Battery Problem?

Hi All..........

I have a Disco, that used to have the 3.9 V8, but the previous owner
replaced the V8 with a 300Tdi Defender engine, and auto-box.

The problem that i am recently faced with is this...........

"when the Car has not been run, say, for a day or 2, it starts absolutely fine, no problem, Turn on the Ignition, and wait until I hear the Glow-plug
Solenoid click, then start the engine. ( No, I haven't got a glow-plug indicator on the dash, as it was a v8 petrol originally! Doh! ) "

"But then drive for 5 or 10 miles, so the engine is nice and warm, stop the car to go into the supermarket, come back 10 mins or so later, go through the start routine, and the Battery will only JUST turn the engine over,
sometimes not at all, and i have to start all over again, and keep my fingers crossed that it will actually turn over and start "

Is the Battery K-nackered, perhaps a dead cell? It's a sealed unit, so i can't check the cells individually. But why would it start a cold engine, and not a warm one?

alternator voltage regulator cooked, overcharging the battery and boiling it away.
Once it has sat for a while it has calmed down enough to work.
Methinks.

boydy1989 said:

alternator voltage regulator cooked, overcharging the battery and boiling it away.
Once it has sat for a while it has calmed down enough to work.
Methinks.

Click to expand...

How do I rectify this boydy,?

Disconick said:

How do I rectify this boydy,?

Click to expand...

You would know cause the battery would be hot and stinkin, sounds more like a lazy starter, or one of the connections breakin down when it gets hot.

I think even a sealed battery is accessable is it not.

Next time it does it keep it turning and look for the conection which will be heatin up, and give the starter a sharp prod wif a hammer, could just be the brushes stickin.

david451 said:

You would know cause the battery would be hot and stinkin, sounds more like a lazy starter, or one of the connections breakin down when it gets hot.

I think even a sealed battery is accessable is it not.

Next time it does it keep it turning and look for the conection which will be heatin up, and give the starter a sharp prod wif a hammer, could just be the brushes stickin.

Click to expand...

He has a point, i had forgotten mine did this.

If it is what I thought it was originally, you need a new/recon alternator. You can replace the diode packs in the back but it ain't worth it normally.


To solve what david suggests, do what i did. Get a mate to crank it, (when warm) and go under the bonnet and grab and move around the big wire that goes into the starter. If it sparks and jumps into life, thats it!


Or, you could take the better approach and remove, clean up and re-fit BOTH battery connections, (using vaseline copiously around the terminals), the thick wire to the starter, the earth strap from the engine/starter, and the battery, and finally the link wire between the starter and the solenoid.

Oh, if your starter is lazy I have a known good one spare currently, for a NA but im not sure if they are universal?

By the way I mean the starter solenoid above, not the hot plug one.

And yes, pretty much all 'sealed' car batteries are accesible, however results from topping them up with halfords battery water etc are not normally worth the effort, they soon break down again if it makes any difference at all.