Range Rover battery issues after towing

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C

CRC

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Location
Hampshire UK
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New to forum but thought I would see if anybody has any idea what is causing my problem.

After towing my caravan and disconnecting from range rover (L322 2009) sometimes the following day the battery of car is flat. I have noticed that if I drive the car straight after towing the driving characteristics sometimes feel as though I am in sports mode but after a short while reverts back to "normal". Does the car think I am still towing? Is there something sticking?

PS It has defeated Land Rover
 
7 or 13pin connector for trailer?

Running fridge or anything in caravan?

Do all the lights work? Any blown bulbs?
 
13 pin connector. Fridge not on. Bulbs OK

Battery is fine straight after towing. Just sometimes car seems to be in some sort of tow mode even after disconnecting caravan
 
Thanks for taking an interest.

I always switch off engine then unhitch then start car to move it out of way

If (and it is not always) after towing the car feels "different" it usually reverts after a mile or so.
 
You haven't got a gearbox that adapts to your driving style have you?
Obviously whilst towing (and I'm assuming that it's a decent sized shed) your driving style would be different and the gearbox might be taking a short while to adjust to the loss of the extra weight.
 
2009 RangeRover L322 and I think it has. This would explain driving solo just after towing but could this have any effect on battery drain overnight after towing?

My "Shed" is 2.2 ,metric tonnes
 
The gearbox does indeed adapt to your driving style, so if towing a big van you would use more gas which would explain the difference in that respect. As for the battery drain could it be that your van is running the batt down then after disconnecting and left over night it won't start, other than that after you have been towing open the bonnet, lpull up the bonnet switch so it thinks the bonnet is shut then put an amp clamp on the battery lead, shut the car and check that it goes to sleep. Should be 0.03 amps or there abouts.
 
Thanks for this. The battery drain is random but when it does occur it is after I have been towing. The caravan does not drain the battery as I am able to check this with a voltmeter. Looks like I need to invest in an amp clamp!

This may not have anything to do with the issue but last time I had battery drain I tried to start the car 2 days later. Battery low at 11.2v. Boost started drove about 1 mile and battery read 12.6v and has been fine since then!! Surely booster would not have this impact?
 
Did you remove the surface charge before testing the battery. Get your battery tested with a proper tester.
You have a trailer ECU that has a permanent battery feed, this is located in the boot on the right hand side next to the fuse box, the trailer socket also has a permanent battery feed and there is a trailer relay in the right hand side (brown base, green, white, red/yellow and red/white wires) this has a permanent battery feed and is picked with an ign feed. Check them out if you find a drain with your amp clamp after towing.
 
Thank you very much for this.

I will monitor current flow on shut down to see when drainage occurs and then find out cause.

Not quite sure how I remove surface charge before testing voltage
 
not just a case of the gearbox "learning" your driving style. if it's dedicated electrics for the towbar, it signals the ecu that you have a trailer or caravan connected and then the ecu uses a different map while it's connected.

have you tried having the battery in the caravan disconnected while you tow ? maybe taking too much current if it's in poor condition making the rest of the vehicle charging system suffer
 
Thanks for all of this.

The caravan battery is a new gel 125Ah battery that is charged when travelling.

The car battery does not seem to be drained by actually towing. It seems to me that once disconnected the car does not go to sleep (Sometimes and not always) as though some relay or circuit etc is still active. When this happens the battery drains. At other times it is fine.

As I said in my first post this has defeated Land Rover
 
CRC said:
As I said in my first post this has defeated Land Rover
Click to expand...

That doesn't mean much, a garage i used to use once got a nearly brand new R/R in with a "major" fault LR couldn't resolve. Basically it wouldn't start.

Took him 10 minutes to diagnose it was out of fuel and the fuel gauge was faulty :rolleyes: :D
 
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