F4, Lots of Lights, Low battery

I have a 2004 Freelander that I picked up second-hand earlier this year. A few months ago the HDC light starting coming on intermittently (I think there were others--not sure), then one day the engine stopped completely. The mechanic tracked it down to a broken wire from the alternator. It left my wallet a bit lighter, but the beast was running fine after that.

Today, the light came on again, along with the ABS and SRS lights (if i remember correctly). I was about ten km from home, towing an empty horse float, so I turned around. By the time I got about halfway there, more lights were on, the odometer was flashing "F4". When I tried to signal a left turn, all the lights went out, and the gauges dropped to zero. The engine was still running, and I was able to limp home, but the engine stalled. The battery is down to 10.8V!

Given the battery voltage, my first suspicion is a battery or alternator problem.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

You already know the answer.
Charging/battery is Kaput.
But, as its a gaylander maybe the best answer is 5L of petrol and a box of Swan Vestas?
Then you can buy a nice manly V8 4.6 machine like a P38 which is what I have.

Hi Mike, ignore these arrogant English twats.

Well some of them anyway, there's plenty of decent helpful ones on here as well - those that frequent the Freelander forum rather than bust in to spread their version of Christmas cheer

I presume as you say "F4" is flashing its an automatic, generally that means its a TD4 on here, but as you're in NZ it probably more likely to be a V6. Which one is it?

Generally if you get the ABS, HDC & TC lights lit or even the SRS its pretty easy to diagnose the fault because you just plug in a code reader to find out what's wrong. However, it does look like the lights are red herrings, looks like the car's electronics is just getting confused and failing due to erratic and low electric charge.

I don't pretend to be the best, or anywhere near it, at assisting with this type of problem, but as has been so eloquently put, you could try another battery if you have one. Shame its not day time in UK as there would be advice. I'd be a bit careful if the alternator is knackered that it is not going to fry the electronics in the car, if you have a auto electrician locally might be worth getting him/them to check out what's going on. Presumably they could tell you quite quicklu if the alternator is knackered. Having said that, presumably you can do that yourself with a multimeter if tyou know how to drive it!

Good luck, where abouts are you?

Thanks for your reply. I'm in New Zeland--I'm used to ignoring "whinging poms", as they're known here

I chatted with a local mechanic, who advised charging the battery to make sure it can hold a charge, then checking with the vehicle running, to make sure the alternator is providing power to charge the battery.

So far, the battery is holding a charge, but the voltage drops with the engine running. The last folks who worked on it tracked down a wire (from the alternator) that had been worn through. I'm going to try to figure out what they did, and see if anything looks amiss there, but I think the first step is to check the alternator directly. Any pointers on that? I see a socket with three wires on it, and another, single, larger wire. No idea what voltage should be on any of them, however.

mikelygee said:

Thanks for your reply. I'm in New Zeland--I'm used to ignoring "whinging poms", as they're known here

I chatted with a local mechanic, who advised charging the battery to make sure it can hold a charge, then checking with the vehicle running, to make sure the alternator is providing power to charge the battery.

So far, the battery is holding a charge, but the voltage drops with the engine running. The last folks who worked on it tracked down a wire (from the alternator) that had been worn through. I'm going to try to figure out what they did, and see if anything looks amiss there, but I think the first step is to check the alternator directly. Any pointers on that? I see a socket with three wires on it, and another, single, larger wire. No idea what voltage should be on any of them, however.

Click to expand...

Charging voltage is the key, the ALT output on the battery terminals should Ideally be above 14.2v.

With the engine running..

How old is the battery?

Ignore Dan, hes just compensating for some of his inadequaces, maybe hes upset he cannae be a real tratter-boy, with displacement. PS Dan, your rangey is the gay model, the one with sliding calipers, a limp wristed version of a borgwarner transfer box that is wrong handed, bent axles with the diff on the opposite side, and more known of electronics issues than any freelander. I've also got a couple of Disco 1's and a RRC, as well as my freelander, but I wouldnae touch a p38 with a barge pole. As for your 4.6, ppfffft, amateur, I had a 6.2diesel in my rangey.

I can tell you straight up that if the battery voltage is dropping with the enigne running your alternator is not charging, that could be down to the alternator itself being toast, or the wiring to and from it. But I'm not going to look up the wiring diagrams and tell you which colour of wire does what, YOU can do that on RAVE, links on here. Apart from whcih you still havnae told us if its a td4 of a v6?

The wiring to and from it which you describe as being a round plug and a thick single wire comprises of the wire(s) to "Excite" the alternator, and the output from the alternator respectively. The thick wire from the alternator should go to battery, the thin wires in the plug

The emoticons were meant to convey a lack of seriousness in the post, but that's fine, have at it.

10.8V isn't just indicative of a discharged battery, it's what you would expect if one of the cells is totally goosed.l

DanClarke said:

The emoticons were meant to convey a lack of seriousness in the post, but that's fine, have at it.

Click to expand...

Fair enough - I just seen a post from a driver of bigger landy spouting gaylander and all that stuffz thought "here we go again"...

Jayridium said:

Fair enough - I just seen a post from a driver of bigger landy spouting gaylander and all that stuffz thought "here we go again"...

Click to expand...

No worries mate. Its just a bit of banter is all. No malice is ever intended. The FL's are great cars.

Thanks for the help. Our local mechanic is waiting for his electrical guy to return to work, but he's diagnosed a failed alternator. We'll see what happens.

BTW, engine is a V6.