FFRR - Alternator or battery failure?

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Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

for extra insurance see if you can get a loan of a decent 12v battery tank. you can then either run it in parallel through one of the aux sockets and monitor your voltage (this will buy you some time) or keep in fully charged so that if it all goes wrong you can have a couple of goes at a start and maybe 10 minutes worth of driving to get yourself out of trouble.

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I like this idea. I have a big battery and jumper leads on way.

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Originally Posted by austeve01

Hi Pete Sorry to hear of your troubles. Had a similar thing happen to my D3 just after I bought it and it was found to be not only the starting battery that had had it's day but also the aux battery. They were replaced & everything back to normal. About 6 mths later similar happenings again & this time the alternator was the culprit. Replaced and everything fine. It was then I got a DBS from Traxide and a Ctek smart charger and every week would connect it through the Anderson plug. I've also just had fitted the DT90-L322 DBS kit & am following the same protocol with the RRTDV8. Seems to be working a treat. When I check voltage in starting battery after a smart charging cycle it is never less than 12.9v. I do this more frequently when the vehicle has only done short trips. Don't know much about auto electrics but this seems to be working for me. Have a safe return. Cheers Steve

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Ta. It's booked in for repair next week.

Mine was sitting around the same voltage last week when I tested it. I think I will have to look at getting a ctek, although I have a smart charger.

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Originally Posted by drivesafe

Mate. I would not try much more than 2 hours with a fully charge GOOD battery, and with your battery, an hour would be it's limit. Be aware, if your battery gets too low, your motor will shutdown. This will leave you with no brakes and no steering. Been there, done that!!!!!! So take care.

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Thanks Tim. I'm very mindful of this. It must have been a terrible experience for your wife.

Mine gave a little bit of notice but no alternator warning light. Mine showed EAS failure first, then ABS and ( ! ) warning lights, and then transmission failure, with engine still running.

I have another battery that I hope will fit. First I will charge the current battery and test to see if it holds charge. I will stop and check the battery voltage every hour on the way back to Brisbane.

I also will have a charger to top up the battery if required.

Thanks for the replies.

keep the old battery, run a rejuvinator style charger on it after checking the fluid levels (or bulging) as appropriate. when the charger is happy its done what it can test the battery, properly full load testing and not just an electronic test if it passes and electronic test (if it fails the electronic test its rooted)

this is an important diagnostic step for your vehicle. if the battery comes back OK then you have a wiring or alternator fault... I've seen an instance where the alternator main fuse was ok when it was cold but as the temp went up and the humidity down the alternators main fuse was not connecting properly.

I can conceive of a few steps between the spinny bit of your alternator and the battery that could give you a similar symptom and confirming that the battery is actually dead and not just flat will help disperse suspicion.

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Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

keep the old battery, run a rejuvinator style charger on it after checking the fluid levels (or bulging) as appropriate. when the charger is happy its done what it can test the battery, properly full load testing and not just an electronic test if it passes and electronic test (if it fails the electronic test its rooted) this is an important diagnostic step for your vehicle. if the battery comes back OK then you have a wiring or alternator fault... I've seen an instance where the alternator main fuse was ok when it was cold but as the temp went up and the humidity down the alternators main fuse was not connecting properly. I can conceive of a few steps between the spinny bit of your alternator and the battery that could give you a similar symptom and confirming that the battery is actually dead and not just flat will help disperse suspicion.

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Ta Dave.

It's on a smart charger now. It was sitting at 11.5v before charging.

Where's the alternator fuse?

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Originally Posted by rar110

Where's the alternator fuse?

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They don't exist on a modern LR.

The charger finished its recondition process. It's now sitting at 13.3v.

I'm now doing the other battery.

Hi again rar110, roughly, where are you and when are you going to head back home?

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Originally Posted by drivesafe

Hi again rar110, roughly, where are you and when are you going to head back home?

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We are at Wooli SE Grafton, about 4 1/2 hrs from Wynnum. I'm heading back tomorrow on my own.

The RRV starts and runs ok. All warnings and messages gone.

I know where Wooli is and unfortunately, the is no electronics store nearby.

I was going to suggest you try to get one of those cigarette socket type volt meters so you could keep a constant eye on your voltage.

OK then, just make sure you battery voltage does not get below 11.8v

You will probably get fault messages once it's below 12.2v just ignore them.

Your system should not fail even if the voltage gets down to 11.0v but it can take just a few minutes to discharge the battery from 11.8v to below 11.0v, so keep an eye on the voltage.

If you can get your hands on some speaker wire, you could set up a jumper lead, connecting from your battery into the cab and have your multi meter on all the time.

MAKE SURE IT IS NOT NEAR ANY SHARP EDGES!

Or if you have something with a cigarette plug on a lead, you could cut this up and use it to connect to your multi meter. You can always reconnect the lead once you are home.

No matter what you do, it is imperative that you watch the voltage.