I have used this forum for years and have gotten some great advice from other peoples posts. Today, however, I have a problem that I have not been able to locate the answer too, I need help please!!

First of all I have a 2004 D2 with 138K. I have owned the truck for 8 years and have had all the various issues, head gasket, three amigos, etc.

For the past month or so I have had intermittent starting issues. Normally after a short time parked it does not start back up. After letting it sit for awhile it cranks right up. When it doesn't start, I get all the lights on like there is power, but it does nothing when I try to turn it over. Then mysteriously it will fire right up!?!

This is what I have tried, battery, fully charged. Cables and grounds all look good, replaced the neg battery terminal at the battery. Pulled the starter and had it tested, checked out ok. Switched out the ignition relays. Checked that 12 volts was getting to the starter.

I finally took it to my local repair shop. I am a grad student and I live in Bozeman, MT and there is no LR stealership or independent LR mechanics. The closest to me would be in Salt Lake City, UT which is 6 hours away!! What the mechanic determined was that the BCU, Body control Unit/module was not functioning correctly....

This is a direct quote from my reciept, "When the no start occurs, power into start relay from ignition switch is good, no ground supply to relay from body control module. Intermittent ground control failure from body control module. Body control module has an internal fault and needs replaced and reprogrammed"

Here is the kicker, nobody in Bozeman or Montana has the ability to reprogram, hence having to go to Salt Lake for a repair.

I talked to Tom at GBR in Salt Lake, from the reviews seems like they run a good shop over there.. He was very helpful but without the truck in front of him It was really hard for him to help me. He did however point out that he could only recall having to replace 2 BCU's in all his years with Disco's and never with starting issues?!?

Is there anything else I can try before having to drive 12 hrs. round trip to SLC? Has anybody had a similar issue?? Any sound advice would be welcomed!!

 

It could be a bad connection in the ignition switch, or in the connector to the switch. That's probably the direction I would go to start with. The ignition switch could just have an intermittent bad connection in the 'start' position. It would be a good thing to check out because if it is a bad connection, it can cause a lot of heat and start to melt the insulation off the wires.
Good Luck!

 

I presume you mean that after being out for drive and parking up, then trying to restart after a short while (engine still hot/warm) it will turn over on the starter but will not fire. Is the MIL lamp on too? I'm thinking that you have a faulty CKP (crank position sensor). I had the same problem with mine for a couple of months before I sussed it and fitted new CKP.
If the CKP fails any of the following can be observed;
- Engine cranks but fails to start.
- MIL remains on at all times.
- Engine misfires (CKP sensor incorrectly fitted).
- Engine runs roughly or even stalls (CKP sensor incorrectly fitted).
- Tachometer fails to work.
- Flywheel adaption reset – ferrous contamination

Worth looking at.

 

One question When it does not "fire up" is it cranking? Or do you get no starter when you turn the key?

 

I'd want to see info from a land rover specific scanner before replacing computers. If the BCU or ECM is going into an immobilized state, you'd need to determine why. If not, just replacing the computer might result in the same symptoms. I remember when troubleshooting my 1999 D2 (that really had bad computers) that I could see if the computers thought they were immobilized. I was using a hawkeye at the time, but I'm pretty sure nanocom could provide the same info. Also, how much are they charging to replace the BCU if that needs to be done? You could buy your own nanocom and a used BCU (with lower miles than your ODO, because you can only sync the miles UP) for less than $500 I'm betting.

 

Thanks for all the replies. Just to clarify, what I mean by not starting up after being parked a short time is that when I turn the key in position 1 I am getting full power, the lights come on like normal. When I turn it over nothing happens. No cranking, no noises, no starter trying to engage. At first I used to move the shifter up and down, wait a few minutes, and it would start. Now, if I wait a while, it will usually start up after 20 or 30 minutes.

 

You could take the BCU out and look inside it if you want. Maybe you'll see a burned spot or corrosion or something. If that's the case then you could be pretty certain you'd need a new one.

 

Thanks< I wil be taking it out this weekend to check out the BCU. One insight that I have had has been that the starting problem seems to occur when the car is still hot. Once it cools down I never has a problem starting. When I pulled the starter and had it tested the other week it was obviously cold and tested fine. After talking with Tom at GBR he suggested it could be the starter not working when it is hot. Either way I may swap it out with a 99$ one this weekend from O'reillys. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

 

This is 100% classic Crank Position Sensor. Replace it, if it's not bad already it's going to be soon with the age of the truck.

 

Agreed! I encountered the same problem last week. Truck would crank, but engine would not fire up. 10 to 15 mins. Let it sit for 10 to 20 minutes. It would right up again. The problem became more frequent. I changed the CPS and all is well now.

One symptom of the CPS failure is there was no OBD2 data for fuel and voltage on my Ultragauge when cranking the engine.