Saturday night on the highway disco II "hiccups" twice, then goes into what appears to be a transmission fault. Green M and S are flashing along with PRNDL indicator. Make a hasty exit. Car appears to be stuck in one gear only- probably 3rd. I give it a minute and start it up. Everything seems fine and we are on our way. I get on to the highway and briefly the Disco II begins to overheat, but as quick as it starts, settles back into normal range.

Next day- its very hot here- we run out, stop for lunch. Get into the Disco and we crank and crank. Nothing. Check the engine compartment fuse box. The 40 am fuse for the "cooling system" is blown. I steal a fuse from the seat heating and the Disco stars right up. Drive straight home and it runs fine.

I was going to have it serviced- change tranny and engine oil. What else should I look for?

Thanks!

2002 Disco II- 82,000 miles

 

Have your cooling system pressure checked too.
You are probally low on trans fluid which would cause it to "hiccup" and eventually not move.
You should have your transmission serviced every 50,000 miles and you must assume that it has never been done before. Unless you have all the service records from the previous owner and it was done.
So Monday, not Tuesday, but Monday have the transmission fluid level checked and then have it serviced.

 

Thanks, Spike.

 

Reade your owners manual first, cover to cover, be surprised what you will find.
How old is your battery? You are going into limp mode , which can quite often be caused by a dirty, low or near dead battery. Go get the battery/alternator checked at your local auto parts store.

 

Thanks, Mike-

Question for you though. I had a "crank but no start" on Sunday after all this happened- the battery did not seem to show any signs of weakness in the least- I cranked it on and off for about 20 minutes.

Could/ Would a bad electronic fan be the culprit- either drawing too many amps or shorting- to fault the tranny?

 

I did not know about the "limp" mode on the DII. Good to know.

 

The low voltage needs to be corrected first. Then check the fans, make sure it has not locked up.

 

Thanks, all-

I located the fan in front of the radiator and sure enough it was siezed-up. I ordered another right away from roverland. I am going to have the battery and alternater checked as well. Made an appointment next week to have the tranny hooked to therovacom to scan for faults.

Question- considering I had a crank- no start, is there some sort of switch that will not allow the car to start if the engine compartment is too high? Or would the high temp itself affect the ignition system?

Thoughts?

 

No the high under hood temp will not affect starting, UNLESS your fuel temp sensor is bad.

 

its weird that it wouldnt start, and then did right after replacing that fuse, it only supplies your cooling fan, there is no fuel temp sensor on a d2, however if it was abnormally hot uner the hood, and you have something else starting to go, it can cause problems. i have seen crank sensors fail only when hot, start the car fine when its cold, after a half hour of driving, it will no longer let it start, you taking the time to track down and replace the fuse might have been long enough for it to cool down, are your valve covers leaking oil by chance, mainly the drivers side one??