Sudden bleedin battery death?

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kooky_guy

kooky_guy

Well-Known Member
Posts
2,410
Location
Sandhurst, Berkshire
i Think my rangie must be allergic to petrol. Drove to the petrol station no probs. Put some petrol in. Went to start it to move to the lpg pump and the bleedin battery seems to be almost totally dead. Grrr!

Stuck in West Meon waiting for the AA.

Humpy misssus with me too!

Happy days...
 
I thought that was funny but she's not amused!

Seems to be a fault with one of the main cables to the + battery clamp. If I waggle it I get power back briefly. Not enough to turn it over though.

Anyone know if this is a common thing?
 
Last edited:
j the range said:
guy is it the earth strap.. if yes its common..
Click to expand...

Hi J,

No, it's the +ve.

The AA dude (well the local garage) just jumped it and it started fine so we've managed to drive home, but we were accompanied by a horrible electronic whine all the way home (increasing with engine speed).

It went completely dead again when I turned the engine off. Stuck a charger on it and the battery is fine so I think the problem is definitely the cable from the +ve battery clamp to the fuse box.

The battery is missing it's cover and clamp so I'm guessing the battery moving around a bit has fatigued the wires.

It's too short as well (fed over the back of the battery rather than out of the side) so I'm guessing it's broken before and the previous owner just shortened it.

Is this cable just a standard part? Anyone know where I can get a new one in a hurry? Supposed to be driving to Wales on saturday! Waaaah!

Does it just screw into the battery clamp? Can't see without taking the clamp off and it's too cold and dark out there to fiddle with it now.

I'm really nervous about disconnecting the battery as well because of the EKA thing - I've got the code but never tried it. Be just my luck if that doesn't work either!

Guy
 
When you disconnect the battery,first undo the clamps but leave them on[don't remove until you've do this procedure]then put your key in ignition, turn to position 2 but dont start,then remove your key and remove battery clamps within 17 seconds,any longer and your alarm will go off and you wont be able to turn it off. Doing this the key,becm and ecu's will still talk to each other when you reconnect the battery and you wont have to use the EKA method and dont forget you'll have to reset windows,sunroof and trip computer.Once you've done it for the first time you wont be as apprehensive in future when your doing work on the car .All the best.
 
If I'm not using the Rangie for a week or two, I only ever lock it using the key in the door lock, not via the fob. The immobiliser comes on anyhow, and the alarm just drains the battery while the car is standing. That way, if I need to take the battery out to recharge, I don't trigger the disable feature and EKA code routine etc. You don't need to do anything special to remove the battery to recharge and maintain the sync with the fob, as long as the fob battery doesn't die on you as well, or the fob code get corrupted by pressing it inadvertently, as long as the car has been unlocked via the fob before removing the battery. Works for me everytime, only ever used the EKA code once, early in my ownership of the Rangie and would prefer not to have that hassle again!!!
 
Hmm. I just went out to lock it and that was a bad idea.

The locks just kept cycling. Waggling the dodgy cable didn't help. Only disconnecting the battery charger stopped it, but I did see the lockout message on the dash so I presume I'll have to do the EKA thing now anyway. Buggr.

What I do need to do urgently is to get a replacement cable. I presume I could just buy some cable, but it's got a loop on one end at the fusebox end and I assume this needs to be soldered on so I'd rather buy one ready made as my soldering isn't the best. I'll have to try the local specialists tomorrow.

Does it just screw into the battery clamp and does anyone know if it's available seperately?

Has anyone got a picture of how the cable should be routed?

Lucky the other half is working from home tomorrow so at least I can pinch her car to go to work in and mebbe zip round to the shops!

Guy
 
Rangiegal,you must be one of the lucky ones because normally if you dont follow the procedure i described ,which incidentally is clearly in both rave and the owners manual,you run the risk of either your alarm sounder going off or key code lockout,and i should know because it happened to me.
Reason for it is because the range rover has a passive immobilizer and especially when the battery is either not connected properly,being unconnected improperly or low on charge the electrical system goes into lockdown because its usually under the impression someone trying to nick it ,thus eka to get it going again.Also if the power to the car is "in doubt" the electrics tend to act strangely i.e.locks cycling and that can cause the above.
 
Hmm. Just had a sparkie out and he couldn't find a problem with the cable. It's not too short - it's just got the wrong battery in it with the terminals round the front.

He checked the battery and it's showing a bad cell, but I don't understand why fiddling with the wire would make any difference.

The battery is showing a healthy 12.5 volts, but none of the electrics are working. Does this sound right? The interior lights come on VERY dimly.

I've ordered a new battery, but I'm not convinced it's going to solve the problem...

Unfortunately ordering it in a hurry meant I'm only getting the feeble 70 amp one, but never mind.
 
Is a standard battery going to fit? The silver box on the left in the photo is the lpg ECU.

I can't find a decent photo of the battery in a P38, but the one on Rangerovers.net that I found looks like the battery takes up the whole space so I think the ECU might be in the way...

I presume the red wire looping over the back towards the fusebox is supposed to be routed around the back of the black thing behind the battery...?
 

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kooky_guy said:
Hmm. Just had a sparkie out and he couldn't find a problem with the cable. It's not too short - it's just got the wrong battery in it with the terminals round the front.

He checked the battery and it's showing a bad cell, but I don't understand why fiddling with the wire would make any difference.

The battery is showing a healthy 12.5 volts, but none of the electrics are working. Does this sound right? The interior lights come on VERY dimly.

I've ordered a new battery, but I'm not convinced it's going to solve the problem...

Unfortunately ordering it in a hurry meant I'm only getting the feeble 70 amp one, but never mind.
Click to expand...

If you have a dead cell that is your problem. I would think a 70 Amp battery on a Range Rover even a petrol one, is as useful as tits on a Mars bar.
 
wammers said:
If you have a dead cell that is your problem. I would think a 70 Amp battery on a Range Rover even a petrol one, is as useful as tits on a Mars bar.
Click to expand...

Fair point. That is the standard capacity for a 4.6 though.

He couldn't get a standard battery from his usual supplier.

Unfortunately I can't seem to find the dimensions of the P38 battery quickly so I've just measured the space. I think the lpg ecu is cutting into the battery bay anyway so my garage is looking for a battery that will fit the space with the largest capacity available.

Stresssss. I'm supposed to be at work!
 
kooky_guy said:
Fair point. That is the standard capacity for a 4.6 though.

He couldn't get a standard battery from his usual supplier.

Unfortunately I can't seem to find the dimensions of the P38 battery quickly so I've just measured the space. I think the lpg ecu is cutting into the battery bay anyway so my garage is looking for a battery that will fit the space with the largest capacity available.

Stresssss. I'm supposed to be at work!
Click to expand...

Ok petrol engines don't require the cranking power of the diesel. But you can get slightly larger capacity batteries with the same dimensions as the 70 amp one. More money though i would think. The dead cell means voltage cannot flow through the battery, it effectivly blocks flow through it. With the new one everything should be fine. I have just changed the battery on my diesel. More or less the same symptoms as yours. All is now ok.
 
wammers said:
Ok petrol engines don't require the cranking power of the diesel. But you can get slightly larger capacity batteries with the same dimensions as the 70 amp one. More money though i would think. The dead cell means voltage cannot flow through the battery, it effectivly blocks flow through it. With the new one everything should be fine. I have just changed the battery on my diesel. More or less the same symptoms as yours. All is now ok.
Click to expand...

Seem to be struggling to find one at any capacity though. Apparently the Rangie is one of the few cars with the terminals that way round (seems a little unlikely to me). Is there a name for the battery layout? L1 perhaps?

On investigation, it seems that the LPG ECU is definitely in the battery tray so I can't go for a standard battery in any case. What a great lpg install that was.

The sparkie is going to bring a few round this afternoon to try, so fingers crossed.

Don't you just love distress purchases!?

Guy
 
kooky_guy said:
Seem to be struggling to find one at any capacity though. Apparently the Rangie is one of the few cars with the terminals that way round (seems a little unlikely to me). Is there a name for the battery layout? L1 perhaps?

On investigation, it seems that the LPG ECU is definitely in the battery tray so I can't go for a standard battery in any case. What a great lpg install that was.

The sparkie is going to bring a few round this afternoon to try, so fingers crossed.

Don't you just love distress purchases!?

Guy
Click to expand...

The 70 amp ones fitted to the Disco are not all that big and have the same terminal orientation as the Rangie.
 
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