L322 HDC Inactive message on starting

Hi all.

I've recently bought a 2005 L322 Range Rover Vogue and have noticed that from time to time when starting her, the systems 'bongs' and displays a 'HDC Inactive' message. The HDC actually works fine and I have read through various posts on this forum and they seem to point to the fact that this is often a result of a low battery charge. I've done some tests and have found that if the lights are not on when you start the car or it has been on a long run, the message does not occur.

So is it a sign that the battery is on it's way out or is it normal and I have to live with it? Any way of easily testing the battery?

It's low battery, mine does it if I leave it unlocked for a while while I am making various repairs
Check alternator is putting out 14.5 volts by checking across the battery terminals with it running and a fully charged battery should read something like 13 or 14 volts, look that bit up
You could have current drain from headlight wipers if you have them or final stage resistor

holidaychicken said:

It's low battery

Click to expand...

+1

Ok, thanks guys.

The car does have the headlight wipers so if it is either them or the final stage resistor for the blower, would the battery go completely flat in 2-3 days as a clear indication or is the current draw much lower?

I'm not sure but quite possibly, have a google around searching for the wiper not parking or final stage resistor.
There are ways of testing the current draw on a battery or you could try pulling relevant fuses but i would get a multimeter and test the alternator and battery voltage.
You could leave it for a few days and test the voltage again to see if it has dropped but it could just be a duff battery which you would need to test under i load i believe.
There are much better auto electrimagicians on here but there will be tutorials on youtube on how to test current drain by connecting an ammeter up to your battery and pulling various fuses but be careful around the sat nav unit as if you pull that fuse and it has not shut down properly you could kill it so i would isolate the wipers first or disconnect them.
its just a process of elimination but check the battery voltage and alternator first would be my advice.

+1 on the low battery. It happens on mine if I only do short trips. Had the battery tested and it's ok but not brilliant. I do 60 miles a day commuting so it gets a good charge most days. My headlamp wipers were causing a battery drain due to a problem with the washer pump. You can usually tell as they end up parked across the light. It's another one of those "common problems". Never managed to get to the bottom of it even with a new pump so have pulled the washer fuse.

Another of the little hidden surprises when i bought mine was the headlamp wipers were disconnected as both the gears had failed internally and as it was the day before the MOT was due i ended up buying two new motors for a bargain £300, they are around £30 on ebay each.

Thanks for all the tips. The headlight wipers seem to be properly parked and they do seem to work. I will try the idea on checking the current draw and then pulling the wiper fuses over the weekend as that should narrow it down a bit and report back.

The issue is usually with the washer pump. Check to see if the washer pump works when you operate the wipers as that will probably dismiss this as your issue. From what I remember they are wired so that the power for the washer pump comes from one of the wiper motors and if the pump fails it confuses the wipers or something like that. You pull the power connector from the pump and it lets the wipers work. It isn't a fuse like I said above. I think it's the middle of the three washer pumps which you disconnect. Don't pull too hard or the pump comes out and you get wet feet!!. I bought a new pump as they're pretty cheap and put that in but no joy. Must get around to getting it sorted. You might have to pull the wiper fuse and put it back in to reset them.

Ok so after doing some testing over the last 2-3 days it seems that the headlight washers and/or wipers are not drawing current when not being used. Battery is fine generally but the voltage does drop to around 12.1 volts if left for 24 hours and much the same if left for 48 hours which to me indicates the battery has an issue rather than a current draw as I'd expect it to drop further over time if that was the case.

I have had same problem when mine is not used for a few days, typical battery drain.
If you search around on Google there was a technical bulletin issued by Land Rover regarding this and an ECU problem on the Diesel variant.
It appears to be a voltage drop when the glow plugs fire up.

That figures, as they draw a fair bit of current when heating. Certainly also could explain why after a run, for the next 2-3 hours if you start the car the problem doesn't occur as I assume they are not needed.

Spent this morning fitting a new battery. Went for the biggest one that is recommended and all seems fine - no HDC bong.

Had a couple of initial problems with the EAS showing as 'inactive' but when I put the diagnostic on the car the fault was a CAN bus error which kinda figures since the battery had been disconnected. Reset the fault and all seems fine so far...

I got a big ass Bosch on mine which is great, the air suspension inactive can be cleared by turning the steering lock to lock and back to centre

I've had this problem too and it turned out to be the O/S front abs wheel sensor..

Isn't the sensor in my case. Since fitting the new battery, I don't get the error. To be honest I'm happier having fitted a new battery with the predicted cold weather due.

Now just in the process of sorting winter wheels and tyres and I should be all set to deal with whatever the weather throws at me.