L322 Won’t start

brasso · Jul 23, 2020

2002 L322 Vogue (4.4 V8 petrol)

Today she wouldn’t start. Dealer was upfront with me and told me the battery drains if you leave her parked up for a few days. Even thought it’s a big new battery. So I went into it with my eyes open and bought a Battery Brain (£150 plus £90 for a garage to fit it). Been parked up for approx. 40hrs and, yeh, won’t start. Can turn the key in the ignition and the warning lights turn on. But the engine doesn’t turn over let alone fire. And the radio/computer won’t switch on. Also getting the “Air Suspension Inactive” message when I put it in Neutral to try and start it (which didn’t work). The dealer says that message will go away once it’s jump-started?! Hope so...

Anyone have any experience of these Battery Brains? Thought it was an elegant solution to the battery draining problem. But it either doesn’t work or hasn’t been fitted properly.

And can someone confirm it’s definitely a flat battery rather than an ignition problem please? And put my mind at rest re the air suspension!

brianp38dse · Jul 23, 2020

Flat battery will throw up all sorts of fault codes, as you turn things on voltage drops to ecus which then have a hissy fit.
there are a few things that drain batterys on l322`s 1, duff alternator can do a battery, 2 Final stage resister, 3 light control module and the list goes on
others know more than me.
if you get a new battery you want an Mf31 120AH 1000CCa its the biggest that will fit just by mm`s

myfirstl322 · Jul 23, 2020

You need to measure your battery volts, it should be 12.6.

RangeRoller dt · Jul 24, 2020

If it is parasitic drain when off a draw test with a multimeter May show you what system it is on then can go from there. Not expensive or difficult just bit fiddly

brasso · Jul 24, 2020

Thank you for the very helpful replies. It’s going into the garage for a new thermostat and water pump (fair dos from the dealer for sorting that) on Monday so I’ll ask them to have a look with the multimeter. A BMW specialist garage should have one of those, right? Once I know what it is that’s draining I can fix it can’t I!

And I’m really glad the error message is probably down to the flat battery. Do you use the ‘final approach’ function which lowers the suspension as you drop below 15mph? Button above the electric mirror controls. It’s a nifty function when you’ve got to unload the car/elderly relatives. But I don’t want to cause problems by leaving it parked with the suspension lowered?

gold rover · Jul 24, 2020

brasso said:
Thank you for the very helpful replies. It’s going into the garage for a new thermostat and water pump (fair dos from the dealer for sorting that) on Monday so I’ll ask them to have a look with the multimeter. A BMW specialist garage should have one of those, right? Once I know what it is that’s draining I can fix it can’t I!

And I’m really glad the error message is probably down to the flat battery. Do you use the ‘final approach’ function which lowers the suspension as you drop below 15mph? Button above the electric mirror controls. It’s a nifty function when you’ve got to unload the car/elderly relatives. But I don’t want to cause problems by leaving it parked with the suspension lowered?

Don't have anything as fancy as 'final approach' but do have a little 'access' button next to window control. Is the 15mph button on standby all the time? If somhow does it know the difference ?
Not sure I'd like the 'if you go under 15mph' idea, if it's a press and leave.. Why didn't they stick to the , 'you're pulling up press the button' mode.
Although, must admit I use access mode very rarely, as I find the normal ride height fine. However, have used it for short arses, and disabled. Problem for one elderly friend is, even in access mode, he struggles.
Good luck with your other issues. When they're good they're really good, but when they're bad they're expensive

brasso · Jul 24, 2020

gold rover said:
Don't have anything as fancy as 'final approach' but do have a little 'access' button next to window control. Is the 15mph button on standby all the time? If somhow does it know the difference ?
Not sure I'd like the 'if you go under 15mph' idea, if it's a press and leave.. Why didn't they stick to the , 'you're pulling up press the button' mode.
Although, must admit I use access mode very rarely, as I find the normal ride height fine. However, have used it for short arses, and disabled. Problem for one elderly friend is, even in access mode, he struggles.
Good luck with your other issues. When they're good they're really good, but when they're bad they're expensive

Ah, “Access Mode”. I didn’t know that was its proper name (dealer forgot to put the handbook in the glovebox so I’m learning as I go until the postman brings that).

Thanks for your good wishes. I’ll update once the AA patrol have been out (no-one round here’s got any jump leads?!) and the garage have had a look at the battery. Hope it’s not TOO expensive to fix!!!

Datatek · Jul 24, 2020

brasso said:
Ah, “Access Mode”. I didn’t know that was its proper name (dealer forgot to put the handbook in the glovebox so I’m learning as I go until the postman brings that).

Thanks for your good wishes. I’ll update once the AA patrol have been out (no-one round here’s got any jump leads?!) and the garage have had a look at the battery. Hope it’s not TOO expensive to fix!!!

No idea what the "Battery Brain" is supposed to do, but it's not going to get rid of parasitic drain or compensate for a failing battery. A cheap smart charger from Aldi/Lidl is a good investment if you do a lot of short runs or leave it parked up for periods.

gold rover · Jul 24, 2020

brasso said:
Ah, “Access Mode”. I didn’t know that was its proper name (dealer forgot to put the handbook in the glovebox so I’m learning as I go until the postman brings that).

Thanks for your good wishes. I’ll update once the AA patrol have been out (no-one round here’s got any jump leads?!) and the garage have had a look at the battery. Hope it’s not TOO expensive to fix!!!

Buy yourself a battery pack off ebay, you'll need it again

One of the less costly investments your Range Rover will ask for. Make sure you get one that can jump your engine size

brasso · Jul 25, 2020

Datatek said:
No idea what the "Battery Brain" is supposed to do, but it's not going to get rid of parasitic drain or compensate for a failing battery. A cheap smart charger from Aldi/Lidl is a good investment if you do a lot of short runs or leave it parked up for periods.

It’s a device you switch on when you’ve turned off the engine which is supposed to intervene if your battery drops below a certain charge and isolate it. So in theory you should never get a flat battery...

brasso · Jul 25, 2020

gold rover said:
Buy yourself a battery pack off ebay, you'll need it again One of the less costly investments your Range Rover will ask for. Make sure you get one that can jump your engine size

This seems like sound advice, thank you!

brasso · Jul 25, 2020

So to update:

There is a 3amp parasitic drain when the ignition’s turned off. It drops down to around 2.5amps after ten minutes of shutdown. Eventually left with a 2.6amp paristic drain at 12.2volts

Regulated output from alternator at 14.1volts is 60-70amps. Rising to 88amps under load.

With the fans on it goes up to 81amps so alternator is working under volts and amps.

Acceptance amperage of 38amps.

So the battery is taking and holding a charge and it’s not the alternator. Hopefully the BMW specialist will be able to get some more targeted information on Monday. But does anyone in here have an immediate reaction to that 2.5/2.6amp drain? Hoping someone says that’s definitely the final stage resistor ’cos I think even I could fit that!

gold rover · Jul 25, 2020

brasso said:
So to update:

There is a 3amp parasitic drain when the ignition’s turned off. It drops down to around 2.5amps after ten minutes of shutdown. Eventually left with a 2.6amp paristic drain at 12.2volts

Regulated output from alternator at 14.1volts is 60-70amps. Rising to 88amps under load.

With the fans on it goes up to 81amps so alternator is working under volts and amps.

Acceptance amperage of 38amps.

So the battery is taking and holding a charge and it’s not the alternator. Hopefully the BMW specialist will be able to get some more targeted information on Monday. But does anyone in here have an immediate reaction to that 2.5/2.6amp drain? Hoping someone says that’s definitely the final stage resistor ’cos I think even I could fit that!

Check your headlamp wipers, if you have them

brasso · Jul 25, 2020

gold rover said:
Check your headlamp wipers, if you have them

Thank you. At the risk of sounding like a total moron, what do you mean by check? Check they’re working? Or check that they’re not draining power once the ignition is off?

gold rover · Jul 25, 2020

brasso said:
Thank you. At the risk of sounding like a total moron, what do you mean by check? Check they’re working? Or check that they’re not draining power once the ignition is off?

Check that they are seating properly when you switch engine off. They are known to be a drain, if they are not seated correctly.

Datatek · Jul 25, 2020

brasso said:
It’s a device you switch on when you’ve turned off the engine which is supposed to intervene if your battery drops below a certain charge and isolate it. So in theory you should never get a flat battery...

Ah, usually by the time devices like that intervene, the battery is too low for an L322. They are primarily designed to protect the battery from an unrecoverable deep discharge.

brasso · Jul 25, 2020

gold rover said:
Check that they are seating properly when you switch engine off. They are known to be a drain, if they are not seated correctly.

Thank you. Will check that today as it’s p!ssing down here!

brasso · Jul 25, 2020

Datatek said:
Ah, usually by the time devices like that intervene, the battery is too low for an L322. They are primarily designed to protect the battery from an unrecoverable deep discharge.

Ah, gotcha. That makes sense. Wish me luck trying to get a refund now it’s been fitted...

I’ve ordered one of those portable jump-starters recommended higher up on this thread. Thanks guys.

Datatek · Jul 25, 2020

brasso said:
Ah, gotcha. That makes sense. Wish me luck trying to get a refund now it’s been fitted...

I’ve ordered one of those portable jump-starters recommended higher up on this thread. Thanks guys.

Get yourself a cheap smart charger from Lidl/Aldi about £14 and use it to keep the battery topped up if you do a lot of short journeys.

gold rover · Jul 25, 2020

brasso said:
Ah, gotcha. That makes sense. Wish me luck trying to get a refund now it’s been fitted...

I’ve ordered one of those portable jump-starters recommended higher up on this thread. Thanks guys.

If you get the right battery for the model, you should be fine. I had a wealth of trouble with the wrong battery. Before it I would park her up, go away for over 12 weeks, come back and fire her up, no issues. Went through the issues. Eventually got right battery, now she sits for two weeks or more at a time, I do around 60-80 miles a month, and start her first time ( hopes not to jinx it)
The usual way to look at random L322 faults is, battery, diagnostics. Then go further if need be.

L322 Won’t start

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