Dear all, I'm very new to RR ownership and cant seem to get my fuel burning heater working. Trouble is I don't know if "I'm doing it wrong" or there is a genuine problem. If the latter I would like to know as the warranty runs out in a few weeks!

I've tried the residual/parking heat function every morning last week by pressing the MAX AC button after stopping and I didn't feel or hear anything working and it got so cold I had to get out and go inside!

I've used my little fob to try and start the pre-heater tonight (9 degrees ambient) and can briefly hear a very faint click and whir from near the front, plus the dash buttons flash, but when I get in its just pumping COLD air (it shuts down seconds after I get in). Funnily I think this worked hen I first got the car as I got a stench of diesel when I tried the fob?!?

The residual heating function and pre-warming function were two of the things I was looking forward to the most about RR ownership. When the parking heater appeared fubared I thought I may simply have a problem with the auxilliary water pump. Now I cant get the pre heater to work I'm stumped.

Does anyone have a step by step fault elimination guide? Does any experienced owner in or around Durham have the time to imaprt some knowledge over a cuppa?

Last edited by Lester Burnham on 1st Nov 2018 10:08am. Edited 2 times in total

I have exactly the same situation, apparently caused by the battery. If I connect my battery charger then it all works as it should, you probably need a new battery even though it starts the car OK. BMW i3 Electric Car
2012 Full Fat RR 4.4 TDV8 (now gone)
2006 VW Touareg 3.0 TDi V6

Try the remote heater in the morning. When it’s cold.

You should hear a whir from the fans
Some noises from under the front passenger side wing
Then a faint clicking from the rear of the car and the fbh fuel pump.
It should then fire up and sound like a small jet engine under your wing.

Don’t try it after using the car in the am as it will just pump air warmed by the engine heat.

Not sure what the MAX AC button needs pressing for but I might just need the rtfm. There is nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer😜😜
FFRR 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography Santorini Black.
Fiat 500x 1.4 multiair Lounge 2015
2010 LR D4 Commercial 2.7 TDV6

Sorry for my typo in the initial post where I said the parking heater pumped hot air I meant COLD. Northernmonkey - the instruction book says this is activated by pressing the MAX AC button after you switch off. I have never been able to get this going?

Regarding the pre-heater I'm going to give the battery a shove with an overnight charge and see if that helps kick start it.

My fbh finally sprang to life last weekend after I replaced the car battery. Before that it had never fired up, even when the battery was plugged into a CTEK charger. It would just blow cold air for 30 minutes with no sounds of it trying to ignite. Without the charger I'd get a low battery warning after a couple of minutes and the fan would switch off. Not sure if it was the condition of the battery or disconnecting the power that made the difference. I've read on here that 3 failed attempts can cause it to disable and disconnecting the power can reset that. 2011 5.0 S/C

Interesting about the 3 failed attempts thing - I had a feeling there must be some kind of reset procedure. Is there a hard restart feature on these cars or do you just disconnect the negative terminal for a few hours?


I left a CTEK 3.8 charger on the car overnight; it was AMBER on the simple traffic light health display last night, and it's still AMBER this morning! This is unusual, usually an overnighter is enough to perk up most other cars I've had?

Having said that the pre-heater fan DID start to run strongly BUT it was still cold!

I have a CTEK 5.0 which I have found to be a bit better at reviving sluggish batteries, I'll keep it connected this weekend in between trips out.

I believe (but check for yourself) that the hard reset of all the electrical gubbins is done by disconnecting the battery leads and touching them together. I didn't need to do that to get my fbh working again.

My charger is also a CTEK 5 and it would go through all the different stages until eventually the green light would come on. Even then, the FBH fan would switch off within 2 minutes of disconnecting the charger, so the green light doesn't mean all is well with the battery. 2011 5.0 S/C

As said above no point in expecting it to work at 9c it needs to be about 4c and under to work properly...

You can reset it by pulling the fuse. 13E, apparently on the 2010 on models. 2010 4.4 TDV8 Vogue SE

Thanks. Desperately waiting for another sub zero morning to find out for sure!

Just to eliminate the battery from all other factors I've had it on a CTEK 5 charger for a few days. Eventually it got up to a green light but still only stage 7 or 8.....

Never had that before, considering the battery was slow but still starting before. The CTEK has risen batteries from the literal grave before. I'll have to take a closer look and see if there is a manufacture date on the battery, wondering now if its past the point of no return.

If it's an AGM battery, is your ctek on the right setting? 2010 4.4 TDV8 Vogue SE

The CTEK 5.0 has an AGM icon/LED and it should detect one automatically. I have not physically checked the battery label myself for this as its a bit tight in the jamb to get your head in! I thing Landrover could have made the vertical bonnet feature a bit easier to access...

Mines a ctek 3.6 and it doesn't switch automatically. I'm not entirely sure it charges an AGM properly as it never seemed to complete but my battery was quite old. 2010 4.4 TDV8 Vogue SE