Member Since: 23 Dec 2015
Location: Bangor
Posts: 19
battery keeps draining
Hi all, my 2005 2.7TDV battery works just fine most of the time and the car starts really quickly with not a lot of cranking required, but every so often I will go to the car and find the battery to be totally dead, not even enough power to unlock the doors! If I swap the battery over the car starts easily with no issues and so I leave that battery on for a while until the same thing happens. The car isn't my daily driver and is used mainly for short trips, but I will be leaving it parked up for a couple of weeks at an airport car park soon and don't really fancy having to swap batteries over on my return to the car, so I was thinking about fitting a battery isolator to stop any potential drain whilst I am away. I'd welcome any suggestions or advice group members can offer. Thanks in advance. Thumbs Up ps I am using a new battery.
6th Nov 2016 10:52 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73132
Original battery? Might just need a new battery, cheap as chips in the grand scheme of running a D3.
Oops ignore that, didn't see new battery. Alternator might be goosed. We need voltage numbers, both running and engine off.
6th Nov 2016 10:56 am
unwaith
Member Since: 23 Dec 2015
Location: Bangor
Posts: 19
The battery is giving a reading of 12.6V with engine off and 15.03V with the engine running.
6th Nov 2016 1:08 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73132
See what the battery is in the morning tomorrow, then the surface charge will have dissipated and give you a true figure. 15.03 is normal for the alternator if charging a battery that's needing a lot of topping up, it should then drop down to 14.2v or so after a while. Re battery voltage, best to see what it is tomorrow.
6th Nov 2016 4:39 pm
unwaith
Member Since: 23 Dec 2015
Location: Bangor
Posts: 19
Thanks for that, I'll check the battery again in the morning
6th Nov 2016 7:27 pm
unwaith
Member Since: 23 Dec 2015
Location: Bangor
Posts: 19
Battery voltage measured this morning was 12.4V after a cold night.
7th Nov 2016 8:23 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73132
Not too bad then.
7th Nov 2016 8:27 am
Robbie
Member Since: 05 Feb 2006
Location: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Posts: 17932
Of course, voltage is only indicative of the state of charge.
An unexpected drain is usually understood as a good battery state after a few days but declining further over multiple days.Land Rover - Turning Drivers into Mechanics Since 1948
Member Since: 23 Dec 2015
Location: Bangor
Posts: 19
down t under 11V this morning - going to charge it up again now then take it to an auto-sparks to check it out & hope they find a problem with the battery!
8th Nov 2016 9:36 am
Robbie
Member Since: 05 Feb 2006
Location: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Posts: 17932
Did you read my guide?Land Rover - Turning Drivers into Mechanics Since 1948
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