Gents,

Completely unreported by myself yesterday, my FFRR greeted me yesterday morning at 6am by not starting.

Key in ignition. Usual lights. Turn key for engine and it all goes blank with a click.

Then, a faint quick clicking which sounded to me like a relay with insufficient power. Repeated attempts with the key in, then out, then in again all result in the same thing.

So a booster pack was duly connected and she fired up instantly. Battery pretty much out of juice. It's a Varta, but I haven't looked to see which ah rating.

So, a 30 minute drive to work, being careful to not use anything other than the necessary lights and there she sat until lunchtime. Quick turn of the key and it all happened again! Battery pretty much dead.

Yet another booster pack start (Green Flag to the rescue both times and they were excellent, but the AA have disgraced themselves yet again with me...) and off I trot home with no problem.

I park the RR on the drive with the nose ina convenient location for a battery charger or a jump start from our 39 year-old Series 3. I've taken our E55 to work today.

Here's the question.

She was working fine up until yesterday morning. But I do recall an electrical whirring coming from somewhere after I used her on Saturday to go to Mercedes-Benz World. Stupidly, I ignored it.

Noticed exactly the same thing yesterday when I got home. It's coming from a steering wheel motor inside. This time, I switched on the ignition and switched back off again. Noise ceased.

I also noticed that I couldn't adjust the steering column downwards yesterday. The motor whirred, but no movement. This happened twice when I tried both to work and back.

Luckily(?!), she's booked in to Guava tomorrow to be looked at (that faint burning smell if you recall) and I've asked this be examined as well.

By the way, I panicked and ordered a new Bosch battery yesterday. Maybe in too much haste, but it's being delivered later today and I'll try and fit it when I get home. Personal experience tells me that battaries don't like being discharged much like this.

So, any suggestions as to a possible cause? Si. <This is my name.

I eat rat poison.

A man ain't truly been insulted until he stands buck naked in front of a woman and she didn't even notice. Or care.

from experience and reading on the forum , it seems once the battery gets to a certain low point all kinds of gremlins start affecting the fullfat , from dash errors to things not working properly..

once any one starts getting problems the first call is a replacement battery especially if its 3 'ish years old...

even my year old varta started being sluggish and the nav screen wouldn't come on sometimes so i got a replacement and all is well .... ... - .- -.




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Thanks.

That was the general feeling I received also from reading back through historical posts.

But what stumps me is why so suddenly?

I suppose I'm worried that the wheel adjustment motors are nearing replacement, hence the whirring and no movement.

But then , looking at things a different way and like you suggested, maybe the battery is just feeling tired. Frequent cold starts (but never for journeys less than 20 minutes and with a few of a few hours) with heated seat and 'wheel on and lights don't help. Si. <This is my name.

I eat rat poison.

A man ain't truly been insulted until he stands buck naked in front of a woman and she didn't even notice. Or care.

Yes, that screams of a battery not able to stand any further cycling, so you most likely have a bad cell. My money says a new battery and you're ready to go. Just for good measure though, before you swap it out, start the truck and take a multimeter set to measure volts and touch the red probe to the positive terminal and the black probe to the negative terminal and see what kind of reading you get with the truck idling (preferably with most accessories on). You should see +/- 14.2 volts, indicating your alternator is doing its job...in which case you can be pretty much assured your battery is the problem. Cheers,

Aaron

I had the alternator checked yesterday by Green Flag and they said it was fine.

I really appreciate the advice.  Si. <This is my name.

I eat rat poison.

A man ain't truly been insulted until he stands buck naked in front of a woman and she didn't even notice. Or care.

Having same issues as you mate, got a year old Varta I1 on it (110Ah, 920cca) and combination of cold starts and short journeys by mrsblonde with every sodding extra on has killed it I think.. Bit the bullet and bought a Bosch and fitting it tomorrow... I changed my FSR today just to be sure it's not that, was a diddly job but got there in the end

Chaps,

New Bosch installed. Old battery flat as a flat thing earlier.

Now, here's a question...

When I switch off, the electric motor that adjusts the reach on the steering column still whirrs as if it hasn't found its position yet. It's fully in.

A quick flick of the adjust lever stops it. But I'm not 100% certain it's ceased after locking. It starts again on unlocking.

Any ideas? I just hope it's all ok until 6am tomorrow. I've even parked within jumping distance of our Series, just in case. Si. <This is my name.

I eat rat poison.

A man ain't truly been insulted until he stands buck naked in front of a woman and she didn't even notice. Or care.

One of the best things I did was to set the steering wheel to the position I wanted and then disabled the operation.
Steering wheel stays where it is, imo much better.

exactly what i did to mine.....used the RAC tool.. ... - .- -.




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If the steering wheel adjuster motor is constantly running, that's what killed your battery.
Either disable it, or get it fixed; it'll just bite you in the ass on that one day you forget to park nose-in. Jim
2000 NAS HSE
2005 NAS HSE

If one disables the column from automatically moving, will it still be adjustable with the joystick? I may consider doing that on mine to save the headache (and expense) when it inevitably fails in a very inconvenient spot.

Can the stealer do this with Testbook I assume? Cheers,

Aaron

Had the same symptoms a few months back, thought it was the alternator but a new battery fixed all. Discovery 4 HSE
1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF
1982 Series 3 Hard Top

*Gone:L462 D5 HSE LUX, L663 Defender 110 HSE, Discovery 3 HSE, 2014MY Range Rover Sport 5.0 Supercharged AB Dynamic; L405 Exec Vogue SE 4.4, 5.0 Supercharged Autobiography, Defender TDCi XS CSW, Defender TD5 HT, Vogue SE TDV8, Vogue TD6, RRSport SC 4.2V8, Classic 3.9 Vogue Auto, Land Rover Series 3 SWB

@ bergxu
Yes you can move the steering wheel manually after the movement on entry has been disabled via software change.
As Scarey above I did it with RAC unit but a dealer could do it.
Very pleasant getting in the car and not having the steering column dancing about and the enevitable failure.

Thanks mate. I'll get it over to the stealer then and have them disable it. Was going to buy the AllComms from Storey Wilson...wonder if it'll do it.. Cheers,

Aaron

The All Comms from Storey does do it.
It's what I used.