Freelander 1 Strange Electrical Issue

Hi all,

My '03 Td4 has been playing up all week, but today has started to refuse to unlock.

On Monday, the driver's door unlocked, but no other doors would. Headlights on the car worked, as did the backlight of the clock, but everything else was dead. I'd turn the key in the ignition, but nothing happened, not even a click from the starter. I left, and came back a moment later, and the car started perfectly. Still, I only had half of the electrics. A few minutes later however, everything came back to life and the car worked perfectly.

On the Wednesday, I was taking it to the garage for its MOT and it decided that it didn't want to work again. In the middle of driving, the same half of the electrics cut out, but the engine continued running. I stopped at a set of traffic lights, went to pull away, but power was limited and the car stalled. I stuck the hazards on, got out, slammed the door, and lo and behold, the electrics came back on, and the car started again. We got it to the garage, who, the following day, told us that whilst they were servicing it, they were experiencing major electrical issues, and that we needed to change the battery and starter motor. Anyway, we picked up the car, drove it home no problems.

Today, however, it has decided that it wants to be a pig again. We tried unlocking it with the fob and key but neither methods have worked. With a coat hanger, we managed to get the bonnet open and change the battery, but still, there seems to be no power inside the cabin (no flashing immobiliser light, and the clock is off). We have, however, tested the engine bay fuse box, and that does seem to be getting power from the battery.

Does anyone have any idea of what could be causing these issues, and how we can bypass the superlock and actually get into the car?

Many thanks in advance!

It sounds like you could have corrosion on the inside fuse box, or water in the CCU, which is behind the fuse box.

The way to open the car, is with the key in the door lock.

Thanks Nodge, they sound like a good place to start checking. Do you know how expensive and time consuming changing the ccu would be?

When it comes to the door, the key doesn’t work either. The RAC came out yesterday and basically said the only way in is smashing a window

When you reconnect the good battery the rear window should drop. You could post someone in this way to open the doors!
Of course, with your electrical gremlins it might not drop.

DeepWater said:

Do you know how expensive and time consuming changing the ccu would be?

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The CCU is programmed to the vehicle, so changing it isn't that easy.

DeepWater said:

When it comes to the door, the key doesn’t work either.

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I expect it's had a replacement ignition key then.

DeepWater said:

The RAC came out yesterday and basically said the only way in is smashing a window

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It'll still be deadlocked though, so you'll not be any better off.

As Andy said, the rear window (boot door) should drop when the battery is reconnected, which means you can get in through the boot.

Once in, turn the ignition on, and strike the impact sensor behind the engine bay fuse box. This should pop the door locks, allowing the doors to open.

Thanks both.

Regarding the key, we've had the car from new, and I can say for certain that its never had a new ignition. So I've no idea of the issue there.

The battery is supplying about 12.6v to the engine bay fuse box, but looking through the window, there seems to be no electricity getting into the cabin. (No flashing immobiliser light and the clock is dead)

I have disconnected the battery this evening, and will put it back in the morning, so with a bit of luck that might do something and get me into the car. If I do manage to get in, what will the impact sensor look like, so I know the right bit to strike?

DeepWater said:

I have disconnected the battery this evening, and will put it back in the morning, so with a bit of luck that might do something and get me into the car.

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Check all the fuses in the engine bay fuse box, including the big bolt in fusible links. IIRC FL4 supplies power to the internal fuse box, and FL3 supplies power to the ignition switch.

Also check the battery earth connection to the body, as there is a chance its corrosion causing the issue.

DeepWater said:

If I do manage to get in, what will the impact sensor look like, so I know the right bit to strike?

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It's at the back of the engine bay, behind and below the engine bay fuse box. It's a square box, with a red rubber button on the top, and a pair of wires coming out the bottom. Actually I think simply unplugging the plug on the bottom of the impact sensor might do the same as tripping it.

I've checked all of those fuses, and they seem to be problem free. FL4 and FL3 both had a few specks of corrosion on them, but nothing major - so I can't see that being an issue

I'll check the battery earth tomorrow - I presume that's just where the negative cable joins the bodywork?

And are the fuel cut-off switches and the impact sensor same, because I've heard of the former but not the latter?

DeepWater said:

I've checked all of those fuses, and they seem to be problem free. FL4 and FL3 both had a few specks of corrosion on them, but nothing major - so I can't see that being an issue

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Did you check them with a meter?

DeepWater said:

I'll check the battery earth tomorrow - I presume that's just where the negative cable joins the bodywork?

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Yes, where the earth lead us bolted to the body.

DeepWater said:

And are the fuel cut-off switches and the impact sensor same, because I've heard of the former but not the latter?

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Yes, same thing.

Brilliant, thanks alot for the help!

I think the RAC bloke checked them yesterday, and his multimeter said 12.6v across them IIRC. Either way, he didn't seem to think there was anything wrong there, and I have no clue what I'm looking for.

I shall try putting the battery in tomorrow, but if worst comes to worst, I guess I'll have to smash a window.

My bet is the fuse box, after that the ECU connections. What ever it is bashing things helps so its probably a fuse or plug. Don't go smashing things yet, it just makes a lot of work. Try the key in the tail gate (if it has a lock?) and see if you can climb in. If slamming the door helped try shaking the door. If you have the bonnet open try wiggling any wiring you can get at.

I’ve just stuck the battery back in, but the car still seems not to be getting any power. The tailgate glass hasn’t dropped, and the clock and inside electrics haven’t come on. - I’ve still tried the tailgate glass, but it’s not getting the power it needs to drop.

Next thing I’ll do then is check the battery earth, all other wires and give the car a shake.

If there's no power to the body fuse box, then look inside the engine bay fuse box for corrosion, or damaged wires, particularly any thick brown or brown with colour trace wires.

The rear window is rolled down by the 27VT body controller ECU, which is I think attached to the back of the in cabin fuse box.
If you want the window to roll down so that you can get in without breaking anything then the only thing that matters is that the rear window and 27VT have power.
You need to get the wiring diagrams out and figure out how power gets to the 27VT and the tailgate window motor and make sure that those things are getting power. The other parts of the car are less important right now.
I think that concentrating on one particular system and whether it is getting power is easier than trying to look at everything. Break it down into a smaller problem that's easier to understand and investigate.

Thanks everyone, after a weekend of playing will all cables under the bonnet, we’ve not had any success in getting into the car.

I’m no expert in electrical systems, so will leave the tailgate power strategy to the locksmith - don’t know how long this will be, as he’s doing it as a favour!

We're also going to try getting a trolley jack, jacking it up and then dropping the car, to see if a vertical jolt will kick anything into life. If all else fails, we will smash a window, and get it onto a flatbed lorry and towed to a relatives, where he will look into the issue in more depth - he reckons it’s an earth, so let’s hope it’s something simpler to repair like that.

If we can get it going, I will update you all, but it’s looking more and more likely the car will be sold for spares, as I don’t really want to pay for £3k of MOT repairs that we’ve been told are necessary!

hello, has anyone found a solution to the problem? I have a land rover freelander 1.8 16v from 2001 and the cassette player no longer has power, the rear door does not open, the rear window does not open, the windows do not open, the central locking does not work anymore , to adjust the mirrors and it doesn't work. i tried to remove the ecu and heat it with a hair dryer it worked for a few hours and then it didn't work again this method worked 2 times but now it doesn't nothing works anymore and the clock does not record the kilometers or the time anymore, it just stays on does anyone know the solution to this problem?