Ive been a little quiet on here of late as not much has happened on my 322....but this morning.... hmmm

So jump in this morning to go into work at 05.30 all was good ...well apart from the dreaded HDC flash up when starting up and immediately goes out, ah that's just the battery a little down on power me thinks.

At work after 30 min parked up and the alarm sounds, Its soon shut up with the fob and I check in the car,...that's when noticed the dash lights glowing very faintly (oil light only) I try and start and the key goes in the ignition without the usual click of the lock unlocking as it hadn't engaged, to be surprised the RR started up ok...BUT
The dash lights going mentle hdc, eas, trans failure and steering sensor having a paddy
After turning the RR off the dash lights where still having a disco before dimming down to off

So now the GAP tool comes to the rescue, ......loads of faults showing, some I've never seen before and cleared them down, thinking what's going on, a quick search on here to read most if not all electric gremlins are down to battery been weak.

I got the Mrs do drop of the charger as im on 12 hour shift so the RR has a few hours of charge, but to my horror the battery is only 4 years old ....short journeys are always a killer for these motors so looking like new battery is needed.

Moral of all this.....I need to use the horse more and keep the RR at home on charge

Question, anyone else had same issue and was just battery been weak or is there something else I need to keep an eye out on.

In fairness my 17 year old FF is looking good and running as well as can be.....far more reliable than some newer ones I can mention! If it dont work.......burn it!

If the IId tool cant fix it.......burn the FF.

If the FF cant be fixed......buy a Land Cruiser!

If the LC cant be fixed..............................................BUY a horse !!

the older FF's are indeed heavy on the batterys and 4 years worth aint to bad.. ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
.

Before you go out and buy a battery it would be useful to check the alternator voltage if you can. Should be at least 14.1V when on a run.

You really don’t want it to be the alternator  Got - 2017 SDV8 Autobiography in Loire Blue
Had- 2008 TDV8 Vogue SE in Java black
Had - 2007 S/C in Stornoway Grey

Yes I do not want a new alternator, water cooled, a pain in the a*** to change never mind the cost.

Im getting the volts back in the battery fine but its those dreaded short trips are the killer.

It had 7 hours on the charger yesterday and this morning started like it always should, no bongs, no disco flashing on the dash lights.

So how long should your battery last, considering I only do less than 6k miles a year in it! If it dont work.......burn it!

If the IId tool cant fix it.......burn the FF.

If the FF cant be fixed......buy a Land Cruiser!

If the LC cant be fixed..............................................BUY a horse !!

Sure I read somewhere in the past that's it's recommended to fit a new battery every 3 years.

I’ve had 3 during my tenure of 8 years. Got - 2017 SDV8 Autobiography in Loire Blue
Had- 2008 TDV8 Vogue SE in Java black
Had - 2007 S/C in Stornoway Grey

so getting 4 years out of this battery is quite good!!

Alarm went off last night for no reason but blaming the weather

And now at work the brake light just com on the FF and cant turn the ignition key to start it up.
Thankfully we have a volt meter here at work so checked the battery....while disconnected shows 12.1 volts
Im charging it up and will re check later on, but suspect the battery is on its way out and as winter is looming will only get worse.

If you have another ideas, fire away but the RR has been reliable for years until now!  If it dont work.......burn it!

If the IId tool cant fix it.......burn the FF.

If the FF cant be fixed......buy a Land Cruiser!

If the LC cant be fixed..............................................BUY a horse !!

the brake switch behind the pedal gets stuck so remove and a clean might help... ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
.

I'll check that, im also checking if water ingress on the drivers side over the LCM.

I did have water ingress 2 years ago down the nearside a pillar and water pooling on the passenger rubber mat...that was an easy fix but took a while to find it, wasnt the screen but the roof rail gutter where the masking had broken up over time.

I still suspect battery and as you know, RR loves batteries.
Many years ago (7 years I've had this RR) the first problem I had related to battery and the brake lights stayed on, would not unlock or turn the ignition never mind start up. New battery fitted and all was well... If it dont work.......burn it!

If the IId tool cant fix it.......burn the FF.

If the FF cant be fixed......buy a Land Cruiser!

If the LC cant be fixed..............................................BUY a horse !!

When ever anybody mentions a fault to me with any LR I always suggest checking the battery before anything else. All of them draw so much on initial start up and as you are experiencing unless they get a good run the alternator just doesn't get enough time to chuck all those wiggly's back into the battery.

There will be no end of questions along these lines as soon as the temperature drops.

Getting to that time of year when the C tek (other makes are available) comes into its own! Previous cars:
S-Max 2007-2013 (only diesel I've had, good car but expensive when diesely bits go wrong, so what's the point?)
Galaxy 2001-2007
Mondeo Estate 1997-2001
Sierra Estate 1993-1997
Uno Turbo 1987 -1993
Fiesta 1984 - 1987
Fiat 127 1982 - 1984

An update to close the thread down.

I bought a new varta battery I1 and fitted it on Friday, I only started it up to clear the eas and locked the RR up. It was left for 4 days not been used but today had to go into town and she fired up as she should, no hdc error when the initial start up happening.

The Old battery I put on my trickle charger.....4 days in and its still not showing it will recover, yes its showing 12.4 volts and will start any car up but I suspect the deep cycle in it has degraded and now ......its only over 4 years old as I bought it in January 2016!

So if you get those speradic electrical gremlins for no apparent reason, the alarm going off, the brake lights coming on for no reason, doors wont unlock on the fob, suspect battery on its way out. If it dont work.......burn it!

If the IId tool cant fix it.......burn the FF.

If the FF cant be fixed......buy a Land Cruiser!

If the LC cant be fixed..............................................BUY a horse !!