Thread: How far can a D3 go on a battery?

It will probably do what Gleno's 200 series did on one 4WD Action video and stop once the voltage is too low. They connected solar panels to the battery to get out of the bush, which worked as long as the sun was shining.

Interested to hear a properly considered answer from someone who knows!

Bob

This happened to a friend, and he go zero warning before it died - on a busy road during peak hour. No low voltage warnings, everything just cut out - he didn't know at the time it was the alternator, but he was surprised once he found out that he got no fault codes or warning before it stopped.

He has no idea how long the alternator had been dead for, so unfortunately this doesn't answer your question, but if you have a second battery, at least you could get off the road, or go a few more KM.

Thanks Babs, the UK forum did mention the alt's are prone to dying suddenly or with no warning. Maybe the new ones provide more warning as they are a different serial number, first lot were 200, then 400 and now d4...

Thanks Bob, there is probably something to be said for taking a noisy, smelly petrol generator with you on a long trip even if you do drive a diesel.

Originally Posted by bacicat

He has no idea how long the alternator had been dead for, so unfortunately this doesn't answer your question, but if you have a second battery, at least you could get off the road, or go a few more KM.

If the alternator drains the battery then it will drain a 2nd battery unless the alternator is disconnected, which is not reasonably achievable on a D3/4 because its connected to the starter cable at the starter. I will be installing a cable direct from the battery to the alternator via a 200A mega-fuse as soon as time permits.

True, I was thinking more along the lines of the alternator failing only and the battery just draining due to the cars electrical load, but now you mention it, my mates went the way you suggested, so a second battery would have been no good.

opening guess..

maybe 30 minutes with minimal electricals

There's a thread on here somewhere along the lines of a person in WA who drove for several hours each day, recharging the battery each night at motels using a cheap charger purchased for the job. Fuses for all non-critical systems were removed. I can't remember all the details but perhaps 2 batteries were used.

Originally Posted by Graeme

There's a thread on here somewhere along the lines of a person in WA who drove for several hours each day, recharging the battery each night at motels using a cheap charger purchased for the job. Fuses for all non-critical systems were removed. I can't remember all the details but perhaps 2 batteries were used.

Hey Graeme,
This may be me that your referring to?? There is a complete story in the "stories sticky" that gives all the details of what I did when the alternator went in the D3. I had 3 batteries fully charged, shut down all non essential electricals and was on track to cover over a thousand K's easily without an alternator. When tested before the alternator was replaced the current draw was 6 amps. I believe this was probably in some sort of electrical limp mode though. Still good thing to know.
regards
Brian