My husband used to post on this forum until he passed away from cancer in 2017. I wanted to keep his Range Rover for sentimental reasons as we bought it when in the UK and imported her over. Needless to say, I'm totally lost without his mechanic skills and could really use some help.

My son took the Rangie to get some new tyres fitted yesterday. They couldn't get the wheel nuts off and ended up cutting one off (so it is now missing one wheel nut). Anyway, to cut a very long story short, it took them so long to get the tyres changed, they apparently left it on the hoist for 4 hours with the ignition on.

When my son finally went to drive home, the key wouldn't turn. After much googling, the bloke at the type dealership disconnected the battery, then reconnected it, and away she went. However, after a 2 hour drive home (we live in remote bush), she wouldn't start without having to disconnect the battery then reconnect it.

I connected the IID tool this morning. Battery with no ignition read 12.2v. After disconnecting the battery and getting her started, it went up to 14.5 whilst running. Upon switching off, it immediately went down to 13.2. There were no fault codes.

The battery is 3 years old. Am wondering if it could be the battery's been stuffed (in which case, would the voltage go up to 14.5 whilst running?) or if it is co-incidentally something else that's caused the problem.

Sorry about the epic post, but I thought more info would be more helpful. I'd really appreciate any direction anyone could give.

In case anyone may remember my husband's posts, his username was Ziggy from memory.

Thanks in advance.

Does the steering lock disengage when you insert the key? If not, you may have the steering interlock issue as in the wiki entry

https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic40178.html

I had the same fault on my 2007 MY.

If the car was ok before thebattery drain down it could be just needing a decent charge up to get back to normal.
Try that first and see how it performs.
If that doesnt sort it there are many threads on this issue and my case was sorted by drilling a small hole in the steering column and applying silicone lubricant its been fine for 3 years now.

Good luck

Thanks finchi.

Crikey, that post looked pretty full-on for the likes of me! I hope to the Almighty it's not the steering column. From what I have gathered, they are really, really expensive.

The steering lock isn't engaged at all. Not quite sure if that's good news or bad. Hopefully it's good, hahahaha.

dingg1 wrote:

If the car was ok before thebattery drain down it could be just needing a decent charge up to get back to normal.
Try that first and see how it performs.
If that doesnt sort it there are many threads on this issue and my case was sorted by drilling a small hole in the steering column and applying silicone lubricant its been fine for 3 years now.

Good luck

I forgot to ask ... would 2 hours driving be enough to get the battery up to scratch? What about the 12.2v? Is that pretty standard?

12.2V indicates the battery is very low on charge, should be a minimum of 12.5-12.6V or even more after a run.
If you have a battery charger available I would be inclined to put your battery on charge at least overnight and if possible longer.
Your problem could just be low battery charge level which charging should resolve.

I like the sound of that.

I don't actually have a battery charger but it would be a good thing to have so I'll get my son to buy one. Makes sense to see if that cures the problem before panicking.

Thanks enormously!

When my 2004 322 had a flat battery the key would not turn, if I remember right the idea was that the car "thought" the battery had been disconnected and shut its systems down to protect itself. In that case charge was supplied from another vehicle via jump leads and a 'system reset' was required, ideally via a diagnostic tool, but in my case done by removing the leads from the battery and shorting them together (off the battery), called a 'hard reset' on here I think. You might want to search or get confirmation from a more knowledgeable person before attempting.

Incidentally some batteries can't stand being discharged to a significant extent, so even if charged up again won't hold charge properly. I have been told the battery needs to be fully charged before it can be tested, if that is your problem you'd need a new battery.

Good luck. Only Range Rovers since 1988

12.5v at rest is about 50% charge. It should be enough to allow the key to turn and start the car but ithe battery is on its way out.
See if an overnight charge gets the voltage nearer to 13v where it should be. A new battery is around 13.2v.
If it wont hold more than 12.5v it would be best to replace it. Good luck. 2007 Vogue TDV8 in Zermatt Silver with Charcoal

Just looking at the sequence of events here - the car was fine, then the battery flattened. Draining a lead acid battery too low can spell death for it.

I'd get the battery tested, and if there's any doubt, get it replaced as per Grofus.

CS wrote:

When my 2004 322 had a flat battery the key would not turn, if I remember right the idea was that the car "thought" the battery had been disconnected and shut its systems down to protect itself. In that case charge was supplied from another vehicle via jump leads and a 'system reset' was required, ideally via a diagnostic tool, but in my case done by removing the leads from the battery and shorting them together (off the battery), called a 'hard reset' on here I think. You might want to search or get confirmation from a more knowledgeable person before attempting.

Incidentally some batteries can't stand being discharged to a significant extent, so even if charged up again won't hold charge properly. I have been told the battery needs to be fully charged before it can be tested, if that is your problem you'd need a new battery.

Good luck.

Grofus wrote:

12.5v at rest is about 50% charge. It should be enough to allow the key to turn and start the car but ithe battery is on its way out.
See if an overnight charge gets the voltage nearer to 13v where it should be. A new battery is around 13.2v.
If it wont hold more than 12.5v it would be best to replace it. Good luck.

stu1 wrote:

Just looking at the sequence of events here - the car was fine, then the battery flattened. Draining a lead acid battery too low can spell death for it.

I'd get the battery tested, and if there's any doubt, get it replaced as per Grofus.

A massive thank you to all who replied and contributed to my post.

This morning the battery is reading 12.0v, a drop from yesterday. Am going to investigate getting a new battery fitted so will keep you all posted as to whether that solves the problem.

Thanks again.