Hi all. I bought a 2008 LR3 HSE with 105,000 miles two weeks ago. It’s beautiful. I’ve always wanted one, and now I've got it, warts and all. Lately I've been reading these forums extensively, trying to figure out how to solve some problems. I'm hoping you guys can help shine a light on some things -- here are my troubles in order. Sorry in advance for the long post.

The (non-LR) dealer I bought it from said the battery died a few days before I bought it. (Door left open, light on, I'm not sure.) I didn't ask if they replaced the battery or recharged it, because it was working when I bought it and I didn't know then that batteries were so super important to how the truck works internally. I had the battery tested at a local shop after buying it and the guy said it was "fine" and showed me a little printout that said "good." This probably isn't enough information - my plan is to get it tested for exact numbers tomorrow, both while it's running and at rest.

When I bought it the radio didn’t work, and the dealer gave me some money off because of it. It goes to "phone mode" and stays there. It will attach via bluetooth to my iPhone, and then unattach when I tell it to, and that's it. This is where I've done the most reading online trying to find a fix, but so far all the great suggestions like hard resets (which I’ve done) haven’t gotten it working. I took it to the LR dealer and showed the service tech, and he said, “You need a new phone module. That will be $750.” I told him I’d think about it. Then I came home and watched YouTube videos on how to pull out the dash and check the connections behind the radio, and plugged and unplugged every combination, to no avail. When I turn the car on it goes to FM with no sound, then goes to phone mode, then plays a burst of static for one second, and then stays in phone mode. The phone does not work while it’s in phone mode even when it’s paired to my phone. I will say that on day three of ownership, during that one second static burst, I hit a bunch of buttons — FM, AM, CD, AUX, and shoved a CD in — and it worked for a day, and so did the bluetooth via the steering wheel controls. It played my CD, it played the radio. And then the next day as I pulled into my driveway and the car was still running it went back into phone mode and that was the end of that. I’ve tried to recreate my initial success with no new success whatsoever.

On day seven my FOB stopped working (the guy who turned it in for a big boring Chevy Tahoe only provided one key). So I had to unlock it manually by popping the little driver door handle cover off, and the little plastic clip inside broke while I was carefully but not carefully enough doing it. That’s how I’ve been getting in and out since, with the alarm going off for the few seconds until I can get my key into the ignition. The dealer (the same one who urged me to buy the new phone module) also urged me to buy a new FOB for $427. I have ordered a new FOB case and battery online and will put the electronics into the new housing and see if it works.

I checked all the attendant fuses behind the glove compartment and they’re all good.

So I think I have the key thing handled if all goes well, but the radio — does anyone have any suggestions for me? I’m assuming the battery will be good and it won’t be that, although I wish it was because that would be a much cheaper fix. And at least the battery seems to be the right model — Interstate MTP-49/H8, which the internet tells me is the right one. I’ve looked all around to see if I can get a third-party replacement radio unit, and the answer seems to be a big fat no unless I go to a custom shop and have it all re-wired. The model/serial sticker on the bottom of my CD/radio when I pulled it out said VUX500560, which is about $1850 online. Does anybody know if there is any other option?

Also, one last unrelated thing: the ashtray was popped out when I bought the LR3 and wouldn’t stick back in. I researched that, too, and it looked like the assembly was going to cost $85 plus labor. Then I read a little thing about how someone stuck a small patch of velcro on the side of it, and it was the perfect thing to slow it down and make it stay in but still be usable and look good. So to whoever gave that tip, thank you very much, it did the trick.

I know this is an expensive car and I should expect expensive fixes, but if any of you have any radio advice I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

 

Congratulations on getting into an LR3. They will teach you the true meaning of love-hate relationship!

Personally, if I was in this situation, I would either rewire with a nice, new headunit (perhaps Kenwood?) as you could have that done for cheaper than buying a new factory radio, and end up with one that TRULY works with bluetooth, for streaming and voice calls. A pro shop should be able to do the whole deal for under $1k, custom mount included.

If you don't want to go that route, I'll generally hit up a recker. They will give you some sort of warranty, usually. Try here: Car-Part - They've saved my bacon many-a-time. It's basically an online inventory of junkyards inventory. I did a search and found your radio model and it listed 10-12 of them in the USA. Most all of these places will ship stuff to you as well. Prices looked like $200-400 -- which I'll take with a 90 day warranty -- at least you know it IS working for that long!

You could also give these guys a ring:
USA | GB 4x4 RADIOS
They don't list LR3 stuff, but they may now be getting into it and just not updated their site.

As for battery -- with these trucks being so strange with power -- unless someone can tell you that battery is PERFECT, I might just replace it. All it can do is help the truck overall.

Dave

 

Dave,

Thanks for all of your advice. In all my searching I hadn't found car-part.com, so that's a great resource. No more $1800 radio head unit! I like the idea of getting something 2015-fancy and new installed, but the wiring situation makes me a bit nervous. If I do it, I will update.

I had my battery checked today by an independent Land Rover shop in SF. The readings were good, and he urged me to do a hard reset for the radio problem. I told him I'd done one, and he said, "Did you hold the pieces together?" and I said no, I'd just disconnected the battery and let it sit for 15 minutes. He told me to really reset it I'd have to get the parts touching. Readings on the printout are: 751 CCA (rated for 730 CCA), Temp: 103, Voltage: 12.62.

I'm not sure I feel comfortable touching wires together on the battery. If anybody has done it and can give some reassurance that my hair won't light on fire I would be grateful.

Jennie

 

So, the connecting the two pieces together is -- both cables that normally attach to the battery you want to connect together. Usually takes a bit of wire, or, I'd just do some jumper cables. I have personally not yet had to do this. I have pulled my negative to kick my radio as well -- it got itself in some in between playing / ejecting CD function so it would no longer play. I left it off for 2 mins -- I found it wanted to creep back so I just held it there.

By connecting the positive and negative (without the battery being involved!) will complete the circuit for all of the electronics. This will expend the juice leftover in capacitors within the electronics, etc. I would not expect any sparks of any kind, not a zap not a tingle. Just make sure the battery is NOT connected

I've never had to do that on any car, but these are not just any car...

Happy to help,

Dave

 

If I were doing this, I'd remove the battery from the compartment. Then I'd use jumpers and use either both red cables or both black cables and connect the terminals by clamping on to each using said both-black or both-red cables.

Sound about right?

 

No need to haul that big battery out of its home. If you have a nice piece of 12 or 10 guage wire, you can pop off both cables from the battery terminals and cover the battery with a piece of cardboard so the cables can't touch the terminals. Then slip an end of the wire in one of the cable clamps, and do the same on the other end.

Let it sit 10 minutes and then reconnect the battery. Did this twice when I first got mine because long term trims needed reset after throttle body cleaning. This drains any residual power left and is very helpful to get fuel trims reset (probably other things too)

 

Fair enough...but will what I described using the jumper cables work too?

 

Yep, just need to complete the circuit and actually it would be easier to stick some alligator clamps on the cables rather than try and get a piece of wire in there.

 

Thanks for the battery advice so I don't fry myself - I appreciate it. But I want to go back to the battery itself for a minute and get some opinions. I've now been to two places who've said the battery is fine, but today I ran the internal system check where you hold your finger to the screen for three seconds, then hold down the left nav-area button for three and it brings up the diagnostic screen. That screen said that when the car is off the battery is at 11.5 volts, and when it's on it's at 13.5. I'll paste in screenshots below. I'm really tempted to just buy a brand new battery and see if that fixes things.

I'm doing things a little bit backwards since I haven't done the hard reset yet -- I got a quote for a new radio head unit today. A Pioneer Avic-6100NEX plus amp plus total re-wiring plus faceplate will be $1900 here in Northern California. I was really excited to do that when I thought it would be about a grand, but double that puts my finger on the pause button.

Thank you all again. Opinions on voltage welcome.

 

11.5 seems low to me, but these trucks are VERY odd. Were your 'follow me home' lights on? There's lots of electronics that stay active - like the suspension system does a self level when you close the drivers door and get out. Sometimes it's 30 seconds after, sometimes 5 minutes. Last weekend I shut the truck off and I heard a fan of some sort. I thought it was the blower motor but no ventilation was coming from the vents in any way... I thought perhaps the amp under the passenger seat has it's own fan for cooling... I was concerned that I'd find the truck dead when I returned due to whatever it was not shutting off. Whatever it was did eventually stop, as I went back to the truck a few days later and it fired right up. /shrug!

So, if you've had several tests of your battery that all say it's good -- I wouldn't change it unless you want to throw money into the wind. Could a brand new battery be better? Sure, but it's not where I'd focus.

$1900 seems high to do a rewire, but they are probably planning on rerunning every wire in the truck to every speaker. When you think about the effort that could be with all the plastics and trim -- that number doesn't sound quite so bad. I'd also get another quote. Go dressed in crappier clothes... You may be getting the Land Rover treatment.

Replacing the radio with a scrap unit from car-part sounds like the easy out -- but I would do the two battery cables together first. That really should take 10 mins to do. If you're concerned, wrap some electrical tape around the terminals on the battery after you pull the cables so it can't connect.

Dave