L322 Christmas Tree in September

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.

v8twins

Member
Posts
73
The car: L322 – 2004 Reg, 4.4 V8 Petrol heading towards 90k miles

Apologies if there is a thread already I have not found it……….

Last evening after being stood for two weeks battery left connected, jumped in stated first turn of the key - yeah, in the rear-view mirrors the garage door was a sight to behold.

Leaving the engine running I went to the rear of the car, then brake lights, were flashing at a fantastic rate, the fog lights were on and side lights dimly lit (nothing switched on within the car), the indictors when turned on came on and stayed on for about three seconds then went off for a while then came back on, repeating the 3 second duration, left and right same result, no hazard lights working.

At the front, the off side, side light flashed on, then circa 3 seconds later the near side did the same, then back to the off side, that carried on for the duration the engine was running, no lights turned on.

If I turned the lights on the dashboard, instrument binnacle and instrument lights flashed at the same rate as the rear fog lights! Now have an internal Christmas tree but all white lights......

Whilst the engine was still running I undertook an all-round check for water ingress, nothing anywhere, not even in the spare wheel well.

Buy now I had turned off the engine and all was calm again, then the stupid, stupid error, not realising the central locking had activated I yanked on the driver’s door handle and broke it! Anyway using the key I unlocked and held the unlock until the drivers windows opened and used the inner handle……

Restarted the engine same symptoms, to a tee. Remembering the old trick, I was given for the P38a I had, shut it down and disconnected the battery overnight, usually worked on the P38a.

Today – interesting: The nearside main beam comes on and stays on, engine running or not, and with the engine running: Both dip beams light up, the rear side and rear fog lights light up and have a very dim flash about them (nothing switched on in the car), brakes dimly flashing but slower. Indicators the same as last evening and the front main beam or fog lights do not activate with the switches.

A few questions if I may?
Any ideas what is causing this (I have no diagnostic tools)?
Is this a simple fix by any stretch of the imagination?

How do you get the driver’s door card off? So, I can fix the door handle, I have removed all the obvious screws in the door pocket and behind the door latch handle but can’t budge it.

Many thanks for reading and here’s hoping for some ideas on how to fix.

Cheers
Steve
 
The LCM could have got damp or confused....

It is located up under the side of the dash on the drivers side, can be accessed by removing the lower valance by your right foot, you may need to remove the dash lower side piece and the upper side piece (to get the lower one off), and the LCM is just reachable. it is located on a couple of pegs, so lift up and then off, remove the connections thereto and check them for signs of corrosion.

Low battery power during the start can also give them a shock they don't like and go bandy.

Check the connections first, then get her on diagnostics to see if the LCM is readable....and if possible try a known good replacement for testing. Note, the LCM contains certain vehicle information like mileage and other information as it acts as the Slave node on the CAN for vehicle identification (master is the instrument cluster) so if a replacement is fitted, the tamper dot will appear as the mileage stored in the new LCM and the instrument cluster will differ.

Once diagnosed, replacing the original LCM will remove the tamper dot....if you want to continue with the replacement LCM, you'll need the vehicle information read from either the old LCM or the instrument cluster and written to the replacement LCM.

It could also be issues on the data bus that inform the LCM to switch lights on or off....but I think the chief issue of the cause is the voltage dipped drastically low for the LCM to operate correctly when you started the car - enough for the car to start, but too low for the system to operate correctly and it's lost its marbles.....

The L322 likes nothing but the most tip top power delivery to operate....so yay the engine started, but that doesn't mean the battery was giving good, clean, healthy power to the rest of the car!
 
Hiya,
Thanks for that, then as I am away at work now till Friday I will take the following action, as the battery is currently disconnected I will put it on charge when I get home and make sure its fully charged, then at first light start the explorations for the LCM and check it out, I may have an idea for access to one for test purposes if needed.
Whilst there is no sign of water ingress, I guess its possible tucked away up there that it could suffer from condensation?

Once again many thanks hears hoping :)

Cheers
Steve
 
Hi all pulled the LCM, and with it disconnected engine starts correctly and all runs fine EXCEPT the lights, so it looking like the LCM has gone west so to speak :(

Sorry one more question the label on it says part number YWC500280, not been able to find recon one in the UK, I have been offered other alternatives which look the same with different part numbers and from TDV6s etc. Is there a list anywhere that I can look at to cross reference what I have with an appropriate alternative for the 4.4 V8?

Thanks
Steve
 
Steve, If you do find a replacement and it proves the LCM is faulty, I'd be very interested in getting hold of the old broken one.

I have been investing in more modern soldering technology and preparing to practice on tiny soldered things in the hope that when I get my LCM on the dining table, I'll be able to identify and renew a component or two. It would be good to have something to play with before immobilising the car.

I've asked the local indy, but he just immediately bins faulty parts and didn't seem keen to keep an eye open. Mine's an '04 td6, but don't think that matters for this.

Of course, if anyone else has a dud LCM festering in the back of the garage, I'd be glad to help clear a little space.
 
Steve, If you do find a replacement and it proves the LCM is faulty, I'd be very interested in getting hold of the old broken one.

I have been investing in more modern soldering technology and preparing to practice on tiny soldered things in the hope that when I get my LCM on the dining table, I'll be able to identify and renew a component or two. It would be good to have something to play with before immobilising the car.

I've asked the local indy, but he just immediately bins faulty parts and didn't seem keen to keep an eye open. Mine's an '04 td6, but don't think that matters for this.

Of course, if anyone else has a dud LCM festering in the back of the garage, I'd be glad to help clear a little space.
I'll have a dig about, I have one somewhere I am sure - can't remember if it is in the garage or one of my desk drawers in my office at work - will check tomoz.
 
Hi Saint.V8 an update and not good news.
I was unable to find a suitable used unit with warranty (in the UK), plumped for new one from a dealer, cant get a YWC500280 apparently its been replaced with a YWC500282, fitted it today and the Christmas tree effect has stopped, but }
The indicators do not work (Hazards do)
The alarm does not set when you lock the car
The brake lights work when brake pedal pressed, but rear fog lights come on as well
Main beam does not work (headlights and side lights front and rear do) and
The front and rear fog lights do not stay on (come on and go off again when you let go of the switch)

I have checked and cleaned the connectors on the cars wiring, check all fuses (none blown), checked for other issue like damp etc. nothing found.

Any thoughts please?

I did read a comment somewhere that the car needs programming is that correct?

Thanks
Steve
 
Back
Top