p38 direction indicators stuck on

[jordo]

Hi

Has anyone had their direction indicators stuck on even though the ignition is of. Mine came on yesterday for no reason the car had been stood for 2 days. It is the n/s all three of them are on but not flashing. If i disconnect the battery and leave it off for several minutes the light stays out when reconnected for several minutes but then comes on again. There is no warning light on the dash and no messages.

Am i right in believing that the becm controls the indicators and the hazard lights and that there are no flasher units. I can't find a fuse either.

This car has brought me to my knees with faults that should be simple to fix but are controlled by the becm and inacessible. This may well be it's last fault in my ownership. i have had all sorts of landrovers over the last 12 years but this one may have broke me.

thanks for any help.

[steve_d]

I don't know the P38 so this is a generalization.

If the vehicle is not used much I would start by exercising all the switches you think may be involved. Damp and corrosion can start when they are left standing for a while so waggling the indicator stork and pumping the hazard switch a dozen times or more may restore normality.

Steve

[jordo]

I don't know the P38 so this is a generalization.

If the vehicle is not used much I would start by exercising all the switches you think may be involved. Damp and corrosion can start when they are left standing for a while so waggling the indicator stork and pumping the hazard switch a dozen times or more may restore normality.

Steve

thanks tried this. going to investigte further this morning

[jules]

Hate to say it

I would plug the car in it sounds like a ECU fault on the beloved p38

[q-rover]

Instead of fumbling in the dark, do you have RAVE? If not google 'rave+greenoval'.

In there is an electrical troubleshooting manual.

Even though I don't know electronics, it helped me a lot when fixing the doorlock.

No point just guessing.

[David Sparkes]

Jordo, I think you are correct, it's the BECM.

The advice to get RAVE is good, in that you get an idea how the circuit should work, but frankly I think you have just been pushed in the deep end, and as you say, you already feel the water is above head height, and the bottom is muddy.

There is an interesting write up on this page, see BECM Repair and What it Lead To (sic).

The snag nowadays is that the MOSFETs are not easy to get hold of. It is old technology after all.

http://www.landywiki.co.uk/index.php?title=BeCM

I saw a couple of BECMs for sale on Ebay, but be aware there is a reprogramming charge somewhere along the line to make your keys match the 'new' BECM. The safe advice is to find someone who is comfortable with commissioning a 'new' BECM for you before splashing out £125.00 or whatever.

I see there are both suppliers and repairers on ebay - I don't know any of them.

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trk...-All-Categories

Good Luck.

[TheRecklessEngineer]

Since when did MOSFETs go out of fashion?

If you can't get hold of the same part, you should be able to get one with very similar if not identical characteristics.

[David Sparkes]

James,

Whoever said MOSFETs had gone out of fashion? I referred to THE MOSFETs. The ones designed with matching electronic components into a circuit developed before 1994; I suggest that in Electronics that's a long time ago.

"If you can't get hold of the same part, you should be able to get one with very similar if not identical characteristics. "

Go on then.

As an alternative to following your own research path, you might like to start by looking at the link I gave to Andy Cunningham's Landywiki site. There you will see numbers of the original and A superseding version.

Following the links to the Philips Data sheets might prove interesting to you.

Then perhaps try searching on the 4.0 / 4.6 Forum on RangeRovers.net; MOSFET is probably a good search term, but I haven't had to search before, as I watched the conversations unfold the first time around. Look at the dates of the posts. People on there were not finding it easy.

There will be people in that Forum very pleased to be told of a source of spare parts they can tap into, suitable for solving the type of problem Jordo outlines.

I shan't be holding my breath :-))

[TheRecklessEngineer]

David,

Many apologies - I was just posting from my electronics experience without knowing anything about the problem.

Having skimmed the material now, I can see the issue.

[jordo]

Thanks for the advice

I have looked a little deeper today. I found the relevent plug on the becm, disconnecting it turned the lights off. There was a degrading sweet on top of the unit which had leaked sticky stuff onto the plug. i cleaned it off but still have a light coming on. After discinnecting the battery and leaving it off approx 1 hour there is only the n/s rear light that comes on now. This only happens after about 1 hour before the light comes on and stays on the indicators work fine.

Has any one attempted converting the lights to a conventional flasher unit?

Thanks Neil

[MrDiagnostic]

It does sound like the becm unit,i have just changed 2 becm units on Range Rover P38,s ..The first job is check your fusebox for burning or shorting out.

If you buy a used becm off ebay it will be locked so its has to be unlocked using special equipment.

You then need all the info reading off your becm and transferring to new becm,if you don,t know your fob code your becm will have to be unlocked as well.

[jordo]

It does sound like the becm unit,i have just changed 2 becm units on Range Rover P38,s ..The first job is check your fusebox for burning or shorting out.

If you buy a used becm off ebay it will be locked so its has to be unlocked using special equipment.

You then need all the info reading off your becm and transferring to new becm,if you don,t know your fob code your becm will have to be unlocked as well.

Hi

Thanks for the confirmation. The lights come on as soon as the battery is connected now. I have found a company in brighton that can unlock the units. Can you buy any becm or are they model specific. I don't use the key fob to lock the car as i have disconnected the rf reciever due to flat battery problems. So do they still need unlocking when just using the key. Were are you based i live near hull so there may be another to change if you are interested?

Cheers Neil