Thread: Battery failure #2 grrr

Sorry this is a bit long but I'm venting. My D4 does only short trips most days so I understand that the battery is not getting a decent charge most of the time. I also have a Traxide DT-90 setup which should also help the starter battery a bit.

I give it a charge with my Ctek charger every month or so which I'd hoped might extend its life a bit but I just had a 2 year old starter battery (original battery replaced under warranty July 2016) die on me, again.

I was down at the snowfields last week and in anticipation of this I topped off the battery a few days prior to give it the best chance of survival. Mind you, I'd had no low battery warnings at all...

So after the second (admittedly pretty cold) night I tried to start the car in the morning. No dice. Wouldn't turn over, Christmas tree of warning lights and beeps, windscreen wipers on etc. etc. hmmm My first thought was, "and what if I was in the middle of the Simpson desert rather than the middle of Thredbo" Anyway...

I had taken the Ctek with me so I thought I'd give that a try. Charged the battery for an hour or so, then it started. I didn't need the car so drove it a few kms to give it a bit of a 'tickle' and left it at that. I couldn't really leave the charger on it due to logistics...

Morning of leaving, started up and drove home - 5 hours - no problem.

Come out the next day to drive my daughter to school, back to Christmas tree and cacophony! hmm

Dressed in business gear and with no time I thought I'd try Land Rover assist, perhaps get a jump start and drive to get a new battery... They were very helpful and NRMA arrived within about 20 mins. I described the situation and he put a few batteries in parallel on jumpers and gave it a try. Wouldn't start. We tried a few different earth points (battery post of second battery which is well connected to earth stud, engine block, chassis under the front) and fiddled to make sure we were confident of good connections. Still wouldn't start - very slight turn of starter then gave up. He was pretty convinced it was something more than just the battery. Tow truck called. Chocked the wheels, had enough power to release the EPB and used the release lever under the cup holder to put in it Neutral

Tow truck also arrived within 20 minutes.



Car taken off to dealer - so far the only place it's ever been serviced - on flatbed. Had a good chat to the towie on the ride over, telling me wonderful stories of how many Range Rovers he picks up with electrical problems. Never any Toyotas... ho hum

On arrival at dealership I described the history and the suggestion was that they had had a few D4's recently where a cable to the starter (if I recall correctly what he said) had broken, fatigued, not completely but enough that it couldn't carry enough current to start... I left the car there and headed off to work in my loan Hyundai SantaFe.

They called me later to tell me that they'd managed to jump start it and tested the battery - it failed. Battery replaced on Friday @$550 plus $200 labour. They tested it over the weekend, found nothing draining it and no other issues. I picked up the car yesterday and all seems fine.

I understand these vehicles are purportedly very hard on batteries and the way I use the car doesn't help but when SWMBO asks me, "Why do you need to charge your battery like that? My (10 year old Japanese) car is used similarly to yours and doesn't need that" I start to feel defensive, all my Land Rover doubts pop up in my mind and I really don't have a sensible answer. Given these things are produced in a cold country and used in many cold locations too you'd think I could travel to the snow without sweating on a battery failure... 2 years seems a bit dismal to me

Talking to a mate of mine with a Deefer who I usually travel with I've decided that if I'm going anywhere remote with a battery older than 18months, I'll replace it as a precaution. Seems ridiculous @ >$500 a pop.

Still a bit perplexed as to why the NRMA guy and myself couldn't jump start it too. With a bit less time pressure I'm sure I could have sorted it but wondering what is considered the ideal location to connect the jumper lead to earth ?

I'm now just considering the battery a consumable with a 18-24 month life.... hmm

David

Originally Posted by NavyDiver

Jump starting my 2005 D3 after battery failed and dual battery was also kaput was fun a few years ago. It took significant revving the Landcrusiers engine attempting to jump me to give me enough power to start. Starting is possible but takes a bit more effort than many would suspect. It was my heavy leads being used not cheap ones.

Bet the truck would have started you as would the NRMA car if jumping included the boost from the alternator.

I drove once started to a battery place.

My replacement 2009D3 battery is on a close battery watch and observe at present it might be 250,000km old but I suspect it was replaced. I do not have stop/start which puts more pressure on all new cars electrical systems of course. I do wonder if the dozens of little battery boost tools some of us might carry would work on a Disco. I have on for my boat. I know it works as I have deliberately run down the battery to test it. I doubt it would work on my D3 but some people suggest they do. Driving to Perth over Xmas. I might get a cheap and free battery test before I go and also see if the jump starter kit I have for my boat starts my D3.


CJC-TD5 AKA Chris get an auto electrician to have a look at your alternator if you cannot check it yourself Link
The dealer might be avoiding it?


You might like to consider one of these as a back up. Power Supplys | Battery & Power Accessories - Autobarn

Hi.
The alternator was replaced about 3 months ago. It fixed one issue (stuffed bearing) but not the low voltage problem.
Chris.