Hope I'm not being premature, but I think I finally got my 04 Disco 2 to stop throwing a P1415 code (replaced the passenger side air control valve). After a week of starting and running the car every day and a couple short (25 miles round trip) drives, still no SES light/codes, I took it to get the state emissions test today and it failed because the catalyst and evaporative systems sensors are still "not ready." North Carolina will let you get away with one sensor but not two. At least the secondary air system sensor was "ready" and didn't throw a code (small victory!)... I've seen the "protocol" for resetting these sensors and there is absolutely no way I can follow that procedure where I live without getting a handful of tickets for erratic driving, speeding, etc. Are there any shortcuts to getting these sensors reset?

 

When I disconnected the battery, it takes quite a while. Your normal driving might not be sufficient, the ECU wants to see certain drive cycles. You can look it up in the Workshop manual pp. 18-2-58.

 

Hmm, I was hoping to avoid those... I don't see anywhere in the manual that states when to do which cycles--or do you always have to do all five? Cycles A and E are easy enough to do in my driveway, but B, C and especially D require some place close (so temp can be < 95 deg F) where I can go 0-35 without getting rear-ended, and 0-45/0-55 without getting a speeding ticket... How do the dealer maintenance guys do this with most of the dealerships in fairly built up areas?

 

If you don't wanna follow Rovers steps word for word, just drive it around for about a week, around town and highway if you can and that should do it. Used to recommend people drive it about 100 miles just because most people don't understand simple concepts. A week of driving to an old lady is letting her car sit for 6 days and maybe going to church on sunday. That aint gonna cut it, especially at grandma speed. Driving is the only way they're gonna get set.

Mine always sets pretty quick so shouldn't be a big deal.

Btw, most dealers and mechanics that are worth a damn at all will drive the vehicle with a scanner capable of reading sensor readiness and wait for them to set to a ready status before returning vehicle to customer after repairs pertaining to trouble codes. Those guys that replace something they THINK is broken, clear the code, and then tell the customer it's fixed only for the same code to come back within a day shouldn't even be near a vehicle in the first place. It's insane how many 20+ year know it all "professional" mechanics operate that way. But now I'm just ranting.

 

Rant away, rant away Chuck...it's music to my ears...lol.

l've got three new techs, under the age of 25...and somedays...lol.

Just the other day...tech #1 says..."ICP sensor is bad". Me, thinking he probably checked everything out..."okay". Tech...replaces...no change. Me..."what were the injection control pressures, what was the IPR valve doing, was it trying to maintain desired pressures, were any of the oil pressure adapter pucks leaking excessively, how many miles on the oil, etc? Tech..."I don't know?" So, on goes the lap-top, ICP is still erratic or undesirable range, read the other info, top end comes back apart, replace oil pressure adapter pucks...and off she goes.

Tech #2 says..."rear main is leaking." Me..."okay." Tech pulls trans. Go over to have a look...you can see oil coming down from above bell housing...rear main is barely damp and drain hole on bottom of bell housing is dry...l'm like...seriously...you didn't think it was coming from somewhere else? He's adamant about it being the main. l'm like..."no way...oil doesn't travel upward, unless it's gushing out in gallons...keep looking." Ends up...high pressure oil pump is loose on housing, dead center top of engine...oil pouring out from base gasket and return lines. The real pissers is...he still wouldn't admit he was wrong in his diagnosis.

My rants for the day...and is it too early for a stiff drink...lol.

Now, back to our regular scheduled programing...yes, drive the rover for a few weeks, let it adapter to new sensor readings and conditions.

 

Must have hit the right combo of cycles/miles--the catalyst and evaporative sensors woke up Friday afternoon so I immediately took it to the inspector and it passed for the first time in two years! On to other things: coolant leak (looking like head gaskets unfortunately) and the sunroof motors somehow connected to the ignition switch...