Member Since: 18 Apr 2011
Location: Kent
Posts: 87
I have a similar issue although it is frustratingly intermittent. Long drive try start next day , barely cranks. 2 days stand and it starts first time...
I have a headrest DVD unit but this is powered only when acc on ...
I may have left the car unlocked when it drained - but cannot be sure.
+1000 re CTEK chargers !
Perhaps the car not cycling off properly when switched "off" ...???
9th Jul 2012 9:35 am
djcleckie
Member Since: 08 Feb 2010
Location: Highlands
Posts: 191
Hi
I have a very similar topic going at the link below. Its on going as I have not resolved the issue.
There are quite a few relevant comments there as well.
Hi this maybe too late for you but hopefully others will gain from the many hours I have spent solving a battery drain problem. The problem? Well I never really connected the two issues, no pun intended but..... sometime ago my tailgate switch started playing up, eventually not working at all. Prior to fitting it I was struggling finding why my brand new battery was going as flat as kipper's in only around four days. I disconnected all fuses under the bonnet, knowing some feed the fuses behind the glove box. Eventually I tied the excessive battery drain, around 250mA to the FL15 (40A) fuse, feeds lights amongst other things on the glove box fuse box. I pulled several fuses there, then eventually a light came on in my brain as it were!! What if the knackered tailgate switch is earthing down? So dropped the search for the fault and decided to fit my shiny new tailgate switch assembly. £30 of a popular auction site (other sites are available)!! Fitted said assembly, did parasitic test and hey presto after the car's system went to sleep I now had a parasitic draw of 13mA. I am now as happy as the dog with 2 hu hums!
Hope the saga above helps, never could live with the trickle charger option, not much use on an airport car park when your away for several days!!
I did try the brake switch several weeks ago sadly to no avail, but was however amused by the stealer who new the code "of by heart")
22nd Jul 2012 4:49 pm
Captain Slow
Member Since: 18 Feb 2009
Location: Herts
Posts: 459
huh! mine's gone flat again - which cTek model are you using? any recommendations appreciated, thanksPrince Harry's D3: G4 factory equipped D3 - expo rack, winch, roof lights, ladder, active locking rear diff, RAI, Melville & Moon seat covers, General Grabber ATs/ Goodyear Duratrac
22nd Jul 2012 5:19 pm
endy1
Member Since: 11 Feb 2008
Location: Midlands
Posts: 24
Captain Slow wrote:
huh! mine's gone flat again - which cTek model are you using? any recommendations appreciated, thanks
Hi I use my motorbike's Acumen charger, but the important thing is to source the cause of the battery drain. If there is a lot of drain (I appreciate this is subjective) but generally unless the car is being left week in and out without charging I.e stored over winter(mine tends not to be used much now££) then you should not need to charge. Drive past any new vehicle storage area and you you see vehicles there for weeks even months without trickle charge requirement.
22nd Jul 2012 6:05 pm
Captain Slow
Member Since: 18 Feb 2009
Location: Herts
Posts: 459
I appreciate that, and am investigating the source but so far to no avail. i can't afford it to keep running flat so in the meantime a CTek charger would help surely? question is which one?Prince Harry's D3: G4 factory equipped D3 - expo rack, winch, roof lights, ladder, active locking rear diff, RAI, Melville & Moon seat covers, General Grabber ATs/ Goodyear Duratrac
22nd Jul 2012 6:30 pm
stevebez
Member Since: 18 Apr 2011
Location: Kent
Posts: 87
CTEK 7800 is best one for up to 100mah.
I got the intermittent drain as well ... i cannot understand what it is car is fine after a 5 min drive and a charge and then suddenly it will be very close to dead another time. Very frustrating.
Rear top brake light is cracked and there has been water ingress in the past but this has been patched up. Still get the intermittent batt drain. Been on the CTEK and when charged disco jumps to life.
Car can go for days being fine and then suddenly it gets moody. Then fine again and then moody... I should refer to the car as "she".
22nd Jul 2012 7:59 pm
endy1
Member Since: 11 Feb 2008
Location: Midlands
Posts: 24
Do you have an ammeter? If so disconnect one of the battery leads (I did the one to the fuse box, leaving the main one to starter etc connected via the main clamp) be careful not to short the battery terminal as you remove the 10mm bolt going into top of battery clamp, to any of the bodywork though ( tape your spanner up with electrical tape shorting batteries will make one big BANG with serious consequences!!!!!!!!!!!) and with the ammeter set to carry 10amp DC, connect one meter croc clip to the battery clamp and one to the disconnected battery lead. MAKing SURE ALL ELECTRICAL DEVICES ARE OFF 1st. As soon as you make the connection the interior lights will come on, switch them off ASAP and leave door ajar. Check what current is being drawn. Initial it could be as high as 3amps, this will drop quickly to around 1.5 to 2 amps, now wait around 5 to 10 minutes, if the current drain remains about the same start pulling fuses in the engine compartment, DO THIS WITH BATTERY LEAD AND METER DISCONNECTED! Reconnect meter as above and fit fuses one at a time noting the value of current initially with all fuse out it should be ZERO. At some point you will fit a fuse and the current will pick up, just check that the interior lights re not causing this, hence my comment about leaving the driver's door open!
My money is on the problem being on FL15 its a 40amp fuse feeding lights and the interior fuse box, behind the glove box, when the current picks up wait around 10 min just to see if the sleep mode kicks in and reduces it. My FL16 did this but dropped to 10mA after 10min which is nothing in current values on these beasts. Whereas
FL15 stayed high 280mA nver dropping until I found the guilty party the tailgate assembly.
PS I GIVE THIS ADVICE BASED ON YOU TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY RESULTING ACTIONS GOOD OR BAD, it worked for me so if you feel confident then follow the above or not.
Hope this helps
22nd Jul 2012 9:44 pm
drivesafe
Member Since: 23 Feb 2006
Location: Gold Coast, Australia
Posts: 867
Hi Folks, and can each one of you with the battery drain problem post up exactly where you park your Disco, as in the location at home in your garage or what ever.
The reason I ask, I have just finished an 18 month problem where a customer’s battery kept going flat while it was parked in his garage and while there were a number on potential contributing factors, they were all ruled out when he turned his disco around and no longer had the problem.
To explain. He normally drive into his garage and backed out when leaving, but after months of the battery going flat, he started backing into his garage to make it easier to jump start when he needed to.
As above, once he turned the disco around, it never had a flat battery.
Thinking all was well he resumed drive front first into his garage and with in a few days, flat batteries again.
While I had been trying to sort his problem out over the 18 months, it was only after his last visit a month ago that he told me about turning the disco around and problem solved.
After a few questions I asked him if he had one of these new Smart Meters, the AC power meters now being fitted over here.
e told me he did and it was on the opposite side of the rear wall of his garage and that it was fitted 18 months earlier, about the time his battery started going flat.
Note, on a trip he did, where his disco was left unused on a farm for more than a week, it started perfectly when he needed it.
These Smart meters send periodical Bluetooth signals as part of the monitoring and it would appear this may have been continually waking up the D4’s computer when parked to close to the meter.
In this case, the customer has now moved so I can not do any testing.
Has anyone else come across this kind of problem?2008 TDV8 RR Lux + 2009 D4 2.7
23rd Jul 2012 10:34 am
Robbie
Member Since: 05 Feb 2006
Location: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Posts: 17932
Park mine next to the Smart Meter and all that electrickery stays in the battery just fine.Land Rover - Turning Drivers into Mechanics Since 1948
Member Since: 07 Jun 2011
Location: Herts
Posts: 277
I've also got a battery drain of 0.3=0.5amps. Twice in the last week I've come back to a dead discovery, although the AA are now saying I need a new battery (07 Disco 76K miles). Sorry to hijack thread, just wondering what is draining the battery which was fine up until a week ago.*now enjoying* D5 Namib Orange HSE 68
Disco4 Kaikoura Stone HSE 16
Disco4 Nara Bronze HSE 11
Disco4 Nara Bronze XS 10
Disco3 Rimini Red HSE 07
25th Jul 2012 1:49 pm
endy1
Member Since: 11 Feb 2008
Location: Midlands
Posts: 24
When they did the battery drain test (assuming they did it) how long did they leave it until they took a reading? It needs I would say 10 minutes to go to sleep, until that time lapse up to 500mA is normal.
If you follow my destructions earlier on in this thread I have given a couple of pointers as to where and why it could be happening to you.
Feel free to ask more questions, but prepared for lots of searching questions about car's condition to try and track down the fault for you/others.
25th Jul 2012 4:38 pm
devonchilliman
Member Since: 03 Nov 2008
Location: Devon
Posts: 5224
wiggs wrote:
Get yourself a decent ctek charger ..
What do you consider a decent one Adrian ?
25th Jul 2012 5:07 pm
Captain Slow
Member Since: 18 Feb 2009
Location: Herts
Posts: 459
as i'm not too far away I made the trip to purchase and gets some advice. a Top bloke (Henry I think) pointed me in the direction of the mxs 5.0 as being suitable.
I took it home, put it on recondition mode and left it overnight. hey presto by morning my 'dead' battery had recovered. result Prince Harry's D3: G4 factory equipped D3 - expo rack, winch, roof lights, ladder, active locking rear diff, RAI, Melville & Moon seat covers, General Grabber ATs/ Goodyear Duratrac
25th Jul 2012 5:20 pm
tonigmr2
Member Since: 07 Jun 2011
Location: Herts
Posts: 277
Well third dead battery in a week, it is now not accepting charge. Despite being on a ctek all night still wouldn't crank the car today. So I put a regular charger on it, and it told me it was fully charged...
11.5v showing. So it's knackered and I bought a new one.
Think the drain a red herring, as AA chap certainly didn't wait 10 mins for the car to power down.*now enjoying* D5 Namib Orange HSE 68
Disco4 Kaikoura Stone HSE 16
Disco4 Nara Bronze HSE 11
Disco4 Nara Bronze XS 10
Disco3 Rimini Red HSE 07
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