Anyone with a TD4 and a multimeter?

Hi,
If you dont want to do this, there is a simpler test at the end that will help me too....

Could anyone with a td4 and a multimeter do me a favour? Measure the current draw on the battery with the car locked please?
You will need a multimeter capable of reading DC amps, during locking it will peak at about 9 amps.
Anyway, you will need to disconnect the battery positive lead, briefly reconnect it so the rear window opens, to prevent the motor drawing current through the meter during the test, then put the meter in line....ie red lead to the battery positive terminal and the black lead to the positive battery cable. DO NOT TRY TO START THE CAR AS THE FULL POWER DRAWN BY THE STARTER WILL GO THROUGH YOUR METER AND IT WILL DO A CHERNOBYL.
Remember that disconnecting the battery will lose radio code and presets and the rear window will need re-set afterwards.

With the car locked (you will need to hold down the bonnet pin switch) please let me know what you get as a current reading.

Then, open up the fuse box in the engine bay and pull out the 30a fuse for the blower motor and let me know what this does to the current.


My battery goes flat over a few days. Its a new battery and the alternator was replaced a year or so ago too - charging system works as it should. but within 2 or three days the battery is flat enough to prevent the car starting.
I get 0.48 amps drawn with the car locked, which is slightly under 6 watts of power being used somewhere.....radio memory backup, clock and keyfob receiver would be my guesses. Seems to be a lot of power to me?
However, by elimination pulling relays and fuses out one by one I found the drawn current drops down to 0.2 amps when I remove the 30 amp heater blower fuse from the engine fuse box. This is the fuse for the blower on speed 4 and power is through a relay. This relay turns out to be live all the time, which seems odd to me. Pulling the fuse lets the relay ping back to its normal position. Now, when I got this car the blower never worked on speed four, which turned out to be because this relay had burned out. With it being live all the time, I am not surprised it failed eventually.


The second test if you dont have a multimeter, please sit in the car with the ignition off and get someone to pull out the 30a fuse from the under bonnet fuse box (heater blower) do you hear a relay click from behind the ashtray when the fuse is removed and replaced?
If not, try it with the ignition on - does the relay click then?

Thanks,
Dave.

I assume you have a 2001>MY car.
Fuse 8 in the engine bay fuse box only goes to the relay at pin 30, so should use no power.
The relay is not energised until the heater blower is switched to 4, then fuse 8 supplies the blower motor direct.
If the relay was constantly energised, the fan would always run on full if it was making full contact internally
Try a new relay.
Does the fan run on 4 with fuse 8 removed?

It IS a new relay. The heater fan works as it should, but the relay is definitely energised at all times. With the fuse removed, the fan works on speed 1 - 3, but not 4.

is there any extra wiring there ,has somebody done any more wiring
very strange!

No it all seems original. I plugged into this part of the wiring when I fitted the remote for my FBH, but I have since removed that to see if that was causing the problems and it has made no difference. The relay was burnt out when I bought the car years back so I guess the problem has been ongoing for a long time, and when I converted to LHD there was no signs of anything amiss with any of the loom when I had the dashboard right out.

Check the wiring at the relay housing.
Should be...
Pin 30- permanent live from engine bay fusebox.
Pin 87- to blower motor.
Pin 86- switched live from fan speed switch setting 4, to energise relay.
Pin 85- to earth.
If 30 and 86 were swapped it would show symptoms as yours.

Hi dave

Funny you ask - I was looking for the same info recently but my battery dies after 2 weeks of no use

I measured my current draw with everything off, bonnet open, alarm not set - got 20 mA


So it seems that your half an amp is far too much !!

Digby

I measured the current on my 2001 v6 today when it was locked. It was 24mA. I know it's a different Freelander but it may be handy for someone in the future.

Just a note of caution: it's safer to disconnect the battery negative and put the meter in series with the negative connection. You'll still measure the same current but there's no risk in shorting the battery negative to the bodywork. If you remove the positive battery connection and short your spanner/ratchet to the body work by mistake (while the spanner/ratchet is still on the battery positive terminal and the negative wire is still connected to the battery terminal (and body work)) you'll short circuit the battery terminals. In a similar way if your replacing the battery then disconnect the battery negative before the positive.

Many thanks to all.

It seems that circa 20mA is about the norm then, and mine is over double that due to this stupid relay. I will need to have a closer look at its wiring but that means taking the centre console out again. I will get on it when I have the time, so in the meantime I have just pulled the fuse.

Cheers.

Double !!!!

You are draining 20 times what we are

Sheeeeeiiitttee.

Yeah, you are right, its an order of magnitude too high. With all the fuses are relays out it is still pulling too much current. I will need to try removing the remaining fuseable links to see where the power is going to.

Vanity mirror lights?

Also check the boot light. Mine was on permanently, on purchase, and that took a good battery down in 3 days.