Discovery 2 Auto M & S Warning Lights

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chip000

New Member
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17
Hi, I'm looking for some help! I have a 2000 Disco 2 TD5 Auto ES. I have a serious intermittent fault. The car starts and drives. It starts to miss intermittently. Yesterday I did 120 miles then I lose my throttle and the M & S gearbox warning lights come on. I pull over, stop the car and leave it for a couple of minutes. I wait for the immobiliser to set itself, press the LR button on the key then start it with my throttle fully depressed and it starts and works fine - off I go, no lights no problems 'til it does it again. Happened many times now with no pattern. HELP!!!!!

PS it's had a new main ECU as the old one had oil in it. It lasted 300 miles before it did the above again. :confused: :confused: :confused:
 
If you had oil in the ECU has the injector loom been changed?
I was getting these warning lights a couple of times (on start up though in our case) but it has not happened since clearing the oil and changing the loom.
 
I had a similar problem when my TD5 was struggling to start. My local indy told me that the gearbox and the ECU were not communicating properly. The car defaults to limp home mode then.He thought it could be the selector switch on the G/Box worn so it didn't really know which gear it was in. Anyway. cured the starting problem and the fault has not appeared since. Sometimes though when I shift to Park, the "P" does not light up on the dash. If I push the lever hard forward it lights up.
 
Thanks guys. The injector loom and ECU were changed a month ago. The gearbox 'XYZ' switch has also been replaced. I spoke again to the engineer who thinks that the oil has ingressed further down the main loom, not just to the ECU and injector loom. He said that my choice was to spend an indeterminable amount on Auto electrians or replace the main loom which he said was £600 plus fitting - several days??? (or both) :( Either way it would potentially cost a prohibitive amount.
I understand there is an 'engine loom' which is a bit cheaper. Has anyone changed one of these?
 
I would check the ECU end again. I have cleared oil from it twice since the injector loom was changed (dry at engine end) as I suppose there is still oil 'migrating' down the wiring.
After the 2 cleans it is just about gone now.
 
Hello,

this sounds similar to the problem we had on our 2001 Discovery auto. It would run ok for a while, then start to almost misfire and then as you explain "M" and "S" lights illuminate on dashboard. Engine was still idleing, but, throttle seemed inoperative. After switch off and restart, everything would be fine again until it did it again.

After much diagnosis and even connecting to testbook, it was a suspected gearbox/ loom problem. It actually turned out to be the throttle assembly. Because it is drive by wire there is a solenoid on there which can fail. One throttle assembly later and problem was cured.

Strange thing is that no fault code initially showed on testbook and then upon third hook up several weeks later, it did.
 
Much more likely is that the front part of the engine loom has rubbed through,(usually near the A/C comp,EGR pipe etc.) this shorts the 5v supply to the AFM and ambient temp sensor.This 5v supply also feeds the throttle pedal.When the supply is lost the engine ecu cannot get a driver demand signal so drops the rpm back to idle and faults.At the same time it can no longer send a proper CAN signal to the gearbox ecu,so this faults as well and puts the EAT ecu into limp home mode and flashes the S and M lights.
So you switch off,then restart - the jiggling of the engine whilst cranking hopefully moves the loom enough to remove the short and off you go.
 
Bugger, i had the same problem last night on day two of ownership at 2am on the M1, book at home next to bed for night time reading so had no idea what had happened, the lights came on though when the car jigglrd and tramlined so this last response sounds the most likely for me. Gonna chack it out. Cheers, search is my friend.
 
Showed solenoid valve 2 fault, only happened the once hasnt happened again, dealer said hed neer heard of it but did check all of the suggestions mentioned here and seemed very knowledgable, didnt charge me either. Mitsi wanted £100 + VAT for a diagnostics check, robbing bar stewards!

All is well in the land of the Landy. Althought the boot door is a bit stiff, WD40'd it which helped. Lovin driviong it, seriously considering som emore power though, its the only thing it lacks!

Car juddered under a bit of tramlineing on the M1 so think it must have shaken something the wrong way.
 
Hello
I own a 2004 ES Premium and I am getting the M and S fault lights when I select reverse and sometimes when I select drive. If I stop the engine and restart the fault goes, any ideas???
 
I would agree with Urban Panzer.

mine started doing the same S&M light stuff when the battery was low. it would only happen if I started it and stuck it in gear quick. The system seemed to get confused due to low voltage.
Changed battery and have never seen it again:D
 
I've had the same issue if the main battery condition is less than perfect. Two things to do:

1. Give the car battery a good charging up - at least overnight and the longer the better.

2. When starting the car adopt a slightly different routine, ie before driving off, start the car, then put your seatbelt and anything else you need to do BEFORE selecting any gears.

This allows the car electrical systems to recover slightly before the gearbox ECU needs juice to operate the gearbox.

Good luck

Dave
 
I love landyzone. Bought my Discovery II last week and suffered this problem twenty minutes into owning it! Been trawling forums and will try the suggestions here. Changed the air flow metre sensor and pipe and it hasn't done the 'stop' trick in two days. M and S lights still flash though, and I don't see any dashboard lights from the gearbox, so I suspect there is some communication breakdown there.
 
I love landyzone. Bought my Discovery II last week and suffered this problem twenty minutes into owning it! Been trawling forums and will try the suggestions here. Changed the air flow metre sensor and pipe and it hasn't done the 'stop' trick in two days. M and S lights still flash though, and I don't see any dashboard lights from the gearbox, so I suspect there is some communication breakdown there.


Sorry, but I don't understand. Where are the M&S lights flashing, if it's not on the dashboard?

Often the flashing lights is caused by insufficient electrical supply to the transmission ECU on engine start, so the ECU sees aproblemand fires up the warning lights.

As a test you could start the engine,DO NOT TOUCH THE GEAR LEVER, let it tick over whilst you do your seatbelt/check and adjust mirrors etc, before selecting any gears. This slight pause allows the alternator to replace the juice that the starter took from the battery, so feeding more volts to the transmission ECU.

If this works it's a strong indicator that your battery is weak needing an overnight charge or replacement.

Good luck

Dave
 
Hi All,
Today i was taking my car from park,it was stayin unhill road.I was turning ignition key,in the same time i push lock on key by mistake. Doors locked, i take out key and unlocked car than i started engine on.But those M&S lighst was on gear indigator was lighting on and off continuously.i turned off and on engine again,nothing changed.I took transmition to d and push accelerator,but car didnt move.Than i tried to lock to car, wait for a little while.After that i opened car and start the engine, M&S lights was of and car was ok.But anyway i must take my car to servise i guess..
 
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