Strange Power Issue - PLEASE HELP!!!

Hi Guys

My personal car is a 2004 L322 Range Rover - and I'm having a starnge issue with it that I hope someone will know the cause - or maybe even experienced the same/similar issues before.

For reference, I had a 2010 headlight conversion done about a year ago - but I don't think it's related as the issue I have happens with or without lights on.

Ok, basically the power keeps dissapearing when driving!!! The engine does not stop, but all internal electrics shut of for a second or two and then it comes back on. Very weird!!!

In fact, if you look at the green screen with the mileage etc on the dash, you can see the power (brightness of the green) dimming and coming back up, and it will sometimes dim right down to zero - which is of course when the power shuts off for a second or two. The HDC warning also comes on of course, because it always does when power is low.

The battery seems absolutely fine and it fires up perfectly.

Strangely again, it seems that this power dip issue is most prevalent when braking (!!!) In fact, most times it dips is during braking or coming to a stop.

I also noticed that when stationary (which I guess would be with my foot on the brake!!) if I change between D and R gears without going anywhere, the gear change makes the power dim (although not shut off generally).

Like I say - the power goes off only for 1-2 seconds and the engine does not stop.

Any ideas what the hell could be going on here? I'm scared!!!!

PLEASE HELP!

Many thanks!

Lion Heart

If it was a P38 I'd say fuse box. Could be the alternator, a bad earth or a fractured cable from the battery, engine earth bond etc. I assume your battery is clamped in place?

sounds like a power lead fractured to me as well.

Hi there

Thanks for that - I'll have a good look tonight when I get home!!!!

I think the battery is fully clamped - but I'll take a good look and check the cable condition also.

Where is the engine earth bond/cable, as I'll check that as well (once I know where it is!)

Can I ask a (silly???) question? Does the ABS have a high drain on the power? If so this would explain why the power drops off when it does so logically that would make sense. But I have no idea if ABS is power-heavy or not.

Many thanks!

Lion Heart

Lion Heart said:

Hi there

Thanks for that - I'll have a good look tonight when I get home!!!!

I think the battery is fully clamped - but I'll take a good look and check the cable condition also.

Where is the engine earth bond/cable, as I'll check that as well (once I know where it is!)

Can I ask a (silly???) question? Does the ABS have a high drain on the power? If so this would explain why the power drops off when it does so logically that would make sense. But I have no idea if ABS is power-heavy or not.

Many thanks!

Lion Heart

Click to expand...

The ABS itself does not use a lot of power, but if the braking system uses an electrically powered hydraulic pump like the P38 that certainly uses lots of power, but if the battery and connections are good it should not cause electrical power fade.

Thanks for that - it looks like the battery and cables are the first point to check - so I'll do that when I get home!

Has anyone here actually ever experienced the exact same problem as me before. or heard of it?

Many thanks!

Lion Heart

Hi Guys

Sorry for the delay. Sorted now, but wanted to let you know in case someone else with a similar issue comes up...

Yes, Gyro, to answer your questions. It's the 4.4 petrol. No, EVERYTHING internally dies - so yes sat nav screen goes off, all interior lighting - absolutely everything, but the engine does not stop and the power comes back on a couple of seconds later. Definitely not the air suspension as it does it almost exclusively when there's pressure on the brakes.

Ok, so I went on a DIY investigation...

I checked that the battery was clamped firmly in place - it was
I checked all of the main power cables I could see for cracks, fractures etc. All looked fine.
I checked all earth cables I could see for the same. All looked fine.

Then, when looking at the battery I noted that it was a dry connection (i.e. no copper grease). Not good. Genuine LR battery too so would have been fitted by LR. Also, a chap worked on my car a short while back and he would have disconnected the battery numerious times, as he's a professional mechanic!!!!!

So, I decided to slip the connectors off and put some copper grease in there just as good practice. Imagine my DISGUST when I found that the + connection was so loose that I could move the + cable back and forth around the connector quite easily by hand.

I was well, well naffed off. So, took them off, copper grease, back and and made sure they were both good and tight. Problem seems (touch wood!) to be completely solved.

I can't believe my car was left this way, and we were subject to all this worry for, basically, nothing except a PAID mechanic not checking their own work correctly.

Still, the good news is that it seems to be fixed )

Thanks for your help guys!

Lion Heart

Many thanks for coming back and giving us the benfit of your experience, you'll be surprised by the number who come on here - ask a Q - get an A - then bugger off without some much as a thank you or to tell us the resolution, as this could help others...

Sorry to hear your Mech cut a few corners, and glad you sorted it with minimal cost....

Copper grease is not a good idea as far as I'm concerned. The actual contact surfaces should be clean and dry and then a coating of vaseline applied to the exterior to prevent corrosion.