DISCO 2 Battery Drain

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J

Jer05

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Forest of Dean
Hi

I have a 2000 Reg Auto Discovery. The battery was replaced last week because it kept going flat. On test it went flat even when disconnected so clearly a faulty battery.

The charging circuit works OK under test at around 14.6 Volts.

The battery nonetheless continues to discharge and within a week if the car has not been run and is then flat enough so the landy wont start. I have left the alarm off and that doesn't solve the problem.

I get a drain of 0.03A with the engine off and alarm off. If the alarm is on the draw is 0.06A reducing to 0.04A after it goes to sleep. Surely that draw is 7 days x 24 hours x 0.03A = 5A? So why is my battery going dead?

Any suggestions?

Regards
 
IF you got the battery from Halfrauds, it will be the battery, I had two in quick succesion from them, one for the Disco and one for the Toyota Avensis, both were crap and would not hold a charge if left for a week......:doh:
 
I plugged an ammeter in between the battery and battery negative lead and found that the 0.05A background draw shot up to 0.8A when I opened a door. I ensured all the interior lights (incl glovebox) were off and with the door shut it stayed at 0.8A? I then took each fuse out one by one and found that the main drain is from F20 under the steering wheel. This feeds the interior lights,clock, radio memory and engine remobiliser. I have read somewhere that when your key fob battery starts to fail (mine is) the alarm/immobiliser can fail to set properly and draw a heavy load and flatten batteries? I have a key fob battery on its way in the post to check this.

Then I removed F13 in the engine fuse board. This feeds the Body Control Unit and this is drawing 0.13A.

If I take F13 in and out which presumably resets the BCU unit and then remove F13 and F20 the draw reduces to 0.05A.

Any hints or tips on this?
 
There was a problem on certain year 2000 TD5's where the window time out circuit would stay "live" and drain the battery when left for a number of days, long shot but worth checking.

To check yours is or is not affected,

Sit in the vehicle, doors and windows closed
Switch on the ignition
Then switch ignition of and operate the electric windows, after approx 45 secs, they should "timeout" and no be able to be operated. If they continue to work, then your vehicle is affected and the dealer will re-program it free of charge.
 
hi enyone, this is my first visit to a forum and i have owned a td5 1999 since 2006 it has not done many miles 118000 due to the pi*****g obout i have to do to start the thing. if i got a deep cycle gell battery would it last more that a week with out having to take it on a run. i have noted a lot of issues that could be causing the problem, why carnt someone tell me that landrover has made a product that is against the trade discription act and is not fit for purpose. do you think it would stand up in a court of law?
 
my disco 2 said:
hi enyone, this is my first visit to a forum and i have owned a td5 1999 since 2006 it has not done many miles 118000 due to the pi*****g obout i have to do to start the thing. if i got a deep cycle gell battery would it last more that a week with out having to take it on a run. i have noted a lot of issues that could be causing the problem, why carnt someone tell me that landrover has made a product that is against the trade discription act and is not fit for purpose. do you think it would stand up in a court of law?
Click to expand...

Your Landrover is not fit for purpose - there you go feel better now

Court - behave yourself

also

I've never seen a Land Rover stand up
 
I'd say that the battery is not the best(recte f**ked).........0.03A at 12V is 0.36Watt according to Ohm's Law and a non proffesional ammeter's normal error is 0.02A......everything under 0.5A can be so named "capacitive inductance".....it's not correct to bring together amps with hours/mins. Even with 0.5A drain a good battery must last for days. It's normal to be some drain when the car is stopped due to the wiring's inductance and the alarm's energy consumption .................if the battery went flat even disconnected take it back for refund or replacement cos it's ****..........i was out 5 mins ago and measured drain(just by curiousity) with the car standing and locked......it's 0.07A on mine and it starts even if i leave it for 3 days( thats the longest period i've left it rest)
 
Last edited:
Occasionally, just if you are very lucky, if you give the battery a bit of a shock it might sort itself out.

Take it out of the car.

From a few inches up, thump it down flat on the base onto a wooden plank.
DO NOT blast it down onto a concrete slab.


Do this a good few times, taking care not to crack the casing of course.

Some batteries are a bit prone to making lead sulphate at the bottom of the plates that can short them out inside, and cause an INTERNAL loss of leccy. A bit of rough stuff may sometimes dislodge the trouble. It's worth a try if you have nothing to lose.

Sometimes, using a heavy discharge battery tester will do the same thing. If you try this, have another battery handy because you will want to discharge the suspect battery quite a lot.

WEAR GOGGLES for this next idea.

Prise off the battery filler caps.

Now use the heavy discharge tester hard onto the terminals, and hold it on.

Look into each cell. THEY MUST NOT APPEAR TO BOIL. If any one cell does, the battery is probably jiggered, but in many cases BattAid pills may help restore it.

CharlesY
 
if its a new battery, better just taking it back and changing it.

older batteries as above. can also help if you stick a start an charge on it without engaging starter.
and dropping it to shift the sulphated'ness
 
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