Modded out my headlights and my front grille to match!

 

Not sure where to start. I have a 2005 LR3, Bought it new. I have 257480 miles. I have had a long list of repairs, most under the warranty period, but some just wear and tear. Currently, I am in sensor illumination hell! There are numerous alerts, all at once in the last week. 1. Coolant level low, 2. Suspension Fault (tilt light), 3. Transmission Fault - Limited Gears Available 4. Brake Pad Check.


I am suspicious of needing a transmission, but with the miles, maybe? Anyone else had experience with all of these alerts at once?

 

Can you do a side by side Before and After mod with it actually on the car?

 

@conerly: Wow....okay, have you ever changed your transmission fluid? The message could mean a lot of different things, is your transmission feeling okay? Is it shifting normal? You suspension fault could actually be a bad brake switch. How old is your battery?

I would suggest you spend about 3 solid days reading threads on this board. There is a lot of knowledge to gain and you can likely solve your own problems. 10 years of service and 257,000+ miles is awesome, in my opinion. Judging by your line of questioning you haven't done much in the realm of maintaining (besides fixing broken things) so I'm amazed at this...but I can imagine your repair sheet is lengthy.

I've also had mine since new in June 2005. I've had my slew of repairs but I've never been left stranded and the vehicle still runs like it did when I first drove it away.

 

You do have a lot of miles on your 3 and by the sound of it, have not had too many real problems. I can only presume you have done lots of preventative maintenance as I believe that is the only way to avoid real problems - to spend money before trouble arises.

First the good news - even a Land Rover does not totally fall apart all at the same time - not everything breaks down simultaneously, even if the warning lights suggest that. My thinking is that while finding the fault or faults will be near impossible, fixing them will be relatively cheap - and it is not the tranny - that would be too easy.

I find that the more lights that illuminate at the same time, the better, as that then suggests a wiring concern rather than any specific mechanical problem. The bad news is that mechanical problems are easier to find and fix than wiring related.

The odds are that one conductor in one of the many the twisted pair Canbus circuits has broken or is breaking and that the problem has been detected by one of the many computer systems and then cascaded to all of them, hence the appearance of all the trouble lights.

A transmission fault along with a cruse control inoperative light is often a bad brake light or signal light filament as picked up by the systems monitoring - note the term bad, not broken or burned out, but bad as in defective. Yes, bulbs that appear to function can cause the computers to detect faults. This is why you want to only use LR spec bulbs, not off shore bulbs as their specs, if they have any, vary too widely.

Suspension fault lights are more often a result of the LR lawyers having told the LR software design people that in the USA, that LR cannot afford the lawyers needed to protect them from the other lawyers; hence at the first sign of any problem, put the 3 into safe mode. This is defined as suck the air out of the air springs - the resulting ride will definitely take the vehicle off the road. The owner may just park it, fix it, or best of all, buy a new one - yes, that is more common than one might think, and only bankers will then be involved - the lesser of the evils.

With that lead up over with, I suspect you have a broken or breaking Canbus wire perhaps related to one of the wheel speed sensors and it shows as a brake pad wear light - plus a lot of other stuff. The only light that has me a bit puzzled is the low coolant level. I say that as most of the low coolant sensor level sensors are defective or go defective well within the warranty period. Land Rovers fix for that was to have the software people write out the coolant level circuitry and hence one should never see that light on, at least never when the coolant level is low. The pre software fix problem was that the light went on when the level was good. I suspect that when the computers get upset, they do not follow the software instructions.

This is a good thread with lots of pictures as to where you might look. It is probably your best place to start if I am correct.

Also check both front wheel wells as with sharp low speed turns as when parking, the front or rear of the tyre rubber tread can cut thru the air suspension wiring if the cable becomes loose from being tied tight to the frame.

DISCO3.CO.UK - View topic - Suspension fault, front cross-link valve (SOLVED)

 

[QUOTE=conerly;257480 miles. I have had a long list of repairs,[/QUOTE]

Now that is what I'm talking about! 250+K and still going.

You average over 25k a year, traveling salesman? At 12-19 mpg a lot of petrol too. I bet you are on original tranny fluid as well.

If all those sensors came on at once it could be the battery. Mine started doing that, it seems all my systems were failing at once. When it was a false warning. If the electronics get incorrect voltages the computer does not handle it gracefully.

But then again with that many miles they all could actually fail.

 

Geez. I won't be at that mileage for another 26 years!

...I'll be 67! Bwahahahahahaha....I suppose by then I could bear moving on from the LR3, cashing in my 401(k) and getting a RR S/C Autobiography!

 

Just finished the other headlight! Also replaced my alternator, Primary and AUX Pulley Tensioners, Idler Pulley, and belts! Here is the outcome of my front end

 

I am usually not too impressed with many of these aesthetics mods; (my 3 still looks stock), but I must say the back effect on the HID's blends well with the black on the bumper ends.

I presume the signal light bulbs show yellow or amber when they illuminate?

I noted the 6 ton axle jacks in the background - the minimum I figure for the 3. It is not so much the weight rating, but the added stability of the 6 ton jacks due to the wider base really is needed.

The pulley tensioners and belts are good preventive maintenance - cheap really considering the cost of recovery and then you have to pay to fix the stuff anyway.

 

cleaned up and modernized the face of my lr3