Evening all, Hope you guys dont think i'm being rude as i havent been on here in over a year but i have an on going issue with my p38 2000 diesel range and i'm stumped by it
In the past 6-8 months my rangie has developed a drain on the battery i assumed that it was the central lock reciever as i heard that this was a common issue so i replaced the battery and fitted a solar charger to it thinking this will solve my problem, but it didnt, so over the past weeks i've dug a bit deeper into the issue.
I've found (using the old bulb across the battery live trick and removing fuses 1 by 1) that the drain is actually coming from the air suspension fuse no 29 (10a) which i've traced to the air suspension delay timer, which is where i became unstuck. In all honesty i have no idea where to go from here. I pulled up the rave manual but couldnt work out where to go or whhat to look at next.
I'm hoping that one of you has come accross this before and can point me in the right direction.
Its prob worth me mentioning that the drain doesn't happen over night only when the car is sat for a week and that also other that last month every now and then it will pop up with 'slow max speed 35mph' on the dash and the air suspension will go up into its off road setting. This only seems to happen when i'm sat in the car parked whilst in 'motorway mode'. If i turn the car off and restart it the problem goes away.
I've already plugged it into a diagnostic machine and all the air bags seem fine, they all hold there pressure, go up and down as they should and theres no fault registering on the system.
I'm completly stuck and short of removing the fuse after every time i use it dont really know what to do.
Please help as i love my landy and really dont want to have to get rid but if i cant get to the bottom of it she'll have to go, as its killing my van keep jump starting it.

As i remember if you take out the relay from under the passenger seat all it will do is stop the car self levelling, did you change the rf box for the new version ? i have been through this and it was the rf unit replacement that solved the problem.

silly messages are probably down to low battery voltage, do a search, it sends the becm nuts.

Fit a new delay timer it is a know battery drain causer on the diesel.

wammers said:

Fit a new delay timer it is a know battery drain causer on the diesel.

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That's the relay under the passenger seat.

bigsmellydaddy said:

As i remember if you take out the relay from under the passenger seat all it will do is stop the car self levelling, did you change the rf box for the new version ? i have been through this and it was the rf unit replacement that solved the problem.

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whats the rf box mate? I'm not good with tla's (three letter abreviasions)

bigsmellydaddy said:

silly messages are probably down to low battery voltage, do a search, it sends the becm nuts.

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I hope so seems odd to me i keep get them and no fault registers on the system

wammers said:

Fit a new delay timer it is a know battery drain causer on the diesel.

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I'll start with that then many thanks


Thanks for all you replys i'll be off the the workshop again today hopefully i'll get it sorted, I'll keep u updated.

lezbrucelee said:

whats the rf box mate? I'm not good with tla's (three letter abreviasions)

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The Radio Frequency Box (Receiver) is the little black box that sits under the plastic cover that the rear seats lock into and it picks up the Lock/Unlock signal from the remote fob.

This little box of tricks was not to bright in the first 2 versions and would pick up stray radio signals and would wake the BeCM up to check the to see if the frequency and code recieved was the right one to unlock the car...the BeCM would say no and then wait 3 minutes before shutting down again, only for the stupid RF box to wake it up again to check another code - or even not let the BeCM go back to sleep.....this constant waking up of the BeCM is sufficent to drain a battery in a day or two.....

The thrid version of the box pretty much eliminates this issue as they made it a bit cleverer.....

Change the Time delay relay and Rf box and you can get rid of that solar charger....

Saint.V8 said:

The Radio Frequency Box (Receiver) is the little black box that sits under the plastic cover that the rear seats lock into and it picks up the Lock/Unlock signal from the remote fob.

This little box of tricks was not to bright in the first 2 versions and would pick up stray radio signals and would wake the BeCM up to check the to see if the frequency and code recieved was the right one to unlock the car...the BeCM would say no and then wait 3 minutes before shutting down again, only for the stupid RF box to wake it up again to check another code - or even not let the BeCM go back to sleep.....this constant waking up of the BeCM is sufficent to drain a battery in a day or two.....

The thrid version of the box pretty much eliminates this issue as they made it a bit cleverer.....

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thank you, and no i haven't i'm guessing i have to get this from land rover dealer?

lezbrucelee said:

thank you, and no i haven't i'm guessing i have to get this from land rover dealer?

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Island 4 x 4 but definately not Ebay.

You could start by just disconnecting the aerial (single blue wire going up to the window) from the RF box. The remote locking will still work but you'll find that you've got to be a lot closer to the car. This should stop it picking up any spurious signals that are waking the car up.

Then a replacement EAS timer relay will cost you about £40 and are available from most of the after-market suppliers.

Datatek said:

Island 4 x 4 but definately not Ebay.

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I never buy anything from ebay:monitor_punch:
island 4x4 are just up the motorway from me too, awesome many thanks i'll let you know if it solves it

If your battery is iffy that will also cause a lot of problems. An MC31 Alphaline 135AH 1000CCA from Battery Megastore cures a lot of ill's. About £100 delivered, 4 year warranty. No affiliation, just a satisfied customer.