On my way back from the Loire valley yesterday we called in and gave a forum members car the once over just outside of Paris. The car, belonging to mymysteri has been the source of much grief to the owner and that, combined with being ripped off by a couple of French Range Rover 'specialists' meant she (yes the owner is a she, something I didn't know until I met her!) was on the verge of getting rid of the car. It's got the odd little niggle but they are causing all sorts of problems. The key switch in the drivers door (LHD car so LH door) doesn't work so the fob won't sync and the EKA can't be entered (Nano to the rescue here), the central locking isn't working (presumably due to the lack of sync) the front passenger (RH) door is superlocked which means the tailgate can't be opened (but hopefully that will sort itself out when the door latch is replaced and it can be synced) and the EAS pump is very tired so takes ages to build enough pressure to get the car to rise from it's bumpstops.

However, the things that I noticed first upon opening the bonnet was a) there's an awful lot of spare room under the bonnet of a LHD diesel and b) there were no pipes attached to the heater matrix. As she'd already been charged an arm and a leg by the aforementioned 'specialist' to sort out the non-functioning heater, she was not best impressed. It looked so neat I couldn't immediately see how it was supposed to be connected. Referring to the picture below, there was a metal pipe coming upwards from behind the engine (presumably the one marked as 1) with a curved hose that connected to what I now know is the heater return (marked as 2) so assume that a join has been put in the return hose. If there any chance someone with a diesel can get a photo of the heater pipe arrangement so I can be sure how it should be connected?

I strongly suspect that in addition to the above faults it will also need heater O rings as that is likely to be the only reason why it was disconnected in the first place. It's looking like I will be nipping over there for a couple of days in the next few weeks to get it all sorted and working as it should. The BeCM has already been to Marty to be reset (although it did seem to have a mind of it's own and thought it had a manual GEMS rather than an automatic diesel) but I suspect the vast majority of the problems were down to the door latch rather than anything more serious.

I can't help as I've never looked, but that does look a lot tidier and simpler than the V8 cooling system!

Will pop down to neighbour and email you them, I still haven't sussed how to post here yet,,

Sent pics

No immediate rush Chris, I won't be going over there to sort it for probably 3 or 4 weeks. I'll make sure I've got everything I'm going to need to get it sussed so i can take everything I need and get the lot done. One that I didn't mention is that it isn't possible to set the drivers window as the teeth on the end of the regulator have worn and it jumps the teeth when it gets to the top.

Yes, it does look remarkably simple, I was pretty gobsmacked at how little there appeared to be under the bonnet (although that was partly because of the bits that had been taken off, not put back on and left in the car).

Pretty sure the heater matrix connections on a Diesel are the same as a Petrol, for the pipes that go through the firewall - IE the one closest to the centre of the vehicle (RH as you're looking at it) is the flow, the LH one is the return.

Flow should come off the pipe on the back of the engine, to the matrix, (1 in your diagram) and the return to the other pipe (2 in your diagram)

Did you check the BECM settings before entering the EKA with the Nano? If so, then it could be showing the GEMS/Manual part because it was in EKA lockout.

Superlocking on the RHF door - strange - it should have unlocked with the other doors when the EKA was entered. If it doesn't come unlocked when the latch is replaced, then you could possibly try actuating it manually from the Nanocom (BECM -> OUTPUTS -> DOORS/LOCKING from memory).

Did you switch the passive immobiliser off in the BECM after the EKA was entered? Even with the faulty key switch, it should be able to be locked/unlocked with the key in the door (the alarm just won't set) and with the passive immobiliser off, then it should start/run again properly until the latch is replaced and the fob will sync.

I've had an email from Teri about a door latch - which I'll have a look into my pile of parts, as I am pretty sure I actually have a LHD LHF drivers one which I can assemble up. Likewise I can do a RHF one if required and you think it needs it/warrants being changed.

EAS - I've got a few recon air compressors here too if it's easier to just swap it out, or are you going to do a rebuild on the current one?

Yes, there is remarkably a lot of space on the diesel ones... I always feel like there's something missing on them (well, there is... 2 cylinders for a start!!)

I think I've now sussed how the coolant pipes should run, it's just that it looked as though it was as it should be rather than having any obvious bodges and joins in the hoses. I think what has been done is that the return hose is the type with a plastic Tee in it for the hose to the reservoir (rather than the moulded one-piece type), the hose that should go from the Tee to the heater has been taken off and the one from the pipe at the back of the engine has been turned through 180 degrees so it connects to the Tee on the return and not to the heater matrix.

When we got there the car was parked at the side of the road where it had been for a few days (sitting on it's bumpstops). Teri tried unlocking it with the key and the alarm immediately went off as she opened the door. She tried the EKA in the lock but no joy so I plugged the Nano in and went straight to the EKA entry bit. That reset the alarm and the engine could be started but didn't operate the central locking. Then I went into the settings and found that passive immobilisation was already off. It was then that I looked at the other settings and found cruise control enabled when it doesn't have cruise control, market not set (although country did say France), wrong engine and gearbox (although the engine options are Early or Late EDC but as I have no idea what is early or late, I picked late) and a couple of other anomalies. Having written those to the BeCM, we had another go at syncing the fob but still no joy, all we did was cause the alarm to go off again and have to enter the EKA again. All doors could be manually unlocked from inside and would then open with the exception of the front passenger door which seemed to completely ignore the position of the lock button. So it might just be that the button has become disconnected (although it felt like it was doing something) or it is superlocked as it wouldn't open from inside or out.

Teri said that the last time she had tried to start it, the alarm hadn't gone off, that is an intermittent thing, so I suspect it is heat related. Until I changed the microswitches in my drivers door I used to sometimes get dancing locks but only in hot weather. Yesterday it was bloody hot so I think a bit of thermal expansion is causing the key switch to not work sometimes. Nano reported it not changing state when the key was turned in the lock and I even had the door panel off to test it at the connector and it definitely isn't doing anything (although the door ajar and CDL switches tested OK). I told her to just use the key and not even attempt to use the fob for the time being.

I've got the next month off work (long story but 5 weeks holiday on full pay can't be refused) so intend going over there to sort it shortly. I'll be needing a LH front door latch, I'll take a RH one too in case it is needed (if you've got one), a drill through the striker thingy to get the door open if it can't be persuaded to unlock itself, I've got a spare EAS compressor rebuild kit but will take a spare complete compressor just in case (I'll pinch the one off my SE), a pair of heater O rings, some bits of hose to plumb the heater matrix back in and I'll also need a LH window regulator and a door striker in case I do have to drill it off. That should give me the opportunity to get everything on it sorted as long as Teri's two huge dogs don't get in my way too much.

The car is a pretty weird spec though. It's the only other one I've ever seen with the same 3 spoke, 7"x16" alloys (rather than the normal 8"x16" or 8"x18") as I have one mine which, along with no cruise control, trip meter, heated windscreen, heated seats or headlamp wash/wipe, would suggest a basic spec yet it has a leather interior and body coloured bumpers. Maybe it's just a French thing......

It sounds like even though you put the EKA in, it's still in some weird limbo mode, or someone has messed with it.

The settings sheet I sent back with the BECM were showing how it was programmed when it left here... but if the alarm isn't turning off, then it could be that it's still thinking the alarm is on.

If it still shows weird values when you go back to it, then check the software version in the BECM - if the bottom one is showing 153, with a weird build date, and VIN, then there is something really strange going on (probably the door latch not telling it that it's been unlocked with a key - it thinks it's just being unlocked from the inside).

Were the latches the 6+1 connector type, or the single grey connector? Just so I know which ones to work on. Will try and get them done soon, as I'm away on holiday myself in a couple of weeks.

For reference - BECM settings that were programmed here before it was shipped back are as below:

Why's it got UK Police set?

It wasn't when I looked at it, but as well as the ones mentioned it was saying it had a Cat Amp/Heater (so I turned that off) and it was showing a weird build date (like, well into the future). Country (not shown on your sheet above) was France but language on the message centre was English (as I could understand it was whinging about the LH Front Window not set and, until I put the EKA in, Engine Immobilised). Don't think UK police was set though or I would have noticed that. Latches, or LH front door latch anyway as that's the only door card I had off, is the 6+1 connector on flying leads type.

When are you on holiday just in case I need to call you while I'm over there with it in bits in front of me? It may be under a tankful of LPG from Calais, and with a Auchan supermarket 10 minutes away with LPG at 70.9 Euro cents a litre (compared with 93.0 on the Autoroute), but if I'm going over I'd like to know I can get everything sorted in one hit.

A lot of the later ones seemed to have UK police set - I think it changes a couple of other options around the locking (Mine has it set too, and I noticed ones I locked it on the fob with the tailgate open - and it didn't chirp the alarm at the as a mislock to say the tailgate was still open... but yet it will tell me if it is still open on the dash, and it will chirp if any of the doors are left open...

So I wonder if it was a setting that was used on the later ones for different usages in markets...

The country - that's the 'Language' setting on the sheet above.
Everything you've mentioned is pointing towards the BECM being in an alarmed state again - which if it starts and runs, could mean it's in a weird 'limbo' state... All the settings that 'appear' corrupted are actually only read that way on a Nanocom, but they aren't actually stored like that in the BECM - and attempts to write a different value (even if it says 'write sucessful') don't ACTUALLY write. definitely a strange one.

I'm away from the 29th May - 14th June, over in the USA - but if you need to call, then give me a shout as my mobile contract includes roaming over there, so I won't be charged extra for receiving calls. If I don't answer, then I'll call back when I get a chance.

If it's a 6+1 on flying leads, and there wasn't any wiring botched into the vehicle, then the other one will be the same - just crosschecked the VIN, and it's just before the changeover. I'll try and work on some latches early next week, as I'm away working later this week.