I am taking the family off skiing to the states in a couple of weeks - COVID allowing.

Quick question - I am new to LR ownership and I'm wondering what the likelihood of having a flat battery would be on a 2012 Westminster TD4.4 after standing for 2 weeks If I'm going to be p*ssing about with jumpleads, locksmiths and etc at the end of a 11hr red-eye - I may just take a cab.

If you've never had issues before and battery is in good health then 2 weeks will be fine Gone to a good home: 2011 4.4 TDV8 Vogue SE Buckingham Blue with Ivory and clear glass = "Rory"
2025MY Defender D350 90 in Silicon Silver on coils
1974 Series 3 Lightweight = "Millie"
Many, many other Landies over the years
My preferred specialist: www.glenrands.co.uk
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As said, shouldn't be a problem. One thing to do, to avoid locksmiths, is to make sure you can unlock it by inserting the key in the lock. John
2008 Stornoway Grey 3.6 Tdv8 Vogue
2005 TD6 Java Black Vogue - Written off!!
GAP iiD BT
2003 Discovery TD5 Auto, Nanocom Evolution - gone to a new home!
MasseyFerguson 152 - No electronics!! - Sold

Erm - where the heck is the lock. Mine is blanked out. Do I need to remove a blanking cover?

Have just tested the battery:

Resting charge voltage 11.90V cold last cranked yesterday

Charge at idle 14.45V

No problems at all starting, and clearly the alternator is delivering a decent charge, but I'm thinking that maybe one of the cells is struggling....?

Hi
I reckon you will be fine.
My 2011 Vogue SE was fine, I had it for 8 years and it was on the original battery when I sold it last May. Never failed me and it was left for up to 3 weeks in Jan/Feb most years, although the dashboard told me most months at some point that battery was low!!
However....if in doubt....
Buy one of these:

https://thereviewindex.com/uk/p/ARTECK_900...B01MXKJTJT

They are brilliant and you will not be disappointed.
Pendle L405 SV Autobiography 2016
XJS V12 Convertible 1990
Previous:
L322 Vogue SE 2011
Mazda MX5 1999
Saab 9-5 2.0 SE 2000
Discovery 3 door 300 Tdi 1995
Fiat X1/9 1983
Citroen BX 1.9 GTI Turbo 1987
Austin Princess Vanden Plas 1972
Several too embarrassing to publish and a bunch of Company cars incl RAV4 Honda Accord Coupe and a Bora.

Ha - thanks Pendle. I have that exact same charger, along with another in my garage. Can I find the adaptor to charge either of them? Can I F%^£?

It should be illegal to manufacture any kind of elctrical adapter without clearly labelling what it belongs to.

I did find this interesting post from Nicedayforit - which seems to make a lot of sense:

Surprisingly difficult to measure the battery voltage accurately on an FFRR.
Opening any door brings the car to life and for a few minutes the current draw can go up to 7-8A, this current drain gradually goes down over about 15minutes until the car goes to sleep again.
The current draw on awakening results in a voltage drop on the battery of about 0.4-0.5V.
Therefore if you open the car, even the bonnet, and then immeadiately measure the battery voltage, it will be reading low.
You really need to leave the car to go to sleep after opening giving the battery time to recover, I would suggest about 30-40minutes.
I get round this by having a voltmeter plugged into the front ciggy socket with the display readable thro a window. Also good for measuring alternator output voltage on the go.
11.9V on a battery is a bit low, could be just it didn't have time to recover.
14.2V on the alternator is very good. Thumbs Up

I have had current drain problems, still unresolved at the moment. I wanted to see what was going on so bought one of these ( only a very small drain from their usage) : BM2wireless car battery checker ( https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/373732733079)

Lock your car and see what happens. You can extrapolate from the graphs it produces to see whether your battery lasts a few weeks ( or not!!)

If it was me, I would buy something to connect to the battery which enables two wires to poke out from the front of the radiator grill. Try this: Ctek CTE-56261 Ctek Direct Connector Adaptor (8mm) together with a CTEK extension cable to get to the front of the car, from Amazon.

I do have a Nobo gb40 to jump start the car but I would need to be able to open the car to open the bonnet in order to use it. So having a pair of wires near the front grill would let someone get some charge into the car. I did see a YouTube video of someone using the 13 pin tow socket to do the same thing.

PS I don’t rate myself as any kind of expert, so if anyone thinks I am writing rubbish please feel free to tell me.

PPS Enjoy your skiing holiday

Or just leave your bonnet unlatched.

How about a cheap solar panel charger? Just a small one stick on the inside of the windscreen then run the cable through door shuts and clip to battery? Or in the back window and plug onto big live behind the right hand panel in bot?

What l would recommend is that you fit a battery isolating switch to the existing battery, ie the starter battery.
You then need to buy a smaller second battery say 50AH that you can sit in the boot.
You connect this battery to the +12V feeder cable to the rear fuse board and to a convenient earth point nearby.
The two batteries will then be connected in parallel and will charge simultaneously whilst you drive the car.
When you park the car you disconnect the starter battery using the isolating switch leaving the car to operate on the rear battery whilst you are not using it.

When you come back to the car simply switch on the starter battery which will still be fully charged and away you go.
This set up works without fault, l have used it for years on this car.

You don't need to connect the second battery permanently if you choose not to, you could just connect the second battery as and when required as long as lt was fully charged.

Just so you know how to abs can see if it works

Passenger door…..

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