QuestionJohn,
I own a 2000 Discovery Series II. To date, it only has about 51,000 miles. My problems with this vehicle in the past have been “electrical”. I’m not sure about this one though; it won’t start in the heat….sometimes.
This began last summer. The vehicle left me stranded several times and I had to have it towed to the dealership. Initially, I had someone check it. I was told that the vehicle was turning over and that it appeared that it wasn’t getting (enough) fuel. When I brought it to the dealership, the dealership told me that everything tested fine, however they eventually determined that I needed a new fuel pump. After the new fuel pump, in a time frame of a couple of weeks, the vehicle still wouldn’t start again so was towed back to the dealership. They said that they could find nothing wrong, and, you’ll love this explanation, my finger could be on the security button located on the key so when I try to start it which would make the vehicle shut down. I found this fascinating.
Through fall and winter, the vehicle had no problems starting. Well, it now July fourth. About 3 days ago it wouldn’t start immediately. And, this morning, it did not. I do want to mention that it did start about an hour later. At this point, though, I’m afraid to drive it for fear of being stranded.
The new fuel pump is not yet a year old so although my LR is officially out of warranty, I’ll likely take it there since the dealership has a year guarantee on their work. I have a reputable mechanic that I’ve found for regular maintenance; however they told me that they can’t fix everything b/c LR uses a proprietary / special computer system for diagnosis which they do not have.
Thank you for taking a moment to help me out.
Tatjana
AnswerI am not sure what to say. Problems like yours can be very difficult.
You need to find out if there are fault codes stored in your engine management computer as a result of the no-start incidents.
And you probably need to stay with the dealer on this, unless you are lucky enough to be near an independent shop that has T4/Autologic test gear and a lot of knowledge.
If there are codes they may suggest a diagnostic approach.
If there are no codes the task is harder.
You may have to drive the vehicle until it becomes sufficiently unreliable that a dealership tech can catch it in the act and test it while it's acting up.
The trouble with no-code no-start situations is that there is no evidence left behind if the vehicle starts and runs at the dealership.
The fuel pump is one good guess. Another guess would be a crank or cam sensor (one of each) I might change both because the cost of the parts is les than the cost of extensive testing and they may cure the car.
What you were told about the security button is true but I've never actually seen a truck stranded as a result of it.
