It has finally happened!

[zulu]

it wasn't me who was talking about the ground. i was just quoting another lr owner from another lr forum that was talking about a similar situation.

i drove the car around the block while in the slump mode. i can do up to 40km/hr. no pep but no ugly noises either. no messages telling me to pull over or to stop or to bail so i'm going to drive it to the stealership 11km away. definitely my biggest issue in 3 years.

 

[zulu]

Totally a scenario that I did not think of...

RODENTS..

Apparently, a rodent was probably living in my engine compartment. Took a fancy and chewed through one of the wires that fed into the engine sensor.. so during start up, when the computer is checking the system, it was not getting all of the information from the engine so the computer shuts down the HDC, ABS, DSC, suspension and limits the gears.. there was signs that this rodent was living there. The exposed wire also grounded out by hitting one of the metal parts close to it. This completely screwed up the system. Only cost me $200 for the labour and wire harness replacement (They actually spent a few hours on the exploratory side but only charged me an hour..I can live with that!)
Anyways.. here is the pic:

 

[wcryer]

haha little bastards, glad you got it figured out. I've heard that the material coating the wires is made with something rodents/bunnies find tasty. Who knows if thats true or not.

Do you park outside or in a garage?

 

[zulu]

haha little bastards, glad you got it figured out. I've heard that the material coating the wires is made with something rodents/bunnies find tasty. Who knows if thats true or not.

Do you park outside or in a garage?

I park outside on the driveway.. which raises the question, how can I prevent this from happening again? The technician who worked on my car said it is quite common and he recommended that I put mothballs in cheesecloth and stash them in the 4 corners of the engine compartment. So I went to the dollar store, bought a mesh laundry bag and a box of a mothballs (total: $3). I cut the bag into 4 sections, filled them with mothballs and secured them around the engine area (away from moving parts and high heat areas). We'll see if this work. Who knows, my interior may begin to smell like a closet from an old age home..

 

[wcryer]

haha yea not a bad idea if it doesn't cause the cabin to smell.

As far as chasing down the short, do you know the process they followed. I just replaced my alternator and am chasing down a short/open circuit code I get on the faultmate related to the side mirror or approach lamp or something? Anyway, just looking for a good method to track down the short.

 

[zulu]

sorry. cant help you there.

 

[zulu]

sorry. i'm not sure how they found it

 

[bbyer]

No easy way.

I just replaced my alternator and am chasing down a short/open circuit code I get on the Faultmate related to the side mirror or approach lamp or something? Anyway, just looking for a good method to track down the short.

There is no good method to find a short except lots of time, effort, and patience.

If a light bulb is part of the problem circuit, remove it, and anything else such as fuses that are removable or can be disconnected. Dual filament bulbs can short across their filaments but because the filaments have resistance, fuses to not normally blow - just a power leakage.

I doubt there are any dual filament bulbs in the circuits you are searching but any bulb can be internally defective. The toughest problem I probably had a few years back was on a Chev pickup and turned out to be a working but defective single filament front signal light bulb that showed as problems with the rear dual filament bulbs. Eventually I pulled the front bulb and the rears worked again.

My complements on your alternator removal writeup - just downloaded it for my files.

 

[GeoRover]

So the moral of the story is that "it actually hasn't happened yet" or may never will unless for a good reason : rodents

Glad all worked out for you without huge bill

 

[whydahdvr]

I concur with the mothballs concept. When we close up our summer house we throw mothballs, and more effectively moth-flakes, around the house. That has gone a long way towards keeping the bastards out and keeping bugs down too.
Try the moth-flakes scattered around to help drive them away. You'll need to check it regularly as they evaporate more quickly.