[mad85]

2003 Manual Td5 Disco

I have a battery leak which is draining the battery in a few days. I suspect it has become worst over the months. Any obvious / common culprits that I can check? best way to check it?

 

[tilly2]

Have you got a multimeter, that can measure DC amps ? Are you sure its a current drain. Have you had the battery checked ?

 

[mad85]

battery is a red top optima, few months old, hope it is not the problem here. i do have a multimeter. do you know what the 'normal' current draw when the car is "at rest" (door closed for some time) locked and unlocked?

 

[sierrafery]

To see the correct quiescent drain on the D2 you'll have to lock the vehicle with bonnet open to be abe to lift it without unlocking the vehicle, let it rest two hours then check the drain with multimeter set on amps without breaking the circuit like the guy shows in the video then you'll have to pull the big fusible links(marked FL on the lid) one by one... if the drain goes away on one of them tell me which and we'll speak then.

PS if the drain is present with unlocked vehicle too then let it unlocked and check after 2 hours then you can break the circuit .... maximum allowed on a D2 is 30 mA but on a good one it dosnt exceed 15MA

 

[mad85]

thanks, just the info i needed, will check and let you know

 

[mad85]

Draw both locked and unlocked stabilises at 40mAh. I also could not find any culprit by removing the relays/fuses in the engine bay. Im guessing a likely cause could be an alternator on its way out?

 

[sierrafery]

Draw both locked and unlocked stabilises at 40mAh. I also could not find any culprit by removing the relays/fuses in the engine bay. Im guessing a likely cause could be an alternator on its way out?

that's higher than normal but the alternator can be the culprit and the drain is higher if the battery voltage is lower... charge the battery and check the voltage on it in the morning, here's a chart: https://www.rvtechlibrary.com/battery/bat_volts.php

 

[sierrafery]

Just realised this:

battery is a red top optima

i know that many people recommend it for D2 but IMO those have too little knowledge about these things, red tops are AGM batteries and AGM needs a different kind of charging system which can deliver higher voltage, the D2's rudimentary alternator was conceived for SLA not AGM batteries and it's possible that it ruined your expensive battery which didnt get proper charging over time, that's the result of relying on all kind of forumists without making serious scientific research to make sure it's not b0ll0x. In a nutshell: https://vehiclefreak.com/std-vs-agm-battery-charging-whats-the-difference/ , there are many articles about that, some more explicit... the fact that somebody fitted AGM battery to a D2 or other vehicle with "classic" alternator and he states it's OK doesnt mean it is from technical point of view too.

 

[mad85]

Just realised this:
i know that many people recommend it for D2 but IMO those have too little knowledge about these things, red tops are AGM batteries and AGM needs a different kind of charging system which can deliver higher voltage, the D2's rudimentary alternator was conceived for SLA not AGM batteries and it's possible that it ruined your expensive battery which didnt get proper charging over time, that's the result of relying on all kind of forumists without making serious scientific research to make sure it's not b0ll0x. In a nutshell: https://vehiclefreak.com/std-vs-agm-battery-charging-whats-the-difference/ , there are many articles about that, some more explicit... the fact that somebody fitted AGM battery to a D2 or other vehicle with "classic" alternator and he states it's OK doesnt mean it is from technical point of view too.

i had the same concern but a few friends are running these batteries in older trucks like d1s,d2s, hiluxs etc and they seem to be working fine.

 

[sierrafery]

i had the same concern but a few friends are running these batteries in older trucks like d1s,d2s, hiluxs etc and they seem to be working fine.

For me the fact that "they seem ..." is not good enough as long as it's certain that they dont get a proper charging... theyr's life span is very dependant on how the vehicle is used, longer trips more often or rare, short trips, shorter or longer rests, standard or extra loads on the vehicle... and so on, etc, ... quite unlikely to find two vehicles with the same evolution, what's certain is that AGM is not designed to be charged with a rudimentary/classic alternator... period