Freelander 1 [SOLVED] Electrical problems, possible CCU failure

Hello to all, wish you a happy new year and amazing holidays!

I had an MOT recently, passed it somehow, friend there warned me about my rear window wiper was acting strange. Starting when you sound the horn and stuff like that.
The vehicle is Freelander 1 2001, 2.0 TD4 112hp Automatic.
Soon after that, the car started acting strange. At first I thought there might be some water damage with some wires or something like that, but after that one issue with the wiper, a lot more appeared:

*I got a new battery and I will change my wire connector terminals or however they're called.*
^Could be important, cause the car was sitting for a year and the battery went flat and kinda died in there, it was already to be replaced before, so this ended it.

I found this tread: "Freelander 1 Major Electrical Problems : Urgent help needed Please"
In it, the OP has really similar problems as I do, and they suspect its the CCU. It would appear that it controls all the stuff I got issues with and could be the culprit here. If it was some major water damage to some conduits or something, would that trip a whole lot of fuses?
From what I read, the CCU is behind the fuse box inside the car. If I have to replace it, does the car need any additional pairing with it? I read that the fob has to be paired up (or get the one that's already paired with it if its possible from some donor car), but that's not a priority at all.
The car runs and drives normally... if I don't use my headlights or sound the horn.
Power windows work normally.

Anything I can do to check all this for certain? Anything else that could make all this issues appear? Advices? Topics to check?
Thanks to everyone who might help!

Update:
Dug my way till the CCU, got it out and opened it. It looked decent, quite pristine. Cleaned it with rubbing alcohol and a toothbrush, hooked all back up and now it works. It's been 4 days without issues.
So I'm quite certain it is the CCU and I know that if it comes back again, I'll just replace it.

Was there a Evoque parked nearby as this normally have side effects to other Landrovers.

saxavordian said:

Was there a Evoque parked nearby as this normally have side effects to other Landrovers.

Click to expand...

The wife fancies an Ewok, but they're silly money, and not particularly practical or reliable.

When I read your op, the first thing that came to my mind was an earth point. Read the thread you‘ve linked saying the same at the end. Am no electrician, but sounds
a point. Not sure if LR or who else put an additional one in mine some years, also not for the reason. Maybe have a look into that. Will check on mine if I can find out what it was.

Good day,

I am brand new to this site and are the new owner of 2 freelanders. 1x 2001 and a 2003. I will properly go through the formalities to introduce myself but have a urgent problem to resolve as stated above. Same problem - I have no solution and are concerned as my vehicle is not stored in a lockup garage.
Could you please advise me whether it is the CCU or be so kind to instruct me what to do as my windows are down and I cant raise them. Please accommodate my urgent request as I need to secure the vehicle. Thanking all your support, advice and consideration
Regards
Hendrik

landfreeder said:

Good day,

I am brand new to this site and are the new owner of 2 freelanders. 1x 2001 and a 2003. I will properly go through the formalities to introduce myself but have a urgent problem to resolve as stated above. Same problem - I have no solution and are concerned as my vehicle is not stored in a lockup garage.
Could you please advise me whether it is the CCU or be so kind to instruct me what to do as my windows are down and I cant raise them. Please accommodate my urgent request as I need to secure the vehicle. Thanking all your support, advice and consideration
Regards
Hendrik

Click to expand...

You don't say which windows are down, why/when they went down, what you have done to try and raise them and what response you got. Also whether other windows are working.

Generally though, the only "quick fix" is to disconnect the battery for a few minutes (some say then touch the battery leads together), make sure the battery is charged and reconnect it. This will reset the CCU and other bits and give you the best chance of fixing quickly without replacing bits.

Ccu only has control over tailgate window. Others have their own controller.

If it's for the tailgate, get a cardboard, cut it to the size and stick it there with tape and some foil over it to protect from rain. Had done that on mine when the window smashed down.

I am terribly sorry for bringing an old thread back, but I solved my issue.
Since I got another car, I put this one "on the shelf" and waited for a bit warmer days to work on it. In the meantime managed to ask some guy if he would be okay if I tried his CCU in my car, since the cars are the same and he was cool with it. After replacing it, the problem persisted, so I was was certain that the problem is with the grounding somewhere. From experience, if you've got really weird electrical issues, its either the main computer/module that controls it all or grounding issue.

I got the Land Rover RAVE manual, couldn't start it in Windows 11 so I had to spin up a VM with XP on it, and it worked great. Inside, I looked over for electrical connections and found that most of the issues I have go through one particular grounding root that is also the CCU ground connection. Its the C0018 (RHD) or C0552 (LHD), in the far left corner of the engine bay (when you look at it). It appeared good, but with a GOOD shake, it fell out and the screw that was supposed to be on the chassis just fell off with the connector, leaving a hole. I managed to unscrew the connector (if I wasn't able, I would either replace the cap of the connector which would give me a new hole to mount somewhere, or I would solder an "extension cable" and screw it somewhere else). After I did that, I used sandpaper to clean the hole a bit, and used a new bolt and nut, securing the grounding connector.
After this, the car works perfectly fine.



Thank you everyone for your effort.