New here... seems like I'm the newest victim of LR3s' electrical "mystery behavior". I'd love to get you guys opinion on my situation. Sorry it's a bit long, but here it is: was driving the truck a week ago, then a/c stopped, flurry of faulty messages appeared on dash. Stopped but couldn't restart. Bricked, with "HDC fault, parking brake fault, etc...". Got it towed to an indy shop who eventually told me that the instrument cluster is done, that we can't get a new one, that after market repair won't work, etc... pretty much told me the truck was condemned. I love this car, not ready to just give up yet just because of a bad circuit board. (it's a 2009 with 190k miles on it, runs otherwise great). When getting it towed back to my house, I tried to start and it ran perfectly (shifted into gear, didn't throw any faulty messages). Turned it off, then wouldn't start again.
Towed it home, charged the battery while checking the wires on passenger side floor (I do have a sunroof leakage problem, but it was not too damp - I dried it). Then tried to start it again, and the truck would behave perfectly fine again. Was able to drive it for 2 miles, no faulty signals sent, turned it off 3 to 4 times, it restarted each time. Decided to get a new battery (even if the shop confirmed that the old battery was fine). Swapped it and then... all faulty messages came back again and I haven't been able to start it since. (I charged the battery again overnight and I have 12.7 V on it). As soon as put the key into position I, hazards lights come up, doors cycle through lock/unlock, and I get faulty messages (parking brake, HDC, etc..)
So my question is this: before sending the instrument cluster for repair, do you guys think the cluster could be wrong but still allowed the truck to drive completely fine a couple of times? Can that be consistent with a dying cluster?
Thanks for reading all the way guys. I'm learning on the fly, so apologies if some of my questions/observations seem naive.

 

You need to dig more. We need voltage readings when running, etc. You could have a bad alternator, they can work/die/work before they totally cluck out. So you could have it working, keeping battery charged then it may die while driving at which point you are on battery only power and it get depleted enough not to start. I found the LR3 does not always present a charging failure light.... It could also be the main 400amp fuse located near the positive battery post. They can develop a crack. Super cheap and easy to replace. You could also have a bad ground, one is located very close to the negative battery post. Follow the wire, inspect and clean. Battery will have to come out. If the battery is not vented properly with a small hose (which you will either see OR find when looking at the main ground) it can destroy the ECU connector located behind the battery at the firewall. Covers have to come off. And since you did have some water, the CJB (central junction box) could have corrosion issues. It is a pain to remove the firs time! And lastly, yes you may have a bad cluster but it is not a super common fault although not exactly rare. It just would not be the first place I would look. A proper Rover code reader could help narrow things down.

EVERYTHING above is covered in the forums, search for the answers. Google helps a lot to search this forum.

 

Thanks Dakota. I'm going to investigate as you suggested and report. When you say a proper Rover code reader, what do you have in mind? A Gap IID tool?

 

Gap works well and most members here have experience with it. There are a couple others that have gotten really good that work too. Others would hav to chime in on those.

 

As Dakota says, need more information go confirm. BUT... the truck is not condemned. There are many services that can repair the IPC/Cluster. I have had two repaired nicely with a warranty of the repair by ClusterFix.

 

also, after verifying the power and ground concerns outlined by Dakota, another test is what I like to have named "the sit and wait". If your flashers are on but put on a turn signal left or right but just that flasher isn't working, sit and wait until it does. When it does start flashing start the truck. If that works, you probably have a issue with the cluster. It could take 5 minutes or could take a hour. Only do this if you do not have the means to get codes and report back. I know it sounds weird, but from my experience, this is a tale tell sign of a cluster that needs repaired.