Freelander 1 Battery light intermittently flickering following an off road session

Hi all,

Hoping for some advice please before I have to prise open my wallet and invite an auto electrician round...

So as the title says, I went off-road last weekend in my FL1 TD4 Auto and ever since the battery light on my dash has been flicking on for a split second every now and again - it seems to be getting more frequent.

Going off road may not be anything to do with it but I can't think of anything else that may have caused a problem to occur.

I've checked the batter terminals and they're both on nice and tight, I've had a look down at the alternator and the cables from it look fairly well attached but I'm not 100% sure what I'm looking for to be honest.

Another thought I've had is, could it be an earthing issue?...

Any help and advice is, as always, greatly appreciated!

TIA

shaunclark_sc said:

Hi all,

Hoping for some advice please before I have to prise open my wallet and invite an auto electrician round...

So as the title says, I went off-road last weekend in my FL1 TD4 Auto and ever since the battery light on my dash has been flicking on for a split second every now and again - it seems to be getting more frequent.

Going off road may not be anything to do with it but I can't think of anything else that may have caused a problem to occur.

I've checked the batter terminals and they're both on nice and tight, I've had a look down at the alternator and the cables from it look fairly well attached but I'm not 100% sure what I'm looking for to be honest.

Another thought I've had is, could it be an earthing issue?...

Any help and advice is, as always, greatly appreciated!

TIA

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I know sweet fa about freelanders so this is a stab in the dark.....but I should imagine you have a belt to the Alternator. That will have got wet and be slipping causing the alternator to not put the charge out and hence the flickering light.

Try and check its tight and clean any crap off it, you may find some hard revs help.. How much have you driven since dunking it off road?

I've done a good few hundred miles and it seems to be getting worse rather than better.... the belt looks fairly clean too if I'm honest....

Did your off road trip include going through any deep water?

ER1C said:

Try and check its tight

Click to expand...

shaunclark_sc said:

the belt looks fairly clean too if I'm honest....

Click to expand...

Do wot ER1C said - check the belt tension. Might be slipping = not squirting enough volts into the battery.

shaunclark_sc said:

I've done a good few hundred miles and it seems to be getting worse rather than better.... the belt looks fairly clean too if I'm honest....

Click to expand...

It may just be the alternator got a dunk/splash and is knackered, you would get squeal in theory if its slipping thinking more about it. Sure fire way would be to test the alternator with a volt meter.

Have a read of this thread.

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/boxing-day-blues.209586/

It turned out to be his alternator.

Alternators on the petrol 1.8 FL1s certainly have a reputation of dying in the sight of muddy water: they're on the front of the engine block and relatively low down (on mine, as high on the block it can go - might be lower on AC-equipped cars). Not so sure on the TD4 - but if anything like my ZTT 2.0CDTi, the alternator and auxiliary belts are complex and pretty low down...

I expect the brushes are stuck with some mud, or maybe just getting worn down. You can take the regulator off without removing the alternator and inspect them.

Also check the control plug for debris/water.

get a hose on it then leave to dry it may do the trick