ECU & Three Amigos?

I put a deposit on a 2000 Discovery TD5 Auto a fortnight ago and everything was great. I was due to collect it a week later.
I recieved a call from the garage owner who was selling the Discovery two days later who said that the ABS light & others had come on the dash (3 amigos) He said he was taking the vehicle to the dealers to have it checked out before I was to pick it up.
He then contacted me again two days later to say the dealers could not find the problem and they would have to change the ECU?
Any ideas? I am I correct in thinking that what he means is the ECU needs to be upgraded for the dealers to then diagnose what the 'exact' problem is?
The guy selling the car is totally genuine and he stated that he won't sell me the vehicle until this problem is totally fixed. He has also offered me my deposit back.
I told him I am happy to wait as it is a really nice Discovery.

What are your thoughts and opinions guy's?

wait and see.

As above, wait and see, but also ask to see details of any remedial work before you buy the car.

Peter

leepez said:

I put a deposit on a 2000 Discovery TD5 Auto a fortnight ago and everything was great. I was due to collect it a week later.
I recieved a call from the garage owner who was selling the Discovery two days later who said that the ABS light & others had come on the dash (3 amigos) He said he was taking the vehicle to the dealers to have it checked out before I was to pick it up.
He then contacted me again two days later to say the dealers could not find the problem and they would have to change the ECU?
Any ideas? I am I correct in thinking that what he means is the ECU needs to be upgraded for the dealers to then diagnose what the 'exact' problem is?
The guy selling the car is totally genuine and he stated that he won't sell me the vehicle until this problem is totally fixed. He has also offered me my deposit back.
I told him I am happy to wait as it is a really nice Discovery.

What are your thoughts and opinions guy's?

Click to expand...

My guess would be that they are referring to the ABS ECU as I don't believe the engine ECU has anything to do with it.

I would question whether the dealer as knows what they are talking about as, having read loads on the forums about "the three amigos" the problems almost always relate to one part of the ABS system or another:

1. Worn/broken or dirty wheel sensors;
2. Worn wheelhub bearings making the sensor gap go 'out of range';
3. Malfunctioning shuttle valves in the ABS pump;

I can't remember seeing any resolved threads where the problem was solved by replacing the ABS ECU, so I would question the garage's ability to diagnose the problem correctly - what electronic diagnosis machines do they have? Testbook, Nanocom, etc etc

Good luck, but please don't buy until you are CONVINCED that the problem has been correctly identified and resolved.

Might be time to start looking at alternatives.

Good luck
Dave

thebiglad said:

My guess would be that they are referring to the ABS ECU as I don't believe the engine ECU has anything to do with it.

I would question whether the dealer as knows what they are talking about as, having read loads on the forums about "the three amigos" the problems almost always relate to one part of the ABS system or another:

1. Worn/broken or dirty wheel sensors;
2. Worn wheelhub bearings making the sensor gap go 'out of range';
3. Malfunctioning shuttle valves in the ABS pump;

I can't remember seeing any resolved threads where the problem was solved by replacing the ABS ECU, so I would question the garage's ability to diagnose the problem correctly - what electronic diagnosis machines do they have? Testbook, Nanocom, etc etc

Good luck, but please don't buy until you are CONVINCED that the problem has been correctly identified and resolved.

Might be time to start looking at alternatives.

Good luck
Dave

Click to expand...

It's the SLABS ecu and it may well be the problem (it was on mine). Basically the signal from the front wheel sensors is very weak and the early ecus can't deal with it if it starts to fade. Later models have a different ecu which can handle the problem. Not sure how they can identify this though without a lot of messing about.
Your problem is that once they reset it, it could be OK for a while and then happen again if it was something else causing it. I'd suggest the following:
1)don't buy it until the dealer has fixed it, and make sure you know what was done (the new ecu should be an upgraded model).
2) get a good warranty on it.
No reason not to buy though, as this is a common problem and only likely to get worse as they get older - I'd rather buy one that's been fixed than go through all the hassle of trying to diagnose and repair it. I'll have a look for the ecu part number.

SRD500070 is the part number for the replacement ECU. I'm not sure when they started fitting them as standard. My mechanic was able to source and reprogramme a 2nd hand one for me. I did a list of possible causes of this at http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f8/warning-lights-mayday-82532.html - trouble is you can only diagnose what the SLABS ecu has logged, and if it's the ecu itself causing the problem that won't show up on testbook!

The latest update.......

The vehicle is now at the Land Rover Dealers having a ECU replaced (not sure which one) as firstly they were having problems getting it linked up and "communicating".
I guess he means linking it upto the Land Rover dealers Testbook?

He did go on to say that when he serviced the Vehicle and when all four wheels were up off the ground there was no problem at all with the three amigos lights?
Problem only occurs when wheels are in contact with the ground.

Strange :doh:

Thanks for all the replys Guy's

leepez said:

The latest update.......

The vehicle is now at the Land Rover Dealers having a ECU replaced (not sure which one) as firstly they were having problems getting it linked up and "communicating".
I guess he means linking it upto the Land Rover dealers Testbook?

Click to expand...

The SLABS ecu is the one that deals with/causes this problem. Make sure the replacement is the later type (see my post above). If the old one won't talk to Testbook then there must be something wrong with it.

Thanks for the info "Pastmaster".
Hopefully like you say the new SLABS ECU should cure this problem and if so I'll check the invoice making sure that they have hopefully fitted the new later type ECU.

leepez said:

Thanks for the info "Pastmaster".
Hopefully like you say the new SLABS ECU should cure this problem and if so I'll check the invoice making sure that they have hopefully fitted the new later type ECU.

Click to expand...

BUT make sure you get that warranty, for this reason:

The new ecu MAY solve the problem.
But, if the problem is caused by something else (eg a wheel sensor), then fitting a new ecu won't cure it.
Because they can't interrogate the old ecu, they won't have any record of what originally caused it.
However when they fit the new ecu they will set it up so the lights are out. Any existing problem might not show up again for a few weeks, when the lights will suddenly come back on.
My bet is that it will be OK, but you need insurance just in case.

hi there just read all the posts i had the same problem on my disco 2 took it to a garage and eas told the ecu would req renewal at a cost of about 2000 so booked it in at land rover and 1 hour later done it was just an abs senser req adjusting its been fine ever since .

1.get ****ed off about never being able to fix 3 amigos
2.buy permanent marker
3.locate 3 amigos on dash
4.draw on dash accordingly with newly acquired permanent marker
5.find mot tester who does not check abs light does not extinguish
6.pint

foss said:

1.get ****ed off about never being able to fix 3 amigos
2.buy permanent marker
3.locate 3 amigos on dash
4.draw on dash accordingly with newly acquired permanent marker
5.find mot tester who does not check abs light does not extinguish
6.pint

Click to expand...

7.another pint

Apparently all fixed now as they have replaced a "Module"?

Well if they have replaced the ABS modulator or even the SLABS ECU, BOTH would carry a 12 month warranty from the dealer, so thats enough peace of mind "imo"

Urban Panzer said:

Well if they have replaced the ABS modulator or even the SLABS ECU, BOTH would carry a 12 month warranty from the dealer, so thats enough peace of mind "imo"

Click to expand...

Not quite.
From what was said, they could not read the fault codes from the ECU.
So they have probably replaced the ECU and that has probably fixed it.
BUT, if the fault was being caused by, say, a faulty sensor, it might show up again a bit later and would not be covered by parts warranty on the ECU.

And let's face it, it's a D2, so any fault will be expensive to repair, so a good dealer warranty is still a must!