Hi everyone,
New member here, finally joining the P38 corner of the Land Rover universe. I currently own a Discovery 3 and a Range Rover P38—two machines I both love and hate for all the obvious reasons. They’re brilliant when they work, maddening when they don’t, and somehow I keep coming back for more.
The P38 in particular has that perfect mix of charm, capability, and… let’s say creative engineering choices that make it overcomplicated, temperamental, and constantly in need of attention. But when it behaves, it’s still one of the most satisfying vehicles to drive.
Looking forward to sharing experiences, learning from the veterans, and swapping stories about the joys and disasters that come with keeping these legends on the road

i bought it as a project car and will be mainly used by my son. it had many issues, mechanicals and body, which I'm sorting bit by bit.
the engine will undergo a major overhaul in weeks with timing chain, diesel pump, crankshaft seals front and back, injector cleaning and clutch.
body panels need considerable amount of works, which will do in summer. but now, what is driving me crazy since yesterday is the Front passenger door.
the car has undergone some serious bodge by the previous owner....
the entire alarm/immobilzer/door locking system it has been bodged. immobilizer removed, central locking remove, or at least put to sleep in a dodge way.
essentially, alarm led blinks, immobilizer removed, removing the relays form the main fuse box.
engine cranks turning the ignition but then with a press button.
Driver's door open and closes only mechanically with the key.
key fob is a dead bug, just a shell with a partially working board.
up to yesterday the front passenger door would latch and unlatch seamlessly, but now is permanently latched and i can' open it, nor I can open the boot and the rear door passenger side. so, i have left driver and non driver rear door.
even when working, the front passenger door CDL will not lock all the doors, so I had to go around a close manually, which didn't bother me. but now is a real mess.
I don't want to recover the CDL functionality, i just want to gain access and be able to open/close all the doors mechanically.

any idea more then welcome. I have already tested in the past the microswitches on the passenger door and all were returning the correct reading, but this was almost a year ago.

thank in advance

Welcome here. Others with more experience with the door locks will chime in, but my first thought is that your door is "super locked". I'm guessing it's your right hand door. If it's locked, your boot will not open.

The tailgate is locked when the RH front door is locked, so really you need to reinstate the central locking. I would suggest un-bodging the wiring and getting it back to how it should be. If the sill locking button doesn't cause the other doors to lock, chances are the CDL switch has died, which would also explain the locked tailgate. If the alarm light is permanently flashing, chances are it isn't turning off so the starter circuit will be disabled by the BeCM, hence the starter push button to bypass it. The immobiliser can't be removed but someone has obviously found a way around it. Not sure how the immobiliser works on the diesel (in fact, I know very little about how anything works on a diesel)

Harv wrote:

Welcome here. Others with more experience with the door locks will chime in, but my first thought is that your door is "super locked". I'm guessing it's your right hand door. If it's locked, your boot will not open.
Hello there and thank you. Yes, you are spot on, unfortunately the boot is locked too as the bloody superlock has kicked in.

Gilbertd wrote:

The tailgate is locked when the RH front door is locked, so really you need to reinstate the central locking. I would suggest un-bodging the wiring and getting it back to how it should be. If the sill locking button doesn't cause the other doors to lock, chances are the CDL switch has died, which would also explain the locked tailgate. If the alarm light is permanently flashing, chances are it isn't turning off so the starter circuit will be disabled by the BeCM, hence the starter push button to bypass it. The immobiliser can't be removed but someone has obviously found a way around it. Not sure how the immobiliser works on the diesel (in fact, I know very little about how anything works on a diesel)

Hi Gilbert, thank you very much for your answer, really appreciated.
The car is a mess to say the least and tom mu understanding, the BECM is alarmed, permanently. so the immobiliser has been bypassed removing the 3 relays on the main fuse box.
the fob is broken, and therefore even if I attempt to reinstate the relays I highly doubt I get anywhere.
My only concern to procede with the Lock breakage procedure is that i might be able to get the passenger door open but the boot will still be closed as the superlock is within the BECM corrupted stautus.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but given the mess the BECM is in, a Nanocom might be the best bet to unlock the door and consequently the boot, but I might have too much confidence in the Nanocom, not doubting the Nanocom capabilities but the mess the car is in.

The BeCM isn't involved in the tailgate locking. Power goes to one side of the tailgate latch, the other side goes to the pushbutton and the pushbutton is connected to the RH front door latch and gets a ground via the central locking microswitch. So if the door is locked, there is no ground there so no complete circuit to open the tailgate, when unlocked a ground is present on the Green/Red wire from the latch and the circuit is complete so pressing the pushbutton opens that tailgate. You can get at the Green/Red wire at a connector inside the boot behind the side panel where the coloured wires all change to white before going into the tailgate.

Gilbertd wrote:

The BeCM isn't involved in the tailgate locking. Power goes to one side of the tailgate latch, the other side goes to the pushbutton and the pushbutton is connected to the RH front door latch and gets a ground via the central locking microswitch. So if the door is locked, there is no ground there so no complete circuit to open the tailgate, when unlocked a ground is present on the Green/Red wire from the latch and the circuit is complete so pressing the pushbutton opens that tailgate. You can get at the Green/Red wire at a connector inside the boot behind the side panel where the coloured wires all change to white before going into the tailgate.

Gotcha, thank you very much for the clear explanation.
so if I brake the RH latch and remove the spring that responds to the superlock motors, i can then open the door and the boot via the sill actuator.
I could live with the car not locking at the moment, as long all the doors can be opened.

anyone on here that lives in the north of Italy and has a Nanocom to try and solve the mess I Have? happy to pay

If you can get the door open without breaking the latch, cut the Orange/Pink wire (or the one on the latch that connects to the Orange/Pink) as that is the one that feeds the superlock motor. The spring doesn't hold the superlock on, it holds the latch so the door is able to be closed. Breaking the latch makes it no longer possible to latch the door shut, so you will need a new latch anyway.

Gilbertd wrote:

If you can get the door open without breaking the latch, cut the Orange/Pink wire (or the one on the latch that connects to the Orange/Pink) as that is the one that feeds the superlock motor. The spring doesn't hold the superlock on, it holds the latch so the door is able to be closed. Breaking the latch makes it no longer possible to latch the door shut, so you will need a new latch anyway.

ouch, ok, thank you very much again for the extensive explanation.

boot is now functional, won't lock but opens.
next, trying to get enough access to the door to cut the superlock wire.
the only way is trying to remove the passenger sit from the cabin and open enough the door panel. I see pretty complicated, but....i think is the last option before braking the lock.

question, can the nanocom, send a signal via the BECM to the superlock to disengage?

Yes Nanocom has an option in the BECM Outputs menu to unlock each door. If the motors are both working, it should disengage superlock & unlock the door at the same time, i.e. same as the FOB does when you unlock.

Pete12345 wrote:

Yes Nanocom has an option in the BECM Outputs menu to unlock each door. If the motors are both working, it should disengage superlock & unlock the door at the same time, i.e. same as the FOB does when you unlock.

great Pete, thank you for confirming that.

Il.mazzu wrote:

Gilbertd wrote:

If you can get the door open without breaking the latch, cut the Orange/Pink wire (or the one on the latch that connects to the Orange/Pink) as that is the one that feeds the superlock motor. The spring doesn't hold the superlock on, it holds the latch so the door is able to be closed. Breaking the latch makes it no longer possible to latch the door shut, so you will need a new latch anyway.

ouch, ok, thank you very much again for the extensive explanation.

I managed to remove the seat and move the door panel away enough to operate. i found the Orange/Pink cable, chopped it but nothing has chnaged,

to try the 9v or 12v trick, I connect the Orange/Pink and Black GND?

Il.mazzu wrote:

to try the 9v or 12v trick, I connect the Orange/Pink and Black GND?

No, the superlock motor is between the Orange/Pink and Pink/Black wires. Power one way round powers it on, the other way round powers it off. Be aware that the Pink/Black is also used by the central locking motor, cutting the Orange/Black just means that superlock cannot be engaged, but the Pink/Black needs to remain connected.

One other thing to check is that you don't have the same problem as Fingers had. Make sure the C shaped plastic bit connected to the interior door handle hasn't stuck and can still move. If the interior handle has gone limp as if it isn't attached to anything, that will jam the latch on.

Gilbertd wrote:

Il.mazzu wrote:

to try the 9v or 12v trick, I connect the Orange/Pink and Black GND?

No, the superlock motor is between the Orange/Pink and Pink/Black wires. Power one way round powers it on, the other way round powers it off. Be aware that the Pink/Black is also used by the central locking motor, cutting the Orange/Black just means that superlock cannot be engaged, but the Pink/Black needs to remain connected.

right, I figured it out from RAVE and connect C1422 that i needed OB and KB.

just tested with 9V and 12V. motor is responsive, it spins and clicks, both ways, but the bad news is that neither result in the door opening.

the internal handle is not floating or limp. pulls the ajar all the way as the outer handle. The sill button does move up and down, but the door is still lock.

I wonder if has broken mechanically inside, although I doubt it.

any more options, before i break the ajar?

right. Hell yeah.
after endless attempts with the superlock motor, in desperation, I tried the lock motor and boom, door open!
what puzzles me is that the sill button should override the lock, but didn't.
so, now i have the door mechanically working but since the CDL and alarm is still alarmed on the BECM, the locking is not reliable.
in fact, I do still have the near side passenger door locked, but i can live with that for the time being

Il.mazzu wrote:

right. Hell yeah.
after endless attempts with the superlock motor, in desperation, I tried the lock motor and boom, door open!
what puzzles me is that the sill button should override the lock, but didn't.
so, now i have the door mechanically working but since the CDL and alarm is still alarmed on the BECM, the locking is not reliable.
in fact, I do still have the near side passenger door locked, but i can live with that for the time being

Yes the latch needs both superlock and the lock motor to run to open the door from that mode. Now you have the door open insulate the superlock wire so it cannot engage, and do not superlock the car . . ever.

Next step is to get the CDL working correctly on both front doors, plus the keyswitch on the drivers door.

Once that's done, then you should be able to correctly unlock using the key & if required enter the EKA using the key or Nanocom.

Pete12345 wrote:

Il.mazzu wrote:

right. Hell yeah.
after endless attempts with the superlock motor, in desperation, I tried the lock motor and boom, door open!
what puzzles me is that the sill button should override the lock, but didn't.
so, now i have the door mechanically working but since the CDL and alarm is still alarmed on the BECM, the locking is not reliable.
in fact, I do still have the near side passenger door locked, but i can live with that for the time being

Yes the latch needs both superlock and the lock motor to run to open the door from that mode. Now you have the door open insulate the superlock wire so it cannot engage, and do not superlock the car . . ever.

Next step is to get the CDL working correctly on both front doors, plus the keyswitch on the drivers door.

Once that's done, then you should be able to correctly unlock using the key & if required enter the EKA using the key or Nanocom.

managed to unlock the left passenger door too from the BEDM plug C1291 with the pink and orange cables.
Microswitches do respond to the 12v signal, so, i think the last couple of thing I need to confirm are microswitch health on the driver's door and get the alarm status sorted with nanocom.
i can't rely on microswitches behaviour at the moment as the car is permanently in alarmed staus (dash led slow blinking at the time, even when driving).

I will isolate the Superlock wire and i can't actually willingly superlock as the fob is broken and the key switch lives is own live. more to come. but for the time being Massive Kudos to you all!

without your prompt support I will be scratching my head