ripface Posted April 3, 2007 Share Posted April 3, 2007 Hi All, My first post on LR4x4. Cool! My 1998 V8ES Disco has been giving me gyp!! Every so often the ol' bisum won't start. Cranks OK, but no wanna go!! Went to our local Indi for some advice, and it appears it's a common fault particularly with V8's. The Alarm Control Unit (Spider) is known for failing due to excessive heat stuck down between the heater unit and the radio. Common fix is to tear the guts out of the dashboard, rescue the spider from it's lair, and resolder any dry joints. Hmmm, sounds like tooooo much grief. I ran a feed (with in-line fuse) from the ignition lead to the coil, and hey presto the old dear is resurrected. Am I missing anything? Is this likely to cause any unwanted side effects? Cheers, Ripface. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BogMonster Posted April 3, 2007 Share Posted April 3, 2007 Welcome Check out The Definitive Alarm Spider Post in our Tech Archive For some time when I was chasing the fault (in the old days before everybody knew about it) I used a jump lead from the battery positive to the coil as a get me home repair. I had no problems and all I found was that it wouldn't go off when you switched the ignition off, it would run on for a few seconds till the fuel pressure died away, the ECU was getting power back through the circuit in the wrong direction I think. But if you have an ignition switched feed I guess it will be fine, as long as the ignition switch can take it but I expect it can. Personally I would fix it properly as per the instructions in the above linked post, it isn't a lot of hassle really, just a bit fiddly, all you basically need is a handful of screwdrivers and a steady hand on a soldering iron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars L Posted April 3, 2007 Share Posted April 3, 2007 Makes me wonder... You say that it cranks OK but doesn't start. My Disco V8 -97 didn't crank when the spider fouled up. I took it off and replaced it with Land Rover part No AMR4956. Which is a plug with some cables to get it sorted once and for all. A stop gap fix on mine was to leave ignition on for a few minutes and it started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BogMonster Posted April 3, 2007 Share Posted April 3, 2007 Spider controls crank and fuel/ign so it depends which circuit goes pop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars L Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 Makes a lot of sense that, Sir! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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