Electric fault = freelander 2

HI I wonder if anyone else has this problem or a solution for me. My battery was being drained over night every night. Mirrors are not working at all, sunroof sometimes, windows intermittently. LandRover asked me to come in and have a diagnostics done (Yes they saw me coming from miles away!!!). After that cost they then inform me they had no blueprint but somewhere a wire was draining the battery and they would have to manually check ll the wiring - at £110 per hour. 6 hours later they informed me the drain was coming from the motor in the drivers door and sold me a new motor. After fitting it they realised this was not the issue credited me the motor but not the labour. I now have to unplug my battery every time I stop the car. Does anyone have any ideas or potential solutions for me please. Much thanks

The door motor is powered from the CJB, so can't possibly drain the power on its own.

Battery drain issues are a pain to find, but I'd start at the alternator, which has been known to drain power.

What year is it?

Wow thanks for the prompt reply. It is old 2007. I have to admit I have come from a Range Rover and am very disappointed with the downgrade atm You are speaking to the completely uninformed. :-(

amg6262 said:

Wow thanks for the prompt reply. It is old 2007. I have to admit I have come from a Range Rover and am very disappointed with the downgrade atm You are speaking to the completely uninformed. :-(

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2007 isn't old.
Mine is 2008 and is fabulous compared to the previous 2005 FL1.

I'd remove the alternator/starter wire from the battery positive terminal (its secured with the 13mm nut), and see if it still drains over night.

Thank you. Low mileage on mine and well looked after - but it is not reciprocating!! Thank you I am going to do that over the weekend and will let you know the outcome. Much MUCH appreciated.

If removing the starter/alternator feed harness doesn't stop the battery draining, then unfortunately you'll need to resort to removing one fuse at a time, until you find the culprit. I'm sure there's a software update for the audio system, which prevents battery drain issues, but presumably LR would have done any updates, while they were extracting large amounts of money from you. For what they charged, you could have bought a proper code reader/ programmer for the vehicle.

Different vehicle, but this was my solution. I have a very good multimeter, but a cheap one would do the job as long as it can measure dc current.
With the ignition off, remove each fuse in turn and put the multimeter across the fuse box connections, starting with the highest amperage range. Keep reducing the range. If it still reads zero, move on to the next fuse. I eventually found the rear wiper motor was drawing almost five amps with the ignition off.

Rank Amatuer said:

Different vehicle, but this was my solution. I have a very good multimeter, but a cheap one would do the job as long as it can measure dc current.
With the ignition off, remove each fuse in turn and put the multimeter across the fuse box connections, starting with the highest amperage range. Keep reducing the range. If it still reads zero, move on to the next fuse. I eventually found the rear wiper motor was drawing almost five amps with the ignition off.

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This is a good suggestion, however, you have to bare in mind that on modern cars various things run on a timeout so will be active for a period even after the ignition is switched off. This can also be confused by pulling and/or putting back fuses which can cause things to spring to life when a feed is found.

Rank Amatuer said:

Different vehicle, but this was my solution. I have a very good multimeter, but a cheap one would do the job as long as it can measure dc current.
With the ignition off, remove each fuse in turn and put the multimeter across the fuse box connections, starting with the highest amperage range. Keep reducing the range. If it still reads zero, move on to the next fuse. I eventually found the rear wiper motor was drawing almost five amps with the ignition off.

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Thank you so much for this info. A young friend's partner has suggested doing this and we are going to try it on the weekend before looking at the alternator - as I don think it is that. Much appreciated and I will et you know how `I get on x

amg6262 said:

Thank you so much for this info. A young friend's partner has suggested doing this and we are going to try it on the weekend before looking at the alternator - as I don think it is that. Much appreciated and I will et you know how `I get on x

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GrumpyGel’s caveat is valid though. Doesn’t always work. Best of luck, and when you find the fault do let us know.

GrumpyGel said:

This is a good suggestion, however, you have to bare in mind that on modern cars various things run on a timeout so will be active for a period even after the ignition is switched off.

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Not just modern cars do this GG. The FL1 also keeps the main relay and some additional items powered for about a minute after removing the key, so the windows will still go up, and the various ECUs have time to shut down correctly.

And with FL1 you may interrupt the circuit which drops the rear window on reconnect. That would drain some power and confuse!! Also interior light delay is a tricky one to watch.

Nodge68 said:

Not just modern cars do this GG. The FL1 also keeps the main relay and some additional items powered for about a minute after removing the key, so the windows will still go up, and the various ECUs have time to shut down correctly.

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Are you implying my pride and joy, daily drive and friends & family tour bus (covid allowing) is old tat?

I wish it would keep the windows powered after shutting down the engine, you're assuming all F1s were built in this millennia Only my rear windows will do that

GrumpyGel said:

Are you implying my pride and joy, daily drive and friends & family tour bus (covid allowing) is old tat?

I wish it would keep the windows powered after shutting down the engine, you're assuming all F1s were built in this millennia Only my rear windows will do that

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Sorry GG. This function was part of the post 2000 update, when the L series was replaced by the less reliable BMW offering, along with an awful lot of other updates, which were sort of snuck in unnoticed.

hi amg6262 wondered if you ever resolved this issue i have a similar problem , had to remove
led side light bulbs, n/s front staying illuminated after car locked showing 1.7ma.
also front 12v socket showing 2.0-2.9ma when ignition off. battery showing 14.4 when running
12.1 when i lock the car but down to 11.8 the following day and cranks at 9.0.
had a replacement battery 12 mths ago but having same problem again,
so curious what your fault was, cheers.(SOLVED) i think,traced my problem to glove box light
not going out,but couldn`t tell with glovebox closed.so i put a small stick on felt pad where plunger touches glovebox so i can see light go out before it actually shuts.has stayed at 12v all week and cranks at 11.7 volts ,so fingers crossed i have cured the problem,i hope.