M and S lights

archwayanimal · Apr 26, 2013

Sorry to ask an old question, but..

have had a 2003 Disco 2 TD5 for a week. M and S lights started flashing tonight after I selected reverse, moved backwards a bit, then selected D and car was in limp home mode (red light flashing next to D etc). Turned car off, and back on, and all was fine. When I got home, I messed about in the drive replicating what I did before, and same thing happened. Could this be battery related? Checked voltage and is sitting at 12.7 volts. Or is this XYZ switch on the blink? Many thanks...

sierrafery · Apr 26, 2013

the most certain way to get the answer is to read the fault codes from the transmission ECU... there are 15 reasons for flashing warnings and limp mode occurance... though the most common is the XYZ switch or it's wiring. Low battery would lead to hard starting usually

darrenm · Apr 26, 2013

Or it could have come lose

archwayanimal · Apr 26, 2013

darrenm said:
Or it could have come lose

Stupid question but how would I know if it had come loose?

thebiglad · Apr 27, 2013

sierrafery said:
the most certain way to get the answer is to read the fault codes from the transmission ECU... there are 15 reasons for flashing warnings and limp mode occurance... though the most common is the XYZ switch or it's wiring. Low battery would lead to hard starting usually

Hate to disagree with you Fery, but a low battery will often cause these lights to flash and the box to go into 'limp-home'.

The battery might have enough juice to turn over the engine but it will starve the ECU's of their volts during the starting process.

I'm not saying that this is the cause in every case, but often a good nights charging sorts out the issue.

Dave

thebiglad · Apr 27, 2013

archwayanimal said:
Stupid question but how would I know if it had come loose?

If the gearbox switch has moved out of position you will be able to check by comparing the position you select on the lever, with the position shown on the dashboard.

sierrafery · Apr 27, 2013

thebiglad said:
Hate to disagree with you Fery, but a low battery will often cause these lights to flash and the box to go into 'limp-home'.

The battery might have enough juice to turn over the engine but it will starve the ECU's of their volts during the starting process.

I'm not saying that this is the cause in every case, but often a good nights charging sorts out the issue.

Dave

i dont take it like a disagreement m8

, i just assume that you missunderstood me

, cos i said "Low battery would lead to hard starting usually" ... so i meant hard starting not hard cranking

darrenm · Apr 27, 2013

Or get under landy and check also worth checking wiring as it sometimes get damaged

archwayanimal · Apr 27, 2013

Battery looks fine so will look at replacing xyz switch. Will search but any views on cheapest place to buy? Many thanks.

sierrafery · Apr 27, 2013

You cant find new and cheap... you can try something like this: Rebuild D2 ZF Selector Switch UHB100190 - Australian Land Rover Owners , or http://www.handyhowie.co.uk/handyhowie/Disco_Gear_Selector_Switch.html ...worth a try instead of going for a used one imo

darrenm · Apr 27, 2013

I payed £130 for a new xyz switch last year took the old one to bits to find it corroded inside cleaned it up and put it my friends and its still working

archwayanimal · Apr 27, 2013

Do you remember where you got it from for that price? Best deal i can find is £260 plus vat from Island. Assume this is not a genuine LR part for that price - has anyone else bought one from Island and got any views?

eddmco · Apr 28, 2013

I would give the xy switch a good soak with lubricant first before you think about replacing the part, get a helper to operate the gear lever from P to 1 back & forth several times while you spray it, this should fix your problem. Same thing happened on mine a few years back, i've never had a problem with it since then. 5 minutes work & a fiver on a can of lubricant, try this first, be sure to let us know how you get on.

darrenm · Apr 28, 2013

It was a genuine landrover part but as other people say give it a good clean up ( which I did on my old one) and it should be sorted

archwayanimal · Apr 28, 2013

Many thanks for the suggestions but having sprayed it liberally with wd40, poor thing seems to be even more confused and now pretty much every time I use the car we have an issue with the warning lights. Seems not able to cope with moving the gear lever from R past N and to D! So new xyz is now a definite!

thebiglad · Apr 28, 2013

archwayanimal said:
Many thanks for the suggestions but having sprayed it liberally with wd40, poor thing seems to be even more confused and now pretty much every time I use the car we have an issue with the warning lights. Seems not able to cope with moving the gear lever from R past N and to D! So new xyz is now a definite!

Have you tried charging the car battery overnight?

darrenm · Apr 28, 2013

You need to take xyz switch out take apart and clean inside before putting back together

archwayanimal · Apr 28, 2013

thebiglad said:
Have you tried charging the car battery overnight?

I think the battery is fine - reads 12.75v normally and 14.5 when car is running..

archwayanimal · Apr 28, 2013

darrenm said:
You need to take xyz switch out take apart and clean inside before putting back together

Not overly convinced i would do a decent job of that, plus as I've only had the car a week so despite the cost would prefer to start with a new switch that I know will not give me a problem for a while! Plan to extend the air con drains when fitting the new switch to help the news witch survive as long as possible!

thebiglad · Apr 29, 2013

archwayanimal said:
I think the battery is fine - reads 12.75v normally and 14.5 when car is running..

Have you checked it under load, ie when the starter motor is turning the engine over?

The 14.5v figure shows that the alternator is working fine, but shows little or nothing about battery condition.

Why don't you just charge it anyway, it's not going to cost you anything. You don't even need to take it off the car.

M and S lights

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