Could someone help. We are in the USA and my wife tried to start our 2009 LR2/Freelander 2 this morning and it failed to start. It sounds like the starter motor was failing however I am far from an expert. The engine itself didn't turn over. The dashboard then lit up with various errors included transmission fault, HDC error etc.

I've linked to a video that tries to show what happens. The starter motor sounds more like a machine gun firing...

http://vimeo.com/119190848

Two questions to the forum:
a) can anyone shed any light on what the issue may be?
b) I can't get the automatic transmission out of park to push the car back out of the garage. How do I do this?

thanks

Alex

For the second part I believe if you remove the shift surround there is a lever you pull to free the gear shift.

The first thing I would try is a hard reset, disconnect the battery leads and hold together for a few minutes, reconnect and try again.

As for the second bit, as mentioned after trim removal there is a yellow lever forward of the gearstick to pull.

Make sure the battery is fully charged too - there have been cases where the car hasn't shut down properly and run the battery down overnight. HDC errors, transmission faults, etc, often appear when the battery voltage drops too low.

sounds like the battery has given up the ghost to me.

is it the original ?

Iain

If it was a RangeRover I would say battery so try that first.

Another one for checking the battery.

thanks. Charging the battery and will try again this evening. Battery is only 10 months old.

Alex

I encountered the same problem yesterday after trying to leave work. I sat in my car for about 20 minutes while it did the same thing as in the video and it eventually started cranking. A few tries later it started, but had a very rough idle and a CEL. Took it home and let it sit for a few hours in the garage, but it was doing the same thing as before but wouldn't even begin to crank so I removed the battery. Today, I took it to Pep Boys to check out the battery and it tested fine. Re-installed it and everything seems to work fine.

If anyone has any diagnostic or troubleshooting information, please share. I would leave the battery disconnected overnight to see if it helps, but there has to be an actual cause.

New batterys can break ,I had 3 Bosch batterys on my Mazda RX8 in 12 months.
take it out and get it tested by a local mechanic.
Over here in the UK most companys check them for free. I6 WITH GAS CONVERSION
HST BODY KIT
OSRAM LED DRIVING FOGS
CARS LOOKING GOOOOD!

I charged the battery and reconnected and so far all seems ok based on 1 day. I'm not sure if it is just my imagination but the starter motor seems to turn over more times until the engine fires. Anyway, will update if any further details become relevant.

Alex