ECU to fire pairs of cylinders on the coil...correct?

I then began to check ground wires such as behind the engine compartment fuse panel and inspected the wiring inside the cab by the ECU. I found no obvious visible damage.. I have spent hours searching this board and others for no spark condition threads. Many talk about a bad fuse box, could this be the case being I do have power to the coils? Another possibility is a bad ECU, or that the ground to the ECU is faulty. The odometer on this truck is flashing, which makes me wonder if someone has already tried this. Another possibility is the engine wiring harness, which looks good but wouldn't it be unlikely that the harness to both coils would fail?

Remember, I still have the running '03 which I could swap parts from but I'm a little afraid to swap the ECU, could it have any adverse effects by swapping it back and fourth?

Thanks for all the help and great info. Look forward to suggestions.

 

If it is the crank sensor it will not turn over, is it turning over?

It could be XYZ switch, bad fuel relay, or fuse, or possibly fusebox corrosion issue. I recently had a bad body control unit causing a non-start, but this was highly unusual. The mechanic figured it out by tapping the BCU and that would cause it to start.

The ECU would need to be married to the fusebox, and Body Control Unit. I don't think it would be worth swapping.

 

Do not start guessing and swapping parts. Diagnose, diagnose, diagnose.
Borrow/buy an error code reader and leave the running '03 alive.

Automobiles are not built any more since the '90s. Now they are computers with wheels; so sharpen your electrical skills. When smells like a crank sensor, it can also be its wiring, connections. Murphy's law clearly states that something else is wrong.

 

The flashing odometer suggests a different dash gage cluster than new. Do you ever see the red alarm light?

If the BCU detects a different ECU it likes to shut down the ignition.

My Foxwell scanner will tell me if the BCU has triggered any of the alarm protocols and defenses. I think I paid maybe $130 for it on eBay. Cheaper than a trip to the Land Rover dealer for the same answer!

You can always resell the Foxwell back on eBay if $ are tight once you get your answer.

That said, I'm your starter fluid guy. I spray starter fluid into the airbox to see if a vehicle starts or not. That rules out all of the fuel components if it still doesn't start with the starter fluid, and it rules out all of the ignition and alarm components if it does start with starter fluid.

Saves me a lot of time I tell myself!





Anyway, if the BCU and ECU aren't "married" to each other or otherwise factory matched, then you are going to need either a matching pair of BCU and ECU or else a scanner/programmer such as a Foxwell that can match them to each other.

 

I assume you already checked the inertia switch? Also did the door lock, unlock a few times? Put the key in the ignition, turn it on, let it sit for 30 mins. See if it starts. If not I would probably swap ECU, BCU, interior fuse box, and inst cluster all in to the running 03. If it starts, you know is not those, likely the wiring. To rule out fuel pump issues you could borrow the fuel pressure tester from O'reilly.

Good luck!

 

On my 500.00 D2 the CPS was suspect, but in the end it was fine. It's main issue was a fuel pump that had absolutely no wiring insulation left and it was just nasty and not getting power down to the pump. I slapped in a 50.00 Ebay pump, I did swap the CPS as a CYA, and after replacing the toasted starter, it fired up like it was new. Not bad for sitting a year in 2ft of grass! I'd at least jumper the fuel pump relay and see if you hear the pump running to rule it out vs trying to connect a fuel pressure tester to the fuel rail (it's hidden pretty well under the upper intake).

 

Which Foxwell? There seem to be a few models...

 

I bought the Foxwell NT510 for Land Rover/Jaguar.

 

The foxwell showed up yesterday and I plugged it in this morning. No imobl codes, fuel cut off shows set, cranking rpm shows up, ECU is matched to VIN. Did not see any BCU codes, went through all the systems and checked for/erased codes. I have checked the spark with the inline spark checker, which looks like a cross between a circuit tester and a pug wire. It flashes when we crank, I tested most but not all cylinders.....however it is not very bright, just a dull flash. Before when I checked for spark though the plug itself, it did not jump the gap.

As far as the fuel, I was getting no power at the pump, or sound from the fuel pump. I pulled up the carpet and the access door in the back. However, when I use the foxwell scanner to test the fuel pump relay, I hear it running. Any suggestions? I do have the used set of coils I could install.

 

Did you spray it with fluid like was said or did I miss that?