AndreO wrote:

. Then somewhere a clever form guy said these symptoms were mostly common to woman drivers. It originates from the hand cream before going shopping, etc. The rubber casing around the key swells and sticks in the slot. ..... It had grown by about 0.020". Yes, I had to remove the nice white decals on the face side, but the key now get pulled in smoothly in and out.

Just to be clear we are talking about the key fob growing after being handled by your wife right?  3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

Jip. I could not work out why the spare key worked every time, but the normal everyday key started playing up. It drove me crazy. Until I found out the spare key had play in the slot, and the everyday key had no play, although it did not have any resistance.. That is just enough for the mechanism to get confused - not pulling in the key or ejecting it smoothly.
The rubber around the buttons swells with prolonged contact with any form of oil. Many people have a shower and then smear their hands with handcream or moisturizer before going shopping etc.
I measured both keys with a Vernier and found the 0.020" (only half a millimeter) thickness difference.
I very carefully sanded both the bottom hard plastic and the top with the buttons down with a smoothly worn belt sander until both keys were the same thickness and there was a slight rattle-fit in the slot. Unfortunately you lose the white paint on the buttons.
Together with that and the extra earth cable my years of starting pains is gone.

But last month my diff pinion bearing ( a classic forum issue) went for a loop (127k km on the clock) and I got an exchange diff. Wow. Car is super quiet now...amazing how one gets used to a noise when it progresses minutely over time, like 20,000km...

Well I re did the earthing with a decent sized cable, cleaned all the conections, fitted new starter terminals.
Starting issue with random dash messages like HDC fault, special programmes, wipers stroking, temp guage going to full scale and other random stuff. Seems worse when cold or first start if the day
Seems to always start eventually.
Anybody got any ideas about next steps ?

Battery!
Had similar issues and didn't think it could be battery as only 2 years old with 4 year warranty. However, proved to be faulty and not holding enough charge to satisfy power hungry electrics.
New battery cured all issues. Andy
Freelander2 HSE (59 Plate, MY10 spec)

hassad, pull back the carpet in the passenger footwell beneath the glovebox, there are 3 connector blocks which can start to become disconnected, especially if a passenger hits them with their foot. Might be worth a check. 
Hung like Einstein, smart as a horse.

Thank you both it's a brand new battery . Voltage drop check shows less than 1v when cranking so all good there. I'll go check the connection blocks now.

haasad

Nothing obviously amiss with the connection blocks nor the fuses. Booking it in for a diagnostic...

Thought I'd complete this , diagnostic showed nothing. ..so back to basics. Carefully cleaned all original earth and positive main battery connections at each end. Same with the supplementary earth . Cut back and recrimped the starter solenoid positive feed. Removed the starter and went back through the fitting of the new contact kit not that it was complicated....Anyway three potential issues found and corrected. The solenoid wire was a little corroded , I now have a clean as new connection, likewise the stater main positive connection under the plastic cap wasn't the best, now cleaned up. And the contacts kit I fitted was slightly skewed meaning the plunger would have to accommodate a mismatch in heights of about 0.2 mm. Simple to correct by adjusting the bend in the new contact. I checked full contact using engineers blue.
All reassembled.. worked perfectly this morning in frosty weather which it's never done before...hopefully now fixed.

Fingers crossed but from what you’ve said I think you got it now.

Yes I hope so , dodgy handbrake is the next fix . new cables on order as the shoes are fine .

Went too early ....9 attempts to start this morning. same issues. time to have someone dig into the dreaded computer stuff....good news is it always starts eventually then is normal all day.

Hi all
I’m going to install the extra earth on my car, occasionally slow to turn when very cold and HDC message.
I see several have used the 170 amp lead over the 240 amp, any issues before I order?


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170-Amp-Car-Bat...1515635903

Thanks for any feedback. Brgds
Jim
2007 FL2 TD4

Pretty much sure the bigger one is the exact same one I got it’s a really meaty cable. The only problem I found was I had to file a bit out of the plastic battery box because the cable was so thick. It only took 5 minutes and has been fine for years. Oh yes I think I got one with a 10mm connector one end and a 12mm the other.

Every time I have had electric problems on a car the mechanic always said about a dodgy earth. We had a Citroen car which had 2 earth straps as standard, why is that not more common ? Just thinking as someone who knows nothing.🤣

Every time I have had electric problems on a car the mechanic always said about a dodgy earth. We had a Citroen car which had 2 earth straps as standard, why is that not more common ? Just thinking as someone who knows nothing.🤣