[Barpilot2018]

Greetings from the great Oregon coast. My 2000 P38 RR won’t start. Here is what happened leading up to it.

i started it up and was going down driveway and drivers side window would not roll up ...in fact none of the window switches would work. I stopped at the shop and had my mechanic take a look and he pulled and checked a bunch of fuses and relays both under sea and under hood. Nothing worked

when I try to start I get a “Fuse 7 Fail” message and a “Fuse 17 Fail” and a “Gearbox” warning and a couple more you can see in the short YouTube video I did (link below) I checked the two suspect fuses and they were both good.

No immobilizer messages

Its been snowing out here and I would like to put the rover to work hauling me around and I am baffled.

 

[Barpilot2018]

Here is the link to the you tube video. Showing the start up warnings
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzjca0xcH04

 

[AdrianRJ]

I am no expert in these but often underlying these sorts of strange working then not working but no fault found problems is a battery issue. Given it's cold there that puts a greater load on the battery and so it fails in winter just when you need everything to work. Might I suggest you first eliminate a weak battery and in the process check the terminal posts are clean and corrosion free and given a good earth?

 

[Richard_G]

No video link but it isn't going to start if there is no power coming from F7 as that supplies ignition switched power to the engine and gearbox ECUs (which would also explain the gearbox fault message). Power to those two (and F6) comes from Maxi Fuse 4, on the brown wire from the underbonnet fusebox to the BeCM. It's switched by the internal relay 10 in the BeCM. Check the Maxi fuse, the connection on the underside of the underbonnet fusebox and the connection at the BeCM (there's 3 thick wires connected to the BeCM and the one you are interested in is the one nearest the fuse panel). If you have power going into the BeCM but not coming out, then it sounds like it could be a fault with the BeCM internal relay which would need a repair or replacement of the BeCM power board.

 

[Bolt]

In addition o checking all wiring terminations for clean and tight, the fuse panel under the hood in these trucks is automatically suspect as well.
They seem to have issues at about this age. (just put a new one in the Borrego)
When you pull the Maxi Fuse, check the base really well with a good torch. You are looking for burnt or distorted contacts.
If you are handy, you can pull the fuse box, and disassemble it to have a good look for burnt bits......
Out of curiosity, which bar do you pilot on? I will be transiting the Oregon Coast in the spring......

 

[rover4.0]

I have replaced fuse boxes in both my P38’s. The 96 has been replaced twice. Mine have all been related to the relay 7&8 for the blower motors.
They are easily found and simple to replace.

 

[ArkadyB]

I agree, my 2002 Rhino (118,000 mi) was recently acting up and giving a bunch of odd codes (gearbox failure, traction failure, climate control faults, etc.). The car typically sits 2 days a week, and when not sitting I mostly make short trips of less than 4 mi, with occasional longer trips of 100-200 mi. so it doesn't really get much chance to charge off the alternator. After trickle charging the battery for about 12 hours all's well. My battery was showing 12.2 at the terminals before charging. After charging it's been fine, but I'm now keeping it on the trickle charger a couple days a week. Not saying it's not the fusebox, etc, but checking the battery could be a real $$ saver if that's all it is. Good luck!

I know there's buku info about this, but maybe sometime I'll post my adventures (w/ pics and process descriptions) with heater core and blend motors replacement, EAS valve block rebuild, and my fun with new ignition coils and valve cover gaskets. These Bosch engines are a hoot for that job I'm a rank amateur with tools, and was able to successfully tackle these jobs, saving a pile of money.

 

[Barpilot2018]

Interesting that you should mention the blower motors because the night before I took out the drivers side blower motor and replaced it with a wonderful preowned blower motor from my parts P38 and low and behold I ended up with a couple or at least one single looking wire w no immediately visible place to hook it up .hmmm and while the new blower tested out when I applied power to it on the bench it didn’t jump to life once it was installed... coincidence?

 

[Escape]

The W wire (actually WP or WLG) to the blower is the 12V feed, coming from the auxiliary power relay. Without it, the blower wont work. And unless the loose wire has been properly insulated, it could give a short or drain. It should be in the main 4-pin connector to the blower. I'd start by fixing that before going through the rest of the electrical system. Or at least take out F34 and F43 to remove power from the blower motors.

Filip