Help! Check Engine Light Comes On & Engine Always Loses Power After Hitting Pot Hole!
Every time I hit a bad pothole the 'CHECK ENGINE' light comes on and the engine suffers a total loss of power; pressing on the accelerator does absolutely NOTHING! The vehicle coasts to a complete stop and begins 'shuddering'. I drove 150 miles to the nearest authorized Land Rover dealer/garage and after running a diagnostics test on it they told me that they couldn't find anything wrong...They charged me a hundred bucks for that and on the way home I hit a pothole, the 'Check Engine' light came on, the vehicle coasted to a complete stop and began 'shuddering'...
Can ANYONE out there help me? Has anyone else experienced this dangerous problem or does anyone else have any knowledge about this? I live in the jungles of Costa Rica and this vehicle is my life line. Any information will be greatly appreciated!
My first guess is that you've got a loose wire or connector in the harness somewhere and the shock is casing something to get a bad signal.
Did the ECU not store any codes? Was the light still on when they tested it?
The easiest way to convince the dealer that there is a problem is to take them for a drive over the worst, most potholed stretch of highway you can find and deliberately set out to provoke the fault.
However the cost of having them check every connection in the harness is probably going to be significant, so it might pay to see if you can see anything awry in the engine bay first.
First do a visual check, looking for loose/corroded grounds, bare wires, mis-mated or loose connectors or possibly chafed wiring. Look at every connection than if you don't see anything obvious, *gently* pull and wiggle connectors to see if you can feel anything thats not seated right.
I don't promise that will solve the problem as there could be other reasons (bad solder joints on PCBs will really take some finding)
Thanks Mad Dan!
The Check Engine light was not on when they tested it. Whenever the problem happens I turn the key to the off position and then back on again and the warning light clears and everything is normal again, at least until I hit another bad pothole!
How would one determine if the Electronic Control Unit stored any codes? Do I need special equipment for that? If so, is it affordable?
I will make a full visual inspection of the Engine Bay first thing tomorrow morning. I assume when you say harness, you are refering to the Engine Control Module (ECM) ?
Check the ground bus bar at the opposite end of your negative battery cable... It's connected via a nut that may be loose and when you hit a pothole, you have no ground, thus the circuits are floating and the electrons have no path to move towards....
I just thought I should follow up...
Problem was fixed by installing a new Crankshaft Position/ Speed Sensor (Autologic scan identified problem); November 08) and haven't had a problem with it since...
Thanks for the follow up! Love that Autologic Scan ~ (wants to own one).
Like I tell my girl-friends "WATCH OUT FOR THE POT-HOLES!" it's a four wheel drive, not a tractor.
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