Freelander 2 won't start occasionally

[aleks]

Hi all,

This may relate to this post but just wanted to see if anyone has had a similar experience (http://www.aulro.com/afvb/freelander...t-battery.html)

The last time this occurred was in a very tidal location with a bub and a wife with a broken arm so just trying to get to the bottom of it 2007 Diesel auto free2

After driving for 1 hour, so battery should of been fully charged I did do the mistake of leaving the lights on which looking at the RC rating of the battery it could of dropped it down by 25% charge or so.

I put the key in all seemed normal
-I pressed start and I did notice the "System check in progress" disappear quite quickly
-Car didn't start but a relay did click a couple of times (relay near shifter) every time I pressed the button.
-Green light off on key insert
-Battery and (P) light on
-Air conditioner blower & radio on
-With every click of the relays the raido volume change and screen changed brightness
- Key stuck and would not come out after many presses

Eventually thought battery was stuffed so opened the door and now it would let me get the key out.

Within 1 minute I closed the door, put the key back in and car started instantly which makes me question the battery issue which I would be very happy for it to be as it is an easy fix!

On the drive back I noticed the trip computer & trip meter had both reset again suggesting a battery.

Once I got home I did check the battery and it has the "green" electrolyte indicator & a voltage of 12.8V after a switch off which would seem relatively healthy. However it does have a coating over the battery terminals / battery which perhaps indicates it is the original battery or was installed by a very particular battery installer So happy to replace the battery but wondering if there are any other Gremlins here I should know about it before parking the car on a beach again.

I had a starter motor go on a relatively new pajero once in a similar situation so a little bit nervous.

Otherwise the car was exceptionally good on sand and some fairly deep wading today.

Many thanks
Aleks

[woko]

Batteries do weird things to modern cars. First thing I would do is go and get your battery load tested. Any auto electrician will have a load tester. A dealer should have one as well (It was a mandatory tool when I worked for a dealer)

[Richard93Vogue]

When the starter on my 3.2 petrol went I looked at all sorts of options and read about every post on every board in every country and found that the problem you have just experienced has happened to lots of Freelander 2's. (I think mostly diesel but don't quote me on that). Some have been solved by some sort of software update done to one of the computer systems, again not sure which one but has to be done by a dealer.
Might be your problem, might not but as Woko says, get the battery load tested and go from there.

[inside]

How old is the battery? 12.8v after switching off is fine but what about the next morning? My original battery lasted 5 years before slowly failing but not in the fashion you describe.

[Meken]

Our 2008 hse diesel is on its 3rd battery

[aleks]

Thanks Woko, appreciate the advice. To answer "inside", the battery age is unknown other than it has blue contact protectant sprayed and an installed drain hose on so not sure if this is the state on a new vehicle or it has been replaced. It reads 12.4V now after being rested for about 10 hours, so perhaps 75% which could be due to the fact it hasn't fully recharged yet or it is a bit dodgy. Will get a battery test done and keep everyone posted if the issue re-occurs and what the resolution is.

Richard93Vogue, these are the Gremlins I am a bit more worried about. So perhaps the best bet is for me to get the dealer to check all the software versions. I will also have a look at some of the service posts on TOPix to see if there are any obvious issues related to this.