So the old girl - 2011 4.4 tdv8 Vogue - is off to the garage to have a new alternator fitted

BIG QUESTION - How far could I drive on battery power alone? The garage is 8 miles away

The battery is brand new, AGM, fully charged.

Of course I'd drive during daylight with everything electrical being switched OFF

WOULD I MAKE THE 8 MILES? ..... or do I get a low loader?

Thanks folks 2011 TDV8 4.4 Vogue SE

I’m in exactly the same situation 2012 Westminster 4.4 tdv8

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Last edited by DrF on 25th Jan 2025 11:36pm. Edited 1 time in total

Been waiting almost two weeks to get mine done going in on the 27th to my local independent specialist 2012 Westminster 4.4 tdv8

If the alternator is shorting to ground then the battery will last only a few minutes. I installed a separate alternator cable via its own fuse in my L322 so that I can isolate the alternator yet still start the engine the next time the alternator fails.

I used to have a 52 plate Peugeot 206CC ( I know its not the same as a Rangey!), but there was a problem with my alternator as I used to get a random 'Battery Charge error' notification. I could usually get it back home, however one day I was travelling to Chipping Norton where the company I was working was to pick up a new laptop (WFH), and it gave the warning message, I carried on for a couple of miles then the fuel and temp gauge started going haywire, followed by a slight misfire, then a bigger misfire.

I turned around and started back home having got about 25 miles from home and had to keep my foot to the floor doing about 25-30 mph with a horrific misfire.

When I got it to our local mechanic, the exhaust downpipe had fractured with the force of the misfire ( he fitted a new alternator), but what was even more scary was the fact that the isides of the Cat had melted completely!

Seems that when you have a misfire, unburnt fuel gets pushed through the Cat, and with the high temperatures in the Cat the fuel ignites and forms its own little blast furnace and melts the contents of the Cat.

So if you do have an alternator fault and detect any sort of misfire I'd stop and not push it! I did and it cost me a new alternator and exhaust downpipe plus new Cat!

Just to add a bit of background to the story ........

The RR gave me about 30 second warning that something was amiss before dying. I knew the battery was low on voltage because the usual round of faults lit up the dash .... "ABS fault", Gearbox fault", "no forward alert2 etc
These cars really don't like a voltage drop.

The strange thing was it would not start from a boost pack or a jump start .... absolutely no response. It has been "jumped" previously, no problem.

I'm going to assume that because the alternator had died completely and hence zero charge possible for the "dead" battery that there is some sort of ECU feedback that will not allow it start if the charging system (in this case, alternator) is faulty ????

Has anybody heard of this before ????????

The only way we got it to move was a brand new battery and it fired up straight away ..... enough to drive it 3 miles home. 2011 TDV8 4.4 Vogue SE

Again, it was with my Peugeot.
One morning I started it up and it immediately died, tried again and died (this was before the events above).
We have Green Flag on the car but not home start so it cost me about £150 to get home start out.
What he did was disconnect the battery, touch the terminals together to reset and clear all the ECU's and in started.
Personally I think because the 206 was parked on the drive next to our old L322 4.4 petrol, the range rover had been giving the Peugeot some tips on what to do to extract more money out of us.😄

You may be right there Paul

An ECU rest on the RR follows much the same procedure ..... disconnect terminals from battery, leave for 10 mins, and then touch terminals together.

May have been able to jump start it after this procedure but if the alternator isn't charging the battery it's a pretty futile exercise I reckon ..... you're still going nowhere until the battery is fully charged ... and then you're not going too far anyway on battery power alone  2011 TDV8 4.4 Vogue SE

UPDATE ...... Fully charged AGM battery got me to the garage

Im not sure I did the reputation of fellow RR drivers much good ... Apologies guys

8.5 miles ..... no lights, no indicating, no braking, no heating, no radio etc etc

BUT .... we made it !!!!!!

The sense of utter elation was soon diminished when the reality hit of a £730 repair bill  2011 TDV8 4.4 Vogue SE

Crusty21 wrote:

The strange thing was it would not start from a boost pack or a jump start .... absolutely no response. It has been "jumped" previously, no problem.

I'm going to assume that because the alternator had died completely and hence zero charge possible for the "dead" battery that there is some sort of ECU feedback that will not allow it start if the charging system (in this case, alternator) is faulty ????

Has anybody heard of this before ????????

Crusty21 wrote:

UPDATE ...... Fully charged AGM battery got me to the garage

Im not sure I did the reputation of fellow RR drivers much good ... Apologies guys

8.5 miles ..... no lights, no indicating, no braking, no heating, no radio etc etc

BUT .... we made it !!!!!!

The sense of utter elation was soon diminished when the reality hit of a £730 repair bill

i was in an L320 and managed 7 miles

but tbf i didnt realise the alternator was dying so I had all sorts on, heated seats/lights etc etc Its actually a sport

Not anymore, 4.4 TDV8 now

Hello from Düsseldorf to the English group: I picked up a customer car (L322 TDV8 4.4 2011) with the same problem 10 miles to my workshop, installed a good used battery beforehand and then drove off. Replacing the alternator is actually easy, first remove various panels and hoses, then loosen the mostly rusted screws from the fan wheel cover (takes over an hour), then loosen the 36mm fan, take it out and then loosen the two alternator screws from below, and Loosen the one at the top, take out the alternator and loosen the cables. ATTENTION with the cooler, place cardboard between them. In my case, however, the cooler was leaking slightly at the bottom and was not visible before, so I also have to replace the cooler, which has to be completely removed along with all the other coolers. It's supposed to be delivered the day after tomorrow, I'll report back. The alternator is already in there... L405 SDV8 2017 + Lancia Flavia Coupe 1964 + RRS L494 3.0 SDV6 + C220CDI Convertible 2021

Mine gone in today for a new alternator looking forward to the small bill to come 2012 Westminster 4.4 tdv8