So being the sucker I am I bought a cheap lr3

typical suspension issues…but the seller made no excuses and this was a “mechanics special”

I was intending a coil conversion but want to see if I could get the air suspension to work one last time. Apparently the seller also got the LR dealer to install a new compressor which doesn’t work (more on that below)

first off - here are the symptoms.

- HDC inactive (no lights whatsoever)
- Transmission fault
- suspension fault (no raising or lowering)
- cruise control not allowed

seems like classic brake /battery issues right? Battery is 12.6 idle. 13.9 running.

well despite the compressor pump being new it doesn’t even fire up BUT it does work ( on my gap tool I tested the valves and could hear it trying but also not raising)

the dash lights up with the red brake symbol, the yellow stability symbol and the yellow symbol with the arrow in a circle.

I replaced the brake switch thinking this would solve my woes. But alas no.

here are the codes - issues point to the vehicle dynamics control module…is that the one behind the battery?

of note…the seller did mention a water ingress issue - - blocked sunroof drain caused water to flow in and down the drivers side.

 

Well the brake switch comes up a lot so what was the part you fitted, OEM, genuine or cheap copy ?

 

Good question. Honest answer is I do not know. It came with the vehicle. It is not stamped fomoco like the original.

Is the suggestion if this a part that need oem - then get oem ( not britpart, etc)

and what is oem ?

 

Brake switch for starters but also I'd look through all that wiring and see if the water ingress issue caused some damage.

 

Thanks. My thoughts exactly - The fob doesn't work so that's a passenger side wiring issue. I think the loom on the drivers side should be gone through.

Question is...will a coil conversion eliminate these issues? or is it still an electrical issue that needs sorting no matter the suspension choice.

 

I'm not sure but I'd think the latter....and the coil conversion "is ***" as my teenage kids would say.

 

There are two types of people - those who don’t mind and those that do. I’m not bothered either way if the thing works for the driver.

Although I can see tiring of “HDC off” pdq.

 

Its a Ford part so either in a ford box or a landrover box, i can get them from my local ford dealer as its used in a locally built car. Replacing it would be my first step.

 

So today I took out the seats for better access to the Sills. As I thought the drivers side was wet with water In the sills. And it wasn’t fresh nor recent. Most of the tape had dissolved and there was a lot of nasty stuff. I shop vac’d it out and proceeded to dry as best I could. I had some silica beads so threw those in as I didn’t see any harm in trying to dry it out.

i also saw the drain tube was done on the drivers side - but I think I’ll seal the sunroof shut until I can tend to that.

the passenger side was dry but it def had a leak or leaks at one point. I immediately found the fob not working splice and will repair.

now on to the fun part

if I’m looking at the loom in the drivers side are there any colours I should be looking for that may answer these issues above? Or should I just repair all the splices I find ?

FYI. Switched out the brake switch with another that I know is working and recharged the battery overnight.

 

Update here - perhaps someone could help me think this through.

I have fixed the garbage splices on the driver's side - there were two (are there more)? and the passenger side I fixed the infamous fob connector.

I wanted to try and logically think about why i'm getting a HDC fault and a suspension fault. I think they are separate issues, but possibly from the same source/issue (ie. wiring)

I have looked at the brake switch - both the new one and the old one. I'm still getting faults with either - which leads me to think it's a wiring issue somewhere. I thought, tonight just for fun, I'd remove the brake switch from the keyhole it sits in and then "reset" it by turning the black prongs, effectively engaging it. As it sat out side of the pedal, fully engaged, i turned the car on. To my amazement no HDC fault (although transmission fault and no cruise control still appeared) . When I pushed the pin back (effectively releasing the brake) it errored. So there is something not right with when the brake fully up and not engaged...I hear the "clunk" from the solenoid on the gear shift allowing me to shift. Any thoughts here?

It had occurred to me that perhaps the actual console with the selector **** and the suspension height was defective, but i switched it with a working one and that didn't change anything.