clarky

Thanks for your time and info Best regards Clarky

In November last year I became aware of a metallic rattle whenever I went over a bump (with the window down it sounded like you were going over a cattle grid). After much crawing about I pinpointed it to a loose spray shield on the nearside front disc brake. Having removed the wheel I found that the spray shield should be held with three flanged set screws, however the metal of the spray disc appeared to have corroded away in a circle around the flange of each screw (there was a white residue around each screw which could indicate some electrolytic action maybe?). Without removing the caliper and disc I was only able to access one of the screws and temporarily fit a repair washer. As the vehicle was in for its MOT the following week, I asked the dealership to look at it. They told me that to replace the spray shield would involve removing the hub and in their experience the bearings always collapsed thus making it and expensive job. So they just removed the disc and fit repair washers to each screw. Yesterday, I had the window down whilst giving someone a tow and I heard the same rattle (could not hear it with window closed due to sound proofing).On investigation I found it to be a loose spray shield on the front offside disc brake. Again the metal appeared to have corroded around each screw. I rang the dealership and asked them if this was a known fault and the diplomatic reply I got back was "well, not every vehicle that comes through our doors as the problem" ?? It would be good to hear if anyone else has had this problem Best regards Clarky

Since digital switch over I cannot receive any TV You can select search as usual but it does not pick up any channels As anyone else experienced similar problems? Thanks Clarky

I share with you the detail of the third electrical fault on my RR which I summarised for LR in the attached mail, to which I never got a repsonse Initially, the fault only when turning the ignition on, but latterly it would sometimes fail with the engine running when the vehicle stationary I would get a beep and a fault message on the display 'Air Susp inactive' The resultant faults were: Air suspension defaulted to standard ride height (so an issue if you needed to travel on the motorways) No heat/vent/airco No drive indication The vehicle was driveable in certain conditions The fault would sometimes clear itself with the turning off and on of the ignition, other times it would last for days The BeCM Module was replaced under warranty as that had already been replaced at my cost for the wiper failure fault The fault was not cured so a section of wiring harness was replaced That did not cure the fault either I had taken the vehicle in to the local dealership Hillendale with the fault on a number of times but they could not solve the problem Eventually the technician found a temporary fix to keep me going that involved powering the front passenger seat fully forward so that you could lift a flap in the floor to reveal the BeCM unit, and then unplugging the LH white multiplug in the back of the module (this caused a warning bleep, but cleared the fault). I did this for weeks whilst at the same time creating a deatiled log of the failures and trying to look for a pattern or some other important clue After some time I linked the fault to the opening and shutting of the vehicle tailgate, but that was dismissed by the dealership as the centre console power was in no way connected to the tailgate However, the fault persisted and the links with the tailgate became stronger On one occasion I picked the vehicle up from the dealership after a weeks investigation but no fault found, drove home (less than a mile) pulled into the driveway, jumped out opened the tailgate to put some boxes into the boot, closed the tailgate, jumped back into the vehicle to find the fault was on! On another occasion I pulled up with the engine running to give a neighbour a tow up the lane in deep snow, I opened the tailgate attached the tow rope, closed the tailgate and jumped back in the vehicle to find the fault on On another occasion I backed up to my Horse box jumped out, coupled up, jumped back in and the fault was on and so it went on................................... I took the vehicle back to the local dealership emphasising the link to the tailgate That time they took me seriously and found an intermittent shorting fault on one of the upper tailgate courtesy lights, which instead of blowing a fuse shut down part of the BeCM module causing the 'center console' power failure The fault condition was clear and definite and the technican could replicate it at will At the moment I'm enjoying trouble free motoring in Solihull's finest Fingers crossed Clarky Summary of electrical faults on RR Vogue M50 PGC.pdf

Apologies, the photo showing the Sat Nav with splash cover fitted had not been attached Please see photo below Best regards Clarky Sat Nav with splash cover fitted.pdf

In 2008, about the same time as my wipers began to fail my Sat Nav packed up I took the vehicle in to the local dealership Hillendale They inspected the Sat Nav and said it was full of water and beyond repair, but before replacing it they would have to establish where the water was coming from I was asked if I used a pressure washer on the vehicle, which I do not (but it's a sad day if you cannot use a pressure washer on a top spec RR) They put the vehicle in their spray booth and found that the water was coming in from a 'Displaced' body seal at the top LHS of the upper tailgate The seal was not damaged or perished butmerely displaced The LR authorised repair was to push the body seal back into position and apply liberal amounts of black silicon sealant to the seal, tailgate hinge, adjacent body panel lap joints and a bit on the roof for good measure ( please see the attached photos for deatil) The bill for this work, with the replacement Sat Nav was £1,200.00 I challenged the cost on the grounds that it was a faulty design/build and not something I should have to pay for, however, Hillendale said I would have to pay and then take it up with LR, which I did In the attached letters you will read that I got no joy from LR with regards to the cost, however, I kept stating that the seal could become displaced again and that would cost me another £1,200 pounds?! (also underneath the Sat Nave there are loads more vulnerable electric/electronic components) Finally LR indicated that older models like mine were not fitted with splash guards but they got Hillendale to retrofit one as a guesture of goodwill I attach photos of the new Sat Nav prior to the splash guard having been fitted and on with the splash guard My advice if you have a similar age RR Vogue is to write to LR and demand they retofit the splash guard and in the meantime check that seal Hope this is useful Best regards Clarky Letter to Range Rover 19th Sept 2008.pdf Letter to Range Rover 10th October 2008.pdf Letters from RRover 30th Sep & 18th Nov 20080001.pdf

PS I forgot to mention the cost of the above work (excluding the wiper motor and BeCM module) ECU £4.90 Labour - 2 techs full day £261.25 VAT £39.92 Tot £306.07

Apologies for the delay in providing and update on this problem: In the time since the last post I have had two other electrical problems that together with the wipers had meant that the vehicle had been off the road and with the local dealership Hillendalen on various occasions for a total of almost seven weeks. I will post the two other problems seperately. The wiper failure continued (infrequently) into July 2009, but it had become apparant that the failure was only ever in very, very heavy rain i.e the sort thats bouncing back up off the floor. It's not that the failure was intermittent as LR would have me believe, but rather the fact that you not only needed torrential rain but also had to be driving in at the time! By this time I had written eight letters and summaries to: (corresponding with Sue Beesley - Senior Customs Relations Executive) Land Rover Customer Relationship Centre Abbey Road Whitley Coventry CV3 4LF with copies to the local dealership Hillendale Land Rover, Lomeshaye Business Park, Nelson, Lancashire However, the letters were getting me nowhere and the PR speak was wearing me down Fortunately for me I was able to capture a failure on the 28th July 2009 on my phone video which I forwarded on CD to LR with a covering letter in which I asked for an escalation procedure and conformation that all my written feedback had been discussed internally with an appropriate technical team. Finally, after eleven months, I got a common sense reply from LR which I attach. As you can read, for the first time LR asked some technical questions to aid them make a diagnosis. I was able to answer all questions fully and with 100% confidence has it was based on information I had been sending to them over the previous months. I also attach there reply in which you can read that their conclusion (based on my answers to their questions)was that either the ECU (control relay) or associated wiring was faulty and that I should take it in to a dealership of my choice for investigation. The reason that I could not take the vehicle in to the local dealership 'Hillendale' was the fact that the Aftersales Director Mr Ian Chadwick had declined to deal with me again. This came about as a result of a failure on Sunday 21st July 2009 which stayed on the vehicle until Monday morning 20th July. I set off the dealership with the fault still on, but as I was speaking to them the wipers suddenly began to work, so we agreed I would continue to run it until the fault came on again. The next day we had a cloudburst and the fault came on. I had to pull over until the rain eased and I rang the dealership to inform them and they told me to bring it straight in. On arrival I left the engine running outside the service desk and checked in with Andy, who informed me that the technician Jed was out, but would get him to me on his return if I did not mind sitting in the vehicle with the engine running and fault on. I sat for 10-15 minutes until Andy came out to see me stating that his boss would like a chat with me, I asked him if I should leave the vehicle running, but he said no, better to switch it off. I was shown to Mr Ian Chadwick’s office (Aftersales Director), and was shocked when he opened with ‘I do not want to deal with you anymore as you do not like our service or our product’ For the record, I am actually a longstanding Series 1 club member, being the proud owner of a 1956 Series 1, fully restored by myself. I have previously owned two Series Landrovers, a Discovery and two Range Rovers, so in fact, I think it would be fair to say that I am a Solihull fan. Further, regarding the level of service, I take the vehicle there for MOT, scheduled inspections/services and repairs; in fact the vehicle was in the dealership on Friday 17th July 2009 for two new steering joints. I have also bought extras from Hillendale such as boot liners and covers. So all in all I think that demonstrates that I do rate both their products and services. I am convinced that Mr Chadwick had made his mind up prior to seeing me that he no longer wanted to deal with me because of the nature of this ongoing problem, however, I would point out that he had been happy to take my money on many occasions, but when the going got tough – he gave up. I asked him to put his point of view in writing and I waited until he had time to do that (he kept me waiting until the close of business), but I finally got it in writing and have attached it. In the letter he also states that 'we have not recently been able to experience the fault first hand' obviously ignoring the fact that I was sat outside with the fault on prior to our meeting. So the golden rule if you want Hillendale to do business with you is don't develop electrical faults on you RR Vogue, or if you do, don't complain about the fact they haven't been fixed for eleven months! Back to the fault: I opted to take my RR into Ribblesdale Land Rover at Settle, North Yorkshire a round trip of about 60 miles I had previously sent the service manager Mr. Gordon Robinson all the past info on the fault and he took time to ring me on a couple of occasions to discuss and clarify things prior to taking the vehicle in. On the day I was met by Mr Robinson (a working manager) and one of his technicians. We discussed things again and Mr Robinson said that if they could not find anything conclusive then they would fit a temporary override switch on the side of the dash that went direct to the wiper motor, so that if the fault was to reoccur we would be able to establish whether or not it was the Motor or controls that was at fault (additionally, if it was the controls that were at fault I would still be able to use my wipers - fantastic) That was a better idea than mine, months ago I had asked LR to fit temporary LED's on key points of the circuit that I could monitor when the failure occurred. Late afternoon I went to collect the vehicle and Mr Robinson was happy he had found the fault to be the ECU He had opened the relay and found the contacts to be pitted with clear signs of arcing The relay, mounted behind the battery to the top nearside of the engine compartment has its earth point under the drivers seat and this was found to be a higher than normal resistance so they made a new earth for the relay next to the battery. I now have some confidence that the fault is cured. Mr Robinson took time to call me the other day after heavy rain to see all was OK Ribblesdale have also offered to collect my vehicle and return it whenever I need any work doing, thus avoiding a day out So if you want excellent and down to earth service (with the offer of practical solutions where necessary) then look no further than Ribblesdale Land Rover PS if you want to make a day out of your next service then take your vehicle into Ribblesdale and catch the scenic Settle to Carlisle railway letter from RRover 30th Jul 20090001.pdf Letter I. Chadwick Aftersales Director Hillendale Deale0001.pdf

My problem is not identical i.e. no central locking problem, but the wiper issue could be linked? I have a 2004/2005 Range Rover Vogue and my front wipers have failed in very heavy rain on the motorway four times over the last few months. Fotunately, on each occasion i have been able to make it to the hard shoulder safely. Usually, turning the engine on and off a few times gets them working again, however, on the third failure it took twenty minutes. The local dealership has replaced the wiper motor, relay, control unit and done a point to point wiring and resistance check. After the last failure they kept the vehicle for a week but were unable to replicate the fault. I have written to Range Rover twice but they just say that this is not a known fault. However, a Belgian colleague of mine has the same problem on his Vogue and sue1smith1 also listed the identical fault on FixYa.com. The fault is serious as it always happens in very heavy rain. Range Rover in the last letter said that it was difficult for fault finding if I did not bring it in with the fault on, however, I have yet to reply to them, but actually I could not clear the fault on the third failure and delivered it to the dealership with the fault on and thats when they changed the relay. I don't know if anyone else has experienced the same problem?