Hi,

2013 FL2 SD4 HSE Auto

Intermittent starting issues, leave the car and return in the morning and it started. Next time it needed a jump cable start. Third time took terminals off battery, held together then replaced and it started. Fourth time tried that, no good so left car and returned in the morning and it started first time. When it doesn't start there are no clicks just dials go to the max and return and silence. All dash lights etc work.

Fully charged the battery last night and tested for parasitic drain.....thought I had one but amps eventually went to 0.01. Learned that whenever car is opened with wireless key fob or a door is opened the car seems to begin some kind of cycle of coming alive and the battery dips dramatically from say 12.57v down as low as 12.09 then slowly comes back up to say 12.48 and stops. If I lock the car eventually the voltage goes back to a resting 12.57v. If I don't lock the car and leave it the battery will not go back to a resting voltage of 12.57 but lingers at 12.48v weird. I guess it working in the background all the time.

Single or double locking the car makes no difference on the eventual voltage, both times the voltage comes slowly back up so everything shuts down either way.

After all this testing today battery was still at 12.57 but I went inside for an hour or so. Returned to find I left one door open and car unlocked. Tried to start it and all the faults in the world came up on the screen....steering lock, park brake, HDC thingy etc and in the centre screen low battery. No idea how old the battery is.

Should there be such a voltage drop when the car is opened?

I'm hoping a poor battery is sending the electronics haywire and not some electronics sending the battery haywire? New battery? or book it into garage for diagnostics? I'm in Cyprus so no real dedicated Land Rover workshop though there is a shared with other brands workshop I believe.

My first thought would be the battery and maybe try the extra earth strap thing. Double locking is recommended.

Hi and thanks for the suggestion. I read somewhere that later FL2's had a second earth strap anyway? Perhaps this isn't correct so will look into it. I shall be double locking from now on for sure.

I had an issue with the front passenger door not unlocking with the other doors and wondered if this sticking lock or whatever it is would be having an affect on the electronics? Lately I have changed the settings to only open the drivers door so no attempt to open the passenger door is made. So in my simple brwain, the sticking lock never materialises.....anyway new battery tomorrow.....see how that goes.

If the door open an hour has caused the battery to be that flat you get loads of errors(this is caused when the ecu has a voltage below what it can deal with while cranking) on the dash I would be swapping it
An extra earth strap and cleaning all the terminals up when fitting the new battery and those on the starter motor is where I would start
If your still having starting problems come back here with more detail

I had a dodgy front pax door lock that caused the battery to discharge along with the concomitant traction control warnings etc. I think the door lock, in not signalling job done as it were, kept the car permanently awake and thus flattened the battery.

A new door lock module and a new battery completely cured the problem. Strange things these cars when a door lock announces its failure with a traction control error message

There should be a date code on the battery. Each manufacturers code is different. Just Google your make of battery and you should get the information you require. You could also get the battery professionally tested.
Trying to crank the engine with a low battery will throw all manner of faults codes but most will be low voltage related.
Hope you get it sorted.  Now at the point when I learn something new something old is lost out the other side !
Now retired so it doesn't matter anymore.
Freelander now gone.

Deal with the battery first, IMO. Have it load tested, voltage is one thing, amps are another.

Definitely get the battery checked first off.

Just a couple of weeks ago, my Freely failed to start one morning. I put it on charge overnight. Next morning measasured voltage at 12.95v. Started fine. Ran around during the day, next morning.No start!! Have fitted a new battery and now everything fine. The old battery was less than 4 years old and has a 5 year guarantee, so currently pursuing that!!

Steve

ReggiePerrin wrote:

I had a dodgy front pax door lock that caused the battery to discharge along with the concomitant traction control warnings etc. I think the door lock, in not signalling job done as it were, kept the car permanently awake and thus flattened the battery.

A new door lock module and a new battery completely cured the problem. Strange things these cars when a door lock announces its failure with a traction control error message

12.57v is too low. Starter batteries are on borrowed time after 4 years. There will be a date stamp on the battery, probably week/year (ww/yy). As other have said get the battery tested.

You could charge the battery. Let it rest 24 hours & it should be mid 13 volts. Less than that chuck it.

It could also be one cell has died, but that is unlikely as you would still get a decent voltage off the meter, but not the amps to start the car. Happened with a neighbour with 2 year old battery.

The Freelander needs a top notch battery. A new battery amortised over 4 years is not much money. Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!

Acoustic insulation ARB TPMS 3xARB air compressors After cooler Air tank On-board OCD pressure air/water cleaning Additional 50L fuel Carpet in doors ABE 2x1kg Waeco 28L modified fridge Battery 4x26ah Solar 120w Victron MPPT 100/20 DC-DC 18amps 175amp jumper plug Awning 6x255/60R18

Hi,

Yesterday I charged it all afternoon until the evening with the terminals off. I took the charger off late evening and in the morning it still read about 12.9....! so I though great, it's good. Didn't start the car at all.....I went straight into testing for parasitic drains which showed none in the end. I spent time removing fuses etc which proved nothing. There was an initial high drain which was the car doing it's thing after opening a door but then it dropped to .47amps and then after about fifteen minutes dropped to .01amps. So no drain I assume.

I spent an hour or two while doing other stuff testing the voltage with doors open, car locked and car double locked and all seemed good. Started it briefly and then left it alone for a couple of hours....came back wouldn't start but had left it unlocked with a door open but no interior lights on...all were switched off. But the door being open meant the car was probably working away in the background unable to shut down and this took the voltage down to what I tested as 12.2v.....but when I did lock the car this went up to 12.48 and stopped there. weird.

Swanny wrote:

Hi,

Yesterday I charged it all afternoon until the evening with the terminals off. I took the charger off late evening and in the morning it still read about 12.9

If the battery is more than 4 years old, then as suggested, replace it. There's no point in spending hours trying to identify a nonexistent fault, when the battery is the most likely cause. 2009 Rimini Red SE TD4. Soon to be sold.
Hyundai Ioniq 5 Ultimate on order.
Gone. 2006 Tonga Green i6 HSE.

I still have the original LR battery in my 09 FL2 GS. Date code on lead terminal.
For the past 6yrs I have trickle charged it when the car is not in use, especially during the winter.

So that's a March 09 to current date. you do the math.

I have jump started cars in central Australia. You should see the panic on these peoples faces when stuck 1000km from help & it takes a week to get a battery plus remote freight costs & they have limited food & water. These same idiots don't even have spare fuses. Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!

Acoustic insulation ARB TPMS 3xARB air compressors After cooler Air tank On-board OCD pressure air/water cleaning Additional 50L fuel Carpet in doors ABE 2x1kg Waeco 28L modified fridge Battery 4x26ah Solar 120w Victron MPPT 100/20 DC-DC 18amps 175amp jumper plug Awning 6x255/60R18