P38A Mystery Electrics...

Hi everyone,

Strange problem that's driving me crazy. I had a new battery fitted a couple of weeks ago by the AA. Old battery was losing charge since the start of the winter. A day after the battery fitting the switch pack stopped working, the next day after opening the tailgate it started working. A day later it stopped again, checked fuse 1, removed switch pack and cleaned connector with contact cleaner. Nothing.. Today the same but just switched on the headlights and its started working again! Just coincidence and a new pack required or am I missing something?

Nick

These switch packs are notoriouse for playing up. I got a fleebay one last year, cheap cos sunroof switch wouldent close, wernt to bothered about roof as you can use double lock method to close it, just wanted windows working as mind was a write off. Great all windows work and sun roof opens, then just the other week i could also close the roof on the switch, ive put this down to damp air as it rains a lot up er in manc land, will probably go duff again in summer. The power is only used as a low voltage signal so a little damp can send alsorts ov mad messages

Hi Tony,
Thanks for your reply, I think the next step would be to try another switch pack. The one fitted at present is also quite sticky at the back, looks like the old owner spilt a can of drink behind it at some time. Its been fine for the past 8 months but the cold and damp weather could have the final factor.

Good place to start. Any moisture will trash it, watch for wet sleaves when getting in from the rain.

The actual switch contacts themselves do get dust/dirt/moisture in them over time and can tarnish aswell. That's the usual cause if one or more of the individual switches stop working or become intermittent.
Other faults that cause the whole switchpack to fail are either a wiring issue between the switchpack and the BECM (fairly unlikely in my experience) and other faults on the PCB in the switchpack itself, from faulty component to broken PCB tracks or through-board connections.

I put a post up on rangerovers.net about repairing the individual switches - as I pulled a switchpack completely to bits to have a look at how they worked - and now repair switchpacks 'on the side' when I'm home and have free time, as I've sourced replacement switch contacts for the individual window switches, and can also repair the PCB faults most of the time. I usually sell repaired/tested units on exchange as they take a fair amount of time to actually pull apart and fix... I'm always on the scout out for faulty ones aswell to add to the pile to repair when I have time!