Curiouser and curiouser!

Ran the car for a few minutes then switched off
Set the clamp meter

Opened passenger door and tailgate, locked the car, then locked the door and the boot manually

Amps - Time
5.0 - 1 min
3.17 - 1 min
1.46 - 5 mins
1.13 - 13 mins (after pulling the glove box light fuse!)
0.43 - Red P light out

Different to last night, and from what I have seen elsewhere this value is within range / expected ?

Started pulling fuses

Went for the obvious ones:

Headlamp washing
Diagnostic port
Nav system

no change on any of these

Then the alarm went off - must have been the interior sensor (forgot to turn this off when locking)

Confused now....will test battery next .
Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember
Volvo V70 P2 2006 2.4 Petrol 170bhp Estate SE
MG Midget Mk1 1962

Previous: L322 Range Rover TDV8 3.6 2008; L322 Range Rover TD6 3.0 2002; P38A Range Rover V8 1999

I found I got some inconsistent results too. Pretty frustrating and confusing - which seems to be the whole way of this car.

I did pull a glove box fuse and got a significant drop in the drain. On my 2007 though the fuse for the glove box lamp also does the BCU as well so that was no help at all. Because I then spent time pulling every other fuse to see if I could determine which one was causing the BCU to stay awake.

The following day, I discovered the diagnostic port was causing 2 amps, so concluded that the BCU was not a massive contributor.

It's enough to drive one mad isn't it? My solution to the growing insanity and hatred was to finish early and have an alcholic drink in the sunshine.

0.43a is 430mA, which is way too high. Allegedly, you should be looking at around 50mA once alseep. That will be 0.05 on your clamp meter. I got mine down from 250mA (0.25A) to just under 100mA (0.10A) and it has improved battery life considerably. Ideally I want to hunt down that last 50mA but I've been too busy. RR History
1988 2.4td Classic 1999 to 2020
1992 3.9efi Westminster Classic 2004-2005
2005MY L322 3.0TD6 Vogue 2016 to current

So you said earlier to me NVB. It would be nice to get down to that level, but I am not going to go all out for it as Land Rover, 2x RAC technicians, 1x German ADAC breakdown tech, and my most trusted mechanic all say that on these cars 1amp is the upper of what is acceptable, not ideal in any way, but acceptable.

Where did you hear that it needs to be so much less? Is that specific to a RR or all cars? People I know say you should be looking for about what you are saying, but on a Corsa or a KA, not on a RR.

I am sure that I read it here. It makes sense that it is that low, otherwise you couldn't leave your car at an airport for a couple of weeks without risking a flat battery when you return.

If you have the standard 95Ah battery, and assume you should never go below 50% discharge, which is accepted to preserve battery life, you only have 42.5 hours (less than two days) with a 1A drain before you are into battery problems. If you use the car every day, for a decent distance, this will probably be ok. I use mine a couple of times a week and with a 250mA drain was constantly finding a flat battery. That same battery is now fine up to two weeks, although it is a bit touch and go after that amount of time with my current 100mA drain.

Mine was caused by water in the Bluetooth module BTW. Unplugged it and drain dropped to current level immediately. Took me a day or so to track it down but was soooo worth it. RR History
1988 2.4td Classic 1999 to 2020
1992 3.9efi Westminster Classic 2004-2005
2005MY L322 3.0TD6 Vogue 2016 to current

Very valid points. I wouldn't dare leave mine at the airport and go on a 2 week holiday currently, and that is a massive handicap. Land Rover told that they get a lot of complaints from owners of new RR that after coming back from hols they cannot start their cars. Abysmal really.

Is the bluetooth module in the back right hand cubby?

If you need to leave your car at an airport for a couple of weeks or considerably more there is a simple way to achieve it.
Buy a second battery and put it in your boot as required, connect it to the 100A rated cable serving the rear fuse board and an earth point in the boot area. Connection can be any way you like, Anderson connectors, bolted straight to the 100A cable, alligator clamps etc.
When you leave your car at the airport disconnect the earth terminal of the front original battery and the car will then run quiet happily on the temporary battery whilst you are away. This leaves the disconnected front battery as a dedicated fully charged battery available for your return.
When you return simply reconnect the earth terminal on the front battery and start your car as normal.
Trust me, this arrangement works.
You should also ensure that the manual key operation of you drivers door works reliably also just in case your electric locking doesn't work for any reason on your return.
There is also a simple arrangement to overcome this situation if required.
You could of course go the whole hog and permanently install a second battery and a battery isolating switch on the front battery on a permanent basis for convenience.

Thanks NVB, got the decimal point in the wrong place!

Ran another clamp test this morning and the car settled at @ 0.6 amp, so still too high, and remaining inconsistent!

If I have the patience, I will have another go pulling fuses, and write a full howto for getting into position for it!

Anyway fixed my remote locking this morning so reasonably chipper  .
Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember
Volvo V70 P2 2006 2.4 Petrol 170bhp Estate SE
MG Midget Mk1 1962

Previous: L322 Range Rover TDV8 3.6 2008; L322 Range Rover TD6 3.0 2002; P38A Range Rover V8 1999

Interesting. I need to get a new battery for my other car so I might have a 90ah one going spare.

SausageCreature wrote:

Very valid points. I wouldn't dare leave mine at the airport and go on a 2 week holiday currently, and that is a massive handicap. Land Rover told that they get a lot of complaints from owners of new RR that after coming back from hols they cannot start their cars. Abysmal really.

Is the bluetooth module in the back right hand cubby?

Thanks.

Finally a chance to have a good go at my battery drain:

• Bonnet sensor disconnected
  
• parametric interior sensor disconnected
  
• Passenger door and tailgate manually locked while open
  
• air suspension inhibited
  
• locked car with bonnet open

Pulled everything from the rear left cubby, and cleaned up all the contacts. With satnav, amp, tv and radio out, zero battery drain, so it is one of these.

All put back and drain is now down to 0.35 amp.

I think it is the satnav or the radio, but not sure on next steps to resolve.... .
Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember
Volvo V70 P2 2006 2.4 Petrol 170bhp Estate SE
MG Midget Mk1 1962

Previous: L322 Range Rover TDV8 3.6 2008; L322 Range Rover TD6 3.0 2002; P38A Range Rover V8 1999

Had this similar issue recently on a 2010 rr vogue.
After much head scratching fuse pulling etc etc it turned out to be the neg cable on the battery that has a power monitor module on it and that had failed. If i have anything running in the car when stationary and the battery gets low it now tells me its going to shut down .....never did before. Dealers just wanted to throw a circuit board at the car and batteries. jeeeeez

Swapped it out at the dealers £65 and they said its quite common. Bosch part and has been updated a few times apparently.
Anyway pull the connector on it and see if it stops drawing.

Good luck

handy to know  ... - .- -.




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