[k12]

When I push the lock button on the keyless control, the locks go down, but then, almost instantly, the driver's-side door lock pops back up, followed by the rest of them. I am now locking with the key to actually lock the doors. The only thing I did since it worked w/o issue was try the lock on the passenger side with the key. The manual mentions an inertia switch, but the vehicle was parked when it started acting up.

Any ideas?

Kieran

 

[LRWheelman]

I think that you may have a bad door light switch. That causes the system to believe that it has a door open. Good Luck! LRW

 

[k12]

Would that still allow you to lock it and arm the alarm by the key, and still allow the dome lights to go out when the doors are closed?

 

[troverman]

Welcome to the world of Land Rover door locks. My Classic would do that all the time. Manually lock / unlock the button on the door so many times eventually the locks stop responding. Give it a minute, than use the keyless.

 

[k12]

I gave it all last night, so I'll try it this afternoon.

Another possibility I thought of was, when I tried the passenger lock, something in the lock, like a sensor or something, still thinks the key is in the lock. Maybe there is an override built into the system which wont let the keyless lock the vehicle when a key is in a lock, or the system thinks there is a key in the lock? Can anyone confirm/refute this theory with a quick check for me by puting the key in a lock, and trying to use the keyless to unlock, then trying it to lock it?

Thanks for the help. I am a new Disco owner and am realizing that this vehicle has personality quirks to go along with all that character!

Kieran

 

[troverman]

What year disco? It looks like a series I car in the avatar. The system has a feature to prevent key lockout-if you open either of your front doors, push down the lock button, the doors will lock, but when you close the door they all unlock again. The only way to lock the car is with the key, keyless, or with the doors shut and the window down. If your Discovery is a Series I car, than the Range Rover Classic has the identical locking system on it. So I closed all the doors, stuck the key in the lock on the door, and locked the car with the keyless. Lights blinked, car locked, alarm armed.

Really, the way to fix this is by playing with it. Have the doors open, lock and unlock with the sill buttons and the outside key, and the transmitter. Close the doors, do the same thing. Eventually, they should start working. I usually spray lots of lube (WD-40) into the keyhole in the lock, on both sides, and turn the key back and forth for a while. It can get so bad that you will lock the car with the key and it will bounce open. I can remember times, especially in the winter, where I would be somewhere and not be able to lock the car at all because there was no way to lock and then have the locks not re-open! So the car would sit, unlocked, with the alarm on.

If I'm wrong about your model Disco, or if they went to a different lock / latch system, and its the P38 style latch, then its a whole different story and i can actually help you there, too. Are your door handles metal or plastic? The actual door latch mechanism in the door, does it appear to be all metal (kind of shiny) or black plastic? If its metal, than its the earlier system. I would especially lube and work the passenger side lock.

Good luck!

 

[k12]

Yeah, its a 98. I called the original owner and he suggested resetting the keyless trasmitter by locking with the key and then pressing the lock button on the transmitter. It didnt work. I put a bit of graphite lock lub in both driver's and pass. side, and goofed around with the locks, no luck.

Then I called the dealer's service shop. They wanted to look at it . . . no way!!! Finally the guy suggested it could be a driver's side actuator. I am doubtful though because there has been no intermittent history of the actuator. But anyway, I did sit in the vehicle and "help" the sill lock down when pushing the keyless lock button. Sure enough, the actuator moves down a bit, then seems to get hung up. Which then forces up the other actuators. But if I helped it go down, it would stay down and all would be normal.

Any more thoughts?

Thanks,

Kieran

 

[Carlos]

I usually spray lots of lube (WD-40) into the keyhole in the lock, on both sides, and turn the key back and forth for a while. It can get so bad that you will lock the car with the key and it will bounce open. I can remember times, especially in the winter, where I would be somewhere and not be able to lock the car at all

Try liquid lubricant instead of graphite.Graphite is the best, but on locks that are kind of hard to reach and submitted to drastic temps. it's better to drawn the thing all around all the internals and its surroundings with "WD-40".Personally I use "STP silicone-based lubricant", (available at "Pep-Boys"), it lasts longer.
Carlos

 

[LRR219]

Did You Try Locking It From The Passengers Door Only? Or The Drivers As Well?

 

[k12]

lrr219, I'm not sure what you mean. Can you explain better?

Kieran

 

[LRR219]

Its Just That When I Read Some Of The Above It Got Me Thinking, I Was Thinking That You Were Trying To Lock It From The Passengers Side Door Only, If You Try From The Passengers Side Door They All Lock But The Drivers Door, From My Experience, At Least. I M Pretty Sure To Lock All The Doors When The Key You Have To Use The Key In The Drivers Door Only!

 

[LRWheelman]

K12 - how quickly do your dome lights go out? If it is within about 30 seconds then your door switches are probably Ok. If it waits 8 minutes then you have a switch issue. The Rover will turn its dome lights off after 8 minutes to save the battery if a door is left open. Good Luck, LRW

 

[SCSL]

Gremlins

All Discos (not sure about all LRs) are built specifically to house Gremlin habitats. I think this is a British effort at conservation, given that Gremlins are a dying species & have in fact been extinct in Japan for some time (although I understand they are experiencing a resurgance of population in Germany). The species of Gremlin native to the British Isles (Gremus Electronicus) is reknown for nesting in web of wiring connecting your various electronic systems (this is a cousin of the Gremus Americanus, which houses in tail light assemblies & will cause one of the tail lights of any American car to immediately cease functioning about the time the temporary tags expire; and the Germus Petrus, common in both Britain & North America, which causes oil to leak from the undercarriage within 30 minutes of driving off the lot.)

The gestation period for Gremlin eggs is approximately six-eight months. At the time of the hatching of the eggs, the new born Gremlins branch out & explore various realms of the interior of your Disco favoring, as it seems, the door locks, where the adolescent Gremlins frequently build their own nests. It seems the nests jam up the door locks, causing at least one of them to not lock when the door-lock button is pressed. As the male Gremlin must frequently leave the nest to hunt, the phenomenon is intermittant. There are three possible fixes:
1. Take Disco to dealership. Not advisable. Many an innocent Disco owner has left the dealership with complete rear main seal replacement after bringing up a problem with, say, a door lock.
2. Do-It-Yourself. Also not advisable. The main door locking mechanism, in the spirit of British engineering, is accessible only by removing the engine, axles, drive shafts, tires, interior roof lining, and seats.
3. Purchase Bull Mastiff, keep in car (with windows cracked), when in seedy area to ensure no hoodlums take advantage of the one door that did not lock. This procedure inadvisable in summer months due to difficultly removal of passed-out Bull Mastiff, and awkwardness of mouth-to-mouth.

 

[k12]

That was a good laugh!

The dome lights go out w/in 15 seconds or so, so likely not a switch. I am leaning towards the driver's actuator. I am told theyt can be adjusted? I will ahve to look into it some weekend (assuming the neighbor's cat, which is rummored to be a fantastic hunter of mice and other small vermin, which I looked in the disco, doesnt get the gremlins under control ).

On a positive note, I fixed my front sunroof, with the help of my father in law. The sunroof would not open, but once opened manualy, would close fine with the switch. After taking the overhead console down, and unplugging all connectors, including ecu connectors, and then replugging them all in, it works fine. Wierd. I may have scared the gremlin out of the sunroff area. Not to worry, it might reappear elsewhere. ha ha.

Next on the list: gremlinious diff-lockious (never used by original owner, ergo, frozen solid), and gremlinious doorious actuarius (referenced supra), and lastly, gremlinious rustoleous (on driver's side rear door area where wheel well meets pillar).

I'll keep you all posted!

Kieran

 

[Carlos]

Defintitely I must come to this site more often if in need of a boost in my mood and/or a good laugh.
Carlos

 

[troverman]

Take the door panel on the passenger side off. Pull back the plastic, and take the lock / latch / actuator out. Take it apart, be very careful not to lose pieces, etc, and lube it. Manually work the gears, cams, etc--whatever is in there. Put it all back together, and the car will be fine. This really is not a big problem at all. There is nothing wrong electrically with your car, or even your door actuator. This is a very common Land Rover issue. I think the problem stems from the passenger side never being used much, and when it does get used, it causes problems because things no longer line up quite the same.

 

[Black Magic]

I have had the alarm go off twice (That I know of) prior to today - I have only had her one week. Once was in a thunderstorm and last night there MIGHT have been loud fireworks ... but based on todays incident I don't think that loud noise is the issue. :dunno:

Onto today's issue ...

If I lock the '94 Diso V8i with the remote, the indicators flash and horn goes on/off immediately.
If I lock it with the key, there is a delay of 15-20 seconds, the doors unlock, then lock and sound the alarm again.

Ths happens EVERY time I try to lock her up. :confused :

So ... am I looking at the lock actuators, door light switches, alarm computer, lock motors or ...? :dunno:

 

[Black Magic]

Went out this evening and palyed around a it more with it - AFTER disconnecting the horns to save the neighbors sleep (and my ears)

I was able to get it to lock by remote and it would not set the alarm off immediately about 15% of the time, the other times is was split evenly between going off imediately and waiting up to two minutes.

Locking the vehicle with my finger holding in the door switch ...

If the door switch is held closed, and then remote locked, and the switch then released - none of the doors reliably (if at all) set the alarm off.

The inside light does stay on for a lot longer than 30 second (when it does turn on) after the doors are closed.

From seeing this I would have to say the entire door switch circuit is suspect.

Where is the alarm unit?

 

[Black Magic]

Fixed!

Well - this was an "easy" one :clap: ... SO I THOUGHT - edited post.

1: Tear the panel off the drivers side door.

2: Remove the yellow zinc coated plate and lock switch/actuator

3: Decide this thing can't be torn apart, cleaned or lubed

4: Put it back on the door

5: Realise it can be moved left/right so that the plunger is further in/out

5: Install it so the plunger is as far into the actuator as possible
(Furthest away from the door hinges)

6: Lock the door with the remote while holding in the door light switch
Indicators flash 3 times (No horn going off)

7: Release the door switch - horn and indicators flash :buttrock:

8: Test numerous more times

9: Put door cover on and clean up.

10: :beer:

......................................................................................................

Now I try it after about an hour - and its back to the same :complain:

I can lock it - but the lights do not flash 3 times - and after starting the engine and running it for a little, the alarm is going off as soon as I lock the vehicle with the remote, sometimes if it does not go off it will wait some time before going off (without the vehicle being touched, or the remote)

WD40 has been squirted onto the front door lock & handle linkages, and into the actuators.

I am thinking it is door switch wiring or door switch problems? Maybe a short to ground. :dunno:

I haven't got a vehicle manual or a repair manual yet, are there wiring diagrams or the owners manual online anywhere?

 

[Black Magic]

THIS time

OK - the final fix, after drilling and tapping ALL the door switch screw holes for #8-32x 1/2" screws to ensure a better ground... and moving onto the rear door.

It turns out that the rear door switch wire was off the switch ... and I presume this was intermittantly shorting onto the body causing the alarm to think the door was left open, or had opened.

Oh - the joys of auto electrical work.