Well - Picked the new-to-me P38 up on Sunday, and it's mostly fabulous. Examined and tested extensively before committing, including EAS which has newly rebuilt compressor and valves, new driver pack, very quick up and down, good airbags etc etc.
True to form, on the way home all the xmas tree lit up after flickering a bit, beeping & 35mph fault message, went off and was OK for a few minutes, then came back on with 3 lights (access was off) inhibit switch was flickering. Stopped and checked, wobbled relays and fuses and connectors in EAS box.

Then started it up again and it was OK for 30 seconds, then all four lights and 35mph message came on. It didn't drop so I carried on home with no other problems.

Made up a new lead for the eas unlock suite but (could'nt get a OBD socket so plugging pins in) but can't get the laptop to communicate.
It's an old dell with an RS232 port, Com 1 but I'm only getting the PP response in the RX column. This seems to be what you get even when nothing is connected. Checked and re-checked connections for continuity. Never had any connection problems with the LSE.

So far I've checked the OBD socket, removed the kick panel (encouragingly very clean and dry) and checked the 2 white connectors for corrosion.

Checked under the LH seat for corrosion, again very clean and dry.

Now wondering about the bit rate/idle delays - default seems to be 375/375/75, but I don't remember ever having to alter them on the LSE.

Sort of at a loss now. Tony, the seller (P38 prius lol on here) has been brilliant, offering to send any parts I need, and I've ordered a nanocom.

Also encouragingly - the suspension has hardly dropped in the 3 days other than a little levelling.

Any ideas will be pounced upon and investigated . . .

TIA - Alastair

Get a decent lead from Datatek, and check your Comm port settings....

It's comm port 1, default baud rate etc.

My nanocom should be here by the end of the week . . .
Hopefully that will sort any future 'electronical discrepancies', but ideally I'd like the eas lights off as SWMBO is, as yet, unaware of the problem and thinks the time I'm spending is just a bit of 'cleaning and learning'.

After the job I had persuading her to get an older 'sorted' RR, rather than a younger (a lot) more expensive L322, any problems will not go down too well, hence the nanocom.

A

Most serial comm ports are defaulted to 4....

Using Device Manager look for the serial port and check the number and ensure this number is also in EASUnlock....

See if you can download the latest drivers for your system too....

I used a 12 year old USB/Serial adaptor on Dopeys car and it worked first time and second the next time i went to take a look too......

Check your baud rate too...iirc should be 9600

Hi Saint - thanks for taking the time . . .

It's an ancient laptop running Xp sp2, there's only one com port (COM1) RS232, an LPT1 printer port and one USB.

com Port 1 settings are:-
Baud - 9600
bits - 8
Parity - none
Stop bits - 1
Flow control - none

EAS unlock setup will only let me choose Comm1 - it fails to initialise comms on any of the other 11 comm ports . . .

A

odyssey said:

Hi Saint - thanks for taking the time . . .

It's an ancient laptop running Xp sp2, there's only one com port (COM1) RS232, an LPT1 printer port and one USB.

com Port 1 settings are:-
Baud - 9600
bits - 8
Parity - none
Stop bits - 1
Flow control - none

EAS unlock setup will only let me choose Comm1 - it fails to initialise comms on any of the other 11 comm ports . . .

A

Click to expand...

You need flow control RTS/CTS and are you sure you have the correct pins on the OBD connector.

Think I've made some progress, found a post elsewhere that said PP in the buffer meant that the ECU wasn't powering up.
So to dispel any doubt about the OBD connections, I took connecter 117 (EAS ECU) apart and checked continuity from
:- Pin 2 on DB9 to c117 pin 35 which is serial transmit - OK
Pin 3 on DB9 to c117 pin 17 which is serial receive - OK
Pin 5 on DB9 to c117 pin 18 which is ground - OK

BUT no voltage @ c117 pin 1 which should be +12v from timer relay.
Pulled relay ANR4662 opened it - looks clean, no dry joints, is there a way of testing it?

So I'm heading upstream to see where its power comes from - presumably main fuse box.

Can't help in that - but sounds like you are doing some great detective work...keep us informed as your findings could help others !

Well - it's fixed, but I'm not entirely sure why . . .

Tried plugging in an ordinary 5 pin relay (an aircon one from the main fuse box) instead of the delay timer one, it made all sorts of beeps and threw up a transmission fault and airbag fault and it wouldn't even turn over.

After saying several naughty words and thinking 'that's it buggered until the nanocom arrives', I replaced the delay relay and the aircon one, pulled the eas relay in the main FB again wobbled it, swapped it with another similar one - all of which I'd done before, - lo and behold - valves started clicking and it lowered to access position. Switched it on and there was only one light on and no fault message. Connected laptop, got good idle immediately, other than 'vehicle has moved' no faults logged.
Now working as it should.

I'm thinking the fault was in the main fusebox - probably a loose/faulty relay. I'll wait and see if it faults again, and have a good look under the fusebox although there's no burning smell.

Anyway, thanks again for the help and interest.

Alastair

If in any doubt replace the fuse box. Some of the Aussie off-roaders, and Rick the Pick, reckon that they only last about five years anyway.

+1 - sounds like dodgy fusebox connections....

Great work sticking it out....your unplugging and plugging in may have helped clean the relay contacts allowing for better connection....time for a quick smell of the fuse box for whiffs of burning and a clean with a good quality electrical contact cleaner over the pins and connections would go a miss......

Whatever you do, if you are to remove the fusebox - Disconnect the battery first - a member called Neo2 didn't and almost fried the car....this lead to one of the most epic and longest threads in Landy Zone history...

Saint.V8 said:

+1 - sounds like dodgy fusebox connections....

Great work sticking it out....your unplugging and plugging in may have helped clean the relay contacts allowing for better connection....time for a quick smell of the fuse box for whiffs of burning and a clean with a good quality electrical contact cleaner over the pins and connections would go a miss......

Whatever you do, if you are to remove the fusebox - Disconnect the battery first - a member called Neo2 didn't and almost fried the car....this lead to one of the most epic and longest threads in Landy Zone history...

Click to expand...

Don't worry, - unlike most men - I've actually read the manual front to back (and quite a bit of the workshop manual) but then I sometimes have to write instruction manuals for machine tools, so it's a sort of professional competitive spirit/could I have done this better? situation.

A

Hi Alistair
Well the LSE is sat on the drive and is still running.
Couple of niggles, your ABS pump problem is still around, it ate the 30A slow blow fuse the other day?
Relay was faulty which has caused the pump to run continuously and wear it, guess it was the pump jamming which blew the fuse. Couple of taps with the hammer gets it running again but it will need a rebuild or a replacement.
Looking at the air suspension I think it’s the ECU so will swap it out.
Did you trace the fault in the passenger seat, it won’t move.
Think there are some worn bushes in the suspension so looks like it will be getting some polybushes fitted.
Will get some lacquer on the nsr wing and I think the sunroof ecu is at fault.
Long term not sure at the moment as I have not tried to tow with the air suspension as I had rather a nasty car accident in my company car.

and finaly on the price, they appear to of taken a bit of a dive at the moment but yes it was not a bad buy.

Hi Pete - I'd been wondering how you were getting on with the LSE.

Glad you're (largely) pleased with it, it's strange the ABS problem has returned, after I finally identified and replaced the relay in Feb (or whenever it was) there was no recurrence of the pump over-running. If the relay's failed again there may be an underlying problem, but when I tested the pump at the time the current draw was within spec. Admittedly the relay I put in wasn't new, just one I had lying around - try putting a new one in.

I don't think the EAS ECU is the problem, I always felt it was one of the sensors, possibly the left front, but I never seemed to have the time to investigate it properly. When you clear the faults with EAS unlock, it goes up and down quite happily, then when you drive it, it throws the soft fault again.

Passenger seat problem is simply the relay (my life seems to be nothing but failing bloody relays recently, ie the p38 part of this thread and the update I'm just about to post). It's the one under the back of the drivers seat, black with a white question mark on it, I mentioned it at the time.
I thought the sunroof problem was most likely the microswitches in the roof itself getting frozen/wet.

Don't know about the bushes, can't say I ever noticed any untoward clunks or bangs.

Hope you weren't hurt in the smash.

Re the prices - apart from the 3 or 4 minters at over £12k, there's a K reg one on ebay ATM, pretty clean, but no tax or test, rotten crossmember, seized tailgate latches, etc, currently at £1550 with 7 bidders, 28 bids and 3 days to go!

Recent Sunday Times and LRO mag articles both saying LSE is the one to get as an investment, you've definitely made a good buy.

Best regards - Alastair

UPDATE- after getting the P38 suspension working again on Tuesday night, when I went out to use it the next morning, it had faulted again, and I'd stupidly left it at access height, so I had to use the other car.
Pondered on it during the day, and realised it had to be either no power from the main fuse box, either due to a faulty relay (unlikely as I'd swapped them around with no effect) or another problem - maybe burning? OR the delay timer relay under the seat.

Removed (after disconnecting the battery - thank you Saint) and cleaned/checked the fusebox. Again, lovely & clean and corrosion free, no sign of burning.
So it had to be the delay timer. As I don't know how to test non-mechanical relays (specially ones with no pin numbers on) I approached it from the other direction and found there was 12v @ one slot in the socket even with the ignition off.

Replaced the delay timer with a standard 5 pin green relay and - bingo! back in business - didn't even have to plug the laptop in to clear faults.

As I'm not sure of the consequences of it not having the delay function, I put the delay timer back in and it's been fine all day, then went out to go shopping this evening, and it's bloody Xmas again. Replaced it with the standard relay and off we go again. It's definitely a flaky delay timer.

Local stealer tells me it's a discontinued part, local indy says even Britpart have no stock, so Tony (the previous owner) is sending me a known working one, and there are a few on ebay.

I've found very little evidence on various forums that this is a common fault so perhaps my experience may help others.

Alastair

Hi Alistair

Abs fault is the pump, dash lights were on again yesterday And i had chance to have a good look. Pump would not work even with direct power but a couple of taps with a hammer got it running again.
Try wheircle wire products for the timer relay. Good to hear the p38 is almost sorted,