We have SDD 142.02 working on a dedicated Windows XP laptop, (and old laptop we saved for this reason). It has no active network and is set up to work offline. We have a genuine Mongoose cable from Drew Technologies bought second hand from eBay after getting the car.

The latest on the immobiliser is that I press once or twice on the key fob and the alarm indication light on the dash flashes every few seconds. I unlock and it flashes quickly then I put the key fob in the slot and it goes out for a while, as does the battery warning light. It goes through the check and then the battery warning light comes on again as does the slow flashing red immobiliser light

Ex

That's reminded me. A few years ago one of our earlier FL2s had a problem with the bonnet lid and if you opened the bonnet it flagged up a warning and wouldn't start unless you slammed the lid down a few times. My son's boss at the time had the same problem and had the sensor/switch changed. You could always short out the terminals on the switch if you know where it is. 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

Emma Scully wrote:

We have SDD 142.02 working on a dedicated Windows XP laptop, (and old laptop we saved for this reason). It has no active network and is set up to work offline. We have a genuine Mongoose cable from Drew Technologies bought second hand from eBay after getting the car.

The latest on the immobiliser is that I press once or twice on the key fob and the alarm indication light on the dash flashes every few seconds. I unlock and it flashes quickly then I put the key fob in the slot and it goes out for a while, as does the battery warning light. It goes through the check and then the battery warning light comes on again as does the slow flashing red immobiliser light

Ex

Or.... Maybe not something simple.

Fired up the SDD this afternoon Go on admit it you're getting impressed now!!

I'm not sure if I did it right but there's a lot more question marks and x's than I've seen before...

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It still looks like a comms issue to me.

The only problem that you are likely to encounter with the version of SDD that you are running (142.02) will be that you cannot reconfigure ECU's offline - I beleive that that particular characteristic stopped >136.0

Have a chat with members Vanny and/or Stuartc down in Oz.....what they don't know about network comms between them frankly isn't worth knowing at all.

You would have to clear all the old fault codes and then go through the start sequence again to see what new ones if any show up. A car can log a lot of fault codes during normal use that don`t actually mean a lot. You have to start with a clean sheet and go from there. Good luck!

Thanks guys, I'll follow your advice. Unfortunately though I have run out of time and have to return back to Blighty tomorrow in the baby merc… (sad)
When I get back into Southampton I'll make some more contact.

Thank you to all you lovely people Exx

Hello all you lovely people!

I thought that I would help take your minds of Brexit… But first, a tale of woe… Yesterday I travelled back to France, the first thing that Operation Stack was implemented but to be fair a big reason was storm angrypants blowing a hooley in the channel and stopping the ferries. However, winds don’t affect the Eurotunnel so that wasn’t the reason for miles of freight trucks waiting along said M20 to get into the terminal… Worse was to come though. Once through the Tunnel Sous Manche I found Calais to be utterly gridlocked. Miles and miles of double-parked trucks along the motorways and all the entrances cordoned off. I travelled past junction after junction to try and get on the A16 towards Boulogne. I... 'thought' that there was a gap in the cones on one of the slipways... So says Emma.. . Go for it... Got jobbed by Monsieur Police Man, not impressed by missus Anglais driving French car... Words like Interdict, pas d'entrée, peut-être même criminel et guillotine peut-être été mentionné.... Either way he was not a happy bunny... He photographed all my documents and vehicle details and I think that the fine could be sept cent euros.... Joy... Left at ten in the morning arrived at three the following morning.... Trust me, the iron curtain is ready and waiting. Humph! Seven hundred wotsits is a lot to pay for trying to avoid a traffic jam…

So, the latest on FreeDeux… I purchased a new set of JLR SDD (155/156) a full version with access to the JLR website and I downloaded more than 60GB of data. Not cracked but with a code. It took nearly four days to download all the files and updates which is current to February of this year.

Unfortunately, I can’t seem to get rid of the faults/dtc’s etc. I have no doubt that it is my ineptitude.
The laptop works fine and, the software boots up, the machine is plugged in.
The car battery is good, 13.8v and is also being charged with an intelligent battery maintainer.
The Mongoose Pro is doing its job and reads the VIN etc
I know this is going to sound mental but where do I go from there. I’m faced with lots of errors but also the image of most of the modules show as being inoperative. In truth I don’t know where to begin… The car still switches on and off but won’t crank, no clicks or rattles, nothing.

I would be so grateful for any advice.

Emma xx

Confused by your post...what does SDD recommend potential faults are having interrogated the various ECU's once initialised? It must be telling you that something is sending an inaccurate signal or that there is a voltage/signal variation between X and Y?

The whole point of SDD is so that it tells you what the potential issues are based on analysed data.....what is it coming up with? Are you connecting via a genuine VCI unit?

Hello Southam, sorry for confusing you but I’m grateful for your reply.

It’s my ineptitude that is likely the biggest problem…

We do have a genuine J2354 Mongoose cable from Drew Technologies. It connects and reads the vin and seems to work without problems. The battery is connected to a maintainer and it is around 13.6 v when working, the battery icon on SDD is green.

This will sound so silly but how do I get the SDD to make a recommendation? I just seem to be going around in circles…

Emma x

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its not something as simple as having unbolted an engine earth strap and left it hanging ? Jaguar x-type sport gone
Jaguar x-type 2.2d sport one of my best cars ever sadly gone
Freelander 2 GS auto 2008 most unreliable ever ! gladly gone
Freelander 2 GS manual 2013 only time will tell !

Hi Oldgeezer, thank you, a loose earth strap would make sense and the sort of thing I could have easily missed. I have disconnected the air filter and pipe down to the throttle body to go back through the connections to the engine and inlet manifold. Unfortunately, I can’t see anything amiss, either here at the front of the engine or at the side/underneath.
Over the weekend, we have cobbled together a 50-metre network cable and have been able to connect the SDD 155/6 to the internet. This has meant that many of the faults have been cleared.
A lovely chap from, ‘Up North’ has given me some direction too.
I’m told that with JLR automatics that if two brake lights are u/s it can stop the car from starting. There were two faults here although only one was actually found and resolved, (blown bulb in upper brake light). As we were connected, he was able to reset and re-programme, the crash and passive theft modes along with programming both keys. Quite a fascinating process, he in England working the SDD through Team Viewer and me in France following the process on the laptop, switching the ignition off and on!

Sadly, FreeDeux still refused to start…

Since then I have, as you suggest Oldgeezer, gone through connections again.
Learned how to test a relay and confirm that Relay R1 (item 46 starter motor) is working.
Confirmed power to starter motor and now removed said beast and bench tested it. Taa Dah!
G-clamp to hold starter motor to bench, Leisure battery, (12.6V), negative to starter motor case, positive to main pole and another positive lead to other pole on solenoid…. Nothing…

Despite the starter motor never giving a single glitch or hesitation at any time, it seems that it has now gone crumbly… Several You tube how to later I can confirm that it does seem to point to the starter not the solenoid. Frankly it doesn’t make any difference so have ordered a new one, 6G9N-11000-LD-DZL7D, from eBay, to be delivered to a friend in UK who will forward to me.

I confess that I still struggle with the notion that so many things could change/stop working over this process but accept that these things do happen. It isn’t the car’s fault; the bottom hose failure was because the car had been used in a very hot country and looking at the sand in every orifice…. (the car’s dear, the car’s!), it should have been changed earlier as it had gone quite soft, (still sounds rude in some way!). It’s why I decided to embark on wholesale replacement. I should have stopped immediately rather than continue to a garage. So ultimately the responsibility is mine. I just need to get everything sorted, return to UK, get MOT and tax and get back to loving my FreeDeux…

Hopefully, the starter motor replacement will be the final thing??

Thanks again guys, I will let you know what happens next.

Emma x

Good morning everyone,

Auntie Emma’s list of woe may have an end in sight…

The, ‘New’ starter motor arrived by courier today. It was neither new or in working order. However, it had happened the item had been fitted to a vehicle and the copper wire strap taking current from the switched solenoid pole to the starter motor itself was detached. Having paid for the item and nearly £40 in delivery I was a bit deflated…

The seller was sympathetic but that wasn’t going to help me get FreeDeux back across, (or under) the water this weekend… I brazed the connector back on, (even I was impressed with that!) I also had to make an adjustment to the dowel. The starter motor was fitted and voila, the engine burst into life.
Unfortunately, it is in Low Power Mode and seems as if some cylinders aren’t firing. It also won’t tick over. The car hasn’t been started for over six months, the high-pressure fuel rail and injectors have been stripped and cleaned (I don’t want to say serviced because there may be something that I didn’t do?) Maybe a low-pressure fuel issue? The instrument cluster seemed to have a hissy fit at one point best described as constant cycling through the icons.
Will connect SDD and see what comes up.

Emma x 2009 Jaguar XF 3.0
2011 Jaguar XF 3.0
2007 LR2 i6 3.2 HSE
1980 Moto Guzzi 850 T3 California

Very impressive. Don't take this the wrong way but if you and Alex Pescaru ever got together your children would be awesome FL2 mechanics.  3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

Why thank you DF! If only though I was any good...

The rough running is because number 6 cylinder isn’t firing.

Took out plugs and No6 is wet. Changed the ignition coil, (I had a new spare) – no real difference.
Compression test confirms no compression, the other five between 150/155.
I confess to being a bit down about this and I’m running out of steam.
The head was skimmed, the valves cut and new stems seals fitted.
Head refitted, new bolts and torqued accurately, all new gaskets and all required special tools used, even the one for the two-piece a/c pump carrier.
All six cylinders were sweet before I started and the engine ran smoothly it was just that I noticed bubbles in the coolant reservoir and it would start to overheat after about 20 minutes.
I’m told by the people at OCS in Winchester that they reset the tappets and I gave them the spec for this, copied from the Land Rover workshop manual.
I can’t believe that a piston, cylinder or rings have gone crumbly it wouldn’t make sense, the engine ran smoothly, I stopped it and then stripped the head.
Loads of Redline assembly lube on the rebuild.
I can only think that a valve is staying open but if it had dropped, I would already know about this from the bang, crunch and silence following a hit with the piston crown, (I think).

I have just SORN’s the car as I won’t make it back before the tax runs out…

Very sad…
Auntie disheartened in France… 2009 Jaguar XF 3.0
2011 Jaguar XF 3.0
2007 LR2 i6 3.2 HSE
1980 Moto Guzzi 850 T3 California