I have the Lone Wolf lit!

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GrumpyGel

GrumpyGel

Well-Known Member
Posts
27,221
Location
Christchurch, New Zealand
Looks like its the silly season for Freelander problems in the land of the long white cloud!

I've had the 3 Amigos a couple of times in the past, but today it got serious, I've now got the Lone Wolf :eek:

As all these dash lights appear to have names, I've googled for the nickname of the immobiliser light - and it doesn't appear to have one - so I've called it the Lone Wolf :)

We never lock the car at home, its pretty safe on the drive. The Mrs used the car this morning no problem, jumped in it and it started first time - a couple of times. This afternoon I jumps in it to take the dog up the park, turned the key and was greeted with the Lone Wolf and "computer says NO" scenario.

I've had this in the past when the remote battery was getting low and pressing the unlock button on the remote clears it. Today nothing - not even a click from the central locking. The remote appears completely dead, it won't lock or unlock the car and the immobiliser handshake is obviously not functioning.

I put a new battery in it, but no change - so looks like my remote is dead. I would try the other 1, but I know that's broke :oops:

So I'm rather stuffed!

I tried the Emergency Key Access - but it did sweet Fanny Adams.

There's also a couple of other funny things happening! Although the car is not locked - the back door will not open. The back window will also not open (using the dash button). The dash button to lock and unlock the doors is also not functioning. All of these things have been working perfectly and never given any problems previously. The windows and sunroof are working and all the normal dash lights come on when you turn the ignition on and those that should go off after a few seconds do.

So I'm thinking the CCU may be throwing a wobbly rather than the remote. To late to do anything now - I'll scratch my head and have another look at it in the morning.
 
Try disconnecting the battery. If that fails to do anything, the next thing I'd do is reseat all the CCU plugs. It could be something simple like a dodgy harness to CCU connection.
Good luck.
 
I did think about disconnecting the battery today - but wanted to have a think to see if I could think of any ways that might make the situation worse!

As you say though, its probably the first thing to try.
 
Sometimes a stray electrical spike can upset computers.

For example. On the D3, a dying battery can cause the body computer to loose connection with the vehicle dynamics computer while cranking. The engine starts fine, but an error message flashes up on the dash saying "Fault Special Programmes Cancelled" However once the engine is running, all the special programmes work fine. So this is just a glitch, thrown by an ECU, simply because of a voltage spike.

I would think you problem could be something similar.
 
Nodge68 said:
Sometimes a stray electrical spike can upset computers.

For example. On the D3, a dying battery can cause the body computer to loose connection with the vehicle dynamics computer while cranking. The engine starts fine, but an error message flashes up on the dash saying "Fault Special Programmes Cancelled" However once the engine is running, all the special programmes work fine. So this is just a glitch, thrown by an ECU, simply because of a voltage spike.

I would think you problem could be something similar.
Click to expand...
Hope so.
 
I used to get this problem with a Rover 45. Disconnecting the battery and leaving it for several minutes usually cleared it but remember to leave a window open just in case the car locks itself when the battery is reconnected. I got so fed up with this problem that I gave it away in the end.

Col
 
The rear door and window not working, tends to point to the CCU. Both all locking and rear door control is handled by the CCU. So if the rear window drops on battery connection, the fault may go away. It won't hurt to check and maybe reseat the main fuses under the bonnet too. ;)
 
Thanks chaps. The sun's coming up here and it looks like its going to be a lovely day - currently on 0 degrees but no frost and predicted max of 10 with no rain. So good day to be outside bashing the Freelander with a tree branch - I'll start with the battery though :)
 
htr said:
Summer-like conditions in Chch :D Just about to go out to take the head off. Low grey cloud layer which may burn off, temp's finally got up to 0ºC and hopefully it will get up to 4ºC!
Click to expand...
Come live on an island in the South Pacific they said! Golden beaches, Palm Trees, beautiful olive skinned girls dancing the Hula-Hula. Well we got the lovely beaches - but the sea's colder than Skeggy and the girls are more interested in KFC and chemical substances.... and the Freelanders still cause trouble :)

I jest, it truly is another wonderful day in Chch :)

Good luck - hope it goes well for you.
 
GrumpyGel said:
Come live on an island in the South Pacific they said! Golden beaches, Palm Trees, beautiful olive skinned girls dancing the Hula-Hula. Well we got the lovely beaches - but the sea's colder than Skeggy and the girls are more interested in KFC and chemical substances.... and the Freelanders still cause trouble :)

I jest, it truly is another wonderful day in Chch :)

Good luck - hope it goes well for you.
Click to expand...
skeggy waters are quite warm compared to many,its still cursed by the fact the only go to it are chavs
 
Well, I had the battery disconnected, and charging just in case, for a couple of hours.

I gave all the connectors around the fuse box a good push to make sure they were seated correctly. Considered releasing the fuse box to bring it forward and sight the CCU, but as its so cold, the loom would have been very stiff and I concluded I was more likely to cause trouble than see anything to fix. So left alone. I did notice that the metal frame the fuse box and CCU is bolted to had condensation on it, which can't be good for it.

As I put the earth lead back on my ears were on alert and picked up the clunk as the back window got to the bottom - good sign :)

Calibrated OK as well and turning ignition on the Lone Wolf did not appear - Result..... counting chickens.....

Turned key to start engine and it turned over, went to fire so released key and engine stopped. I do this occasionally, let go of the key to early. So pause then turned key again... clunk from engine, dimmed dash lights - Oh dear. The car's never done this before.

Got out, had a look around engine to make sure I hadn't left anything in there, checked drive belt (how it could have come off and thrown the cam belt on the starter I don't know - but paranoia rules). All looked OK.

So got back in and tried again and it fired up perfectly.

So, it is a result, the CCU had just got its knockers in a twist and disconnecting the battery looks to have fixed it.

However, it looks like my 18 year old Freelander is beginning to have various different problems. Never had the CCU get confused before, never had the starter refuse before. I suppose the 2 could be related - the starter may be on its way out which is causing electrical disturbance which threw the CCU. I'll leave as-is for now and see how she goes.

Thanks for all the advice and support :)
 
teddywood1 said:
with the cold down there it may well be the battery as the cold can deplete the battery in a few hours good luck with it.
Click to expand...
There's been no signs - but you could be right. I'll see how she goes.

Went alright this afternoon, but its been vibrating more since I changed the engine mount and this afternoon it developed a really load rattle in the sunroof (mechanism) - which is right by your ear when driving and a real PITA. I never use the sunroof for fear of breaking it or causing leaks - but opened it when testing what was working or not on this fault - that'll learn me!

Hopefully it goes OK this evening, round to our friends to watch the rugby :)
 
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