V8 Discovery 2 won't start means

Hi all. I have a V8 2004 facelift Discovery 2. I have had it for about 2 months and have been working through various problems with it and generally making good progress. I had a water leak into the passenger footwell from the windscreen which was sealed on Friday. I had been keeping it in a shed and drying carpets out over the last 2 weeks with newspaper. There has been a yellow ACE light on the dash since I bought the car, which was diagnosed as a failed solenoid. I bought a used Ace valve block and fitted the solenoid this morning using ramps, without dismantling the valve block. I had started the car earlier in the morning and driven it in to the ramps. I tested the ACE block by turning on the ignition and was delighted that the ACE light stayed off. I then changed the newspaper under the passenger footwell carpet to help dry the carpet, which is now nearly dry. When I tried to start the car to drive it off the ramps, a click could be heard, but the engine did not spin. I turned off the fan and listened for a fuel pump and could not hear it!!
At first I thought it might be an antitheift feature as the front wheels were raise on the ramps.
Then I thought it might be a low battery, but interior lamp does not dim when I try to crank the engine.
I have checked all fuses and fusable links listed in the Threads on V8 not starting.
Battery voltage was 12.2 volts and I have charged it for 1 hour to 12.5 Volts - no change.
When ignition switch is in possition 3 my diagnostics reader shows it as active.
I may have disturbed wire in the footwell when I put newspaper under the carpet.
I have tried the spare key - the immobiliser does not flashing once ignition key is on.
Gear selector shows P in the display - also tried in N.
I suspect that it is an immobiliser or a fuse box issue as there is no fuel pump sound when the key is in possition 2.
How can I test if the immobiliser is causing a problem?
Thanks Mike

Did you try entering the vehicle using the EKA?

If you can unlock it with the fob while it's unlocked i doubt it's the immobiliser also in that case the red led on dash should be on, the click you hear on ignition crank position should be the starter relay which in case of immobilisation is disabled, anyway, water ingress at the passenger side could have hurt the BCU and that can cause various problems, let it in neutral, remove relay R2 and bridge the perpendicular cavities in the fusebox with a paperclip, the starter should spin this way, if not check the small lucar connector on the solenoid to be well tightened refit the relay and try to crank it, next remove relay R1 and also bridge perpendicular cavities and listen to the pump, it should kick in this way, if no activity then more diagnose is needed.

Dear Sierrafery
Thanks for the advice.
I will try this tonight and let you know how I get on.
Mike

Popped home at lunch time. Using the paper clip was able to run the fuel pump and run the starter, so it looks like an immobiliser issue. Then I started the engine with the paper clip left in the fuel pump reply and was able to move the car on my drive. I have checked security of all connections in the passenger foot well, but with the relays replaced the fuel pump and starter don't operate. What would you recommend next? I will contact the garage to get the EKA code to see if there is any issue there.
Thanks Mike

Unless you bought the car from our local LR dealer, the indi-garage won't have any record of the EKA.... and you'll have to pay the LR dealer to get it!

Unless a TD5 unlocked Nanocom can read the V8 BCU ? Anyone....

The nanocom unlocked for D2 Td5 will read everything on a D2 V8 except the engine management but i must insist that as long as the car was unlocked with the fob it's not "officially" immobilised eventually the BCU is making tricks cos if it was immobilised you couldn't have moved it with bridged relays cos then the ECU is locked and doesnt open the injectors... so it might just be an electrical issue

sierrafery said:

The nanocom unlocked for D2 Td5 will read everything on a D2 V8 except the engine management but i must insist that as long as the car was unlocked with the fob it's not "officially" immobilised eventually the BCU is making tricks cos if it was immobilised you couldn't have moved it with bridged relays cos then the ECU is locked and doesnt open the injectors... so it might just be an electrical issue

Click to expand...

Thanks, just thought I might have been able to help him out

If it's immobilised nanocom will tell you that it's unable to connect to it but even if i become annoying or obsessive as long as it was unlocked with the fob it should not be immobilised so if it is i'm afraid the bcu is fubar...though if you can communicate with it set the alarm to ''not fitted" and the passive immobiliser to ''disabled" and if this doesnt help then IMO the problem is electrical

Thanks guys. I will see what info I can ascertain with my little diagnostic box.
Jason I am in Santon if you can spare a hour with your Nanocom.
Mike

I just need to find my Nanocom first... I've got everything all packed in to boxes at the moment as I'm getting ready to move house. Let me try and find it, and I'll give you a shout.

Plot thickens.
My diagnostic box shows:
Security. Key inserted =IN, Park /N = off, but leds on gbx show correctly, reverse beeper beeps and dashboard reads possition correctly. However gear selector switch has previously been problematic and occasionionally shows incorrect gear possition flashing warning S lamp - this may be an incompatibility issue with my reader?
Power. Volts measured at lighter socket 12.3v, key switch 1, 2 & 3 indicate correctly, IDM volts = 11.8volts, bcc relay=11.5 volts, bcu power = 11.4Volts is it normal for these to be lower than voltage at lighter socket? Or do I have a high impedance earth?
Warning & Sounder OK
Lighting and odd work fine

I'd be careful reading too much in to what your diag box says as it may well be misinterpreting signals from the vehicle. This is why the more expensive units are worth the extra money.

Just in case, I have replaced battery with new( original battery failed the battery test) and unlocked the car using the EKA code. As suspected this has made no difference.

Two less things that could be causing the problem

I am going to check earths in the passenger foot well.

All looks well in the passenger foot well.
I conclude that as I was able to start the car and keep it running with paperclip in fuel pump, then the fault must be related to the imobiliser which is holding off the fuel pump and the starter solenoid. I will look at threads on imobiliser to learn a bit more about this. Thanks to everyone's for your help and kind words. Solving this is like doing a complex puzzle. Fortunately the car stopped working on my drive and I have alternative transport. So I have not fallen out with the Disco yet.

The EKA thing is another evidence that it's not immobilised... I'd rather suspect the engine bay fusebox or some adjacent bad contact to be the cause of this

Hi Sierrafery I have tested FL8, FL12 in engine bay & F23 in the drivers fuse box.
The job I completed before the fault occurred was replacing an ACE Directional solenoid. Before replacing the solenoid I had a Yellow ACE lamp. After I replaced the solenoid the ACE light cleared, but the car would not start. I then disconnected the solenoid and the y elbow ACE lamp came back on.
So it is possible that a fuse related to the ACE block might have failed. I will do some research. The other strange thing was that the failed solenoid was not open circuit but only had a slightly higher resistance than the replacement 2 ohms compared to 1.7 ohms. Do you know how the ACE box detects a failed solenoid?
Any thoughts much appreciated - I will check a few more fused and will check other connections near fuse box.

The ACE thing was coincidental, it has nothing to do with that