P38 Battery replacement

[MrOrange]

HELP! Battery has died (again) on my 98 P38 so I'm out today getting a replacement but need to know what capacity/size and also if anyone has a preferred model (I gather Optima get good review). Thanks in advance.

[MrOrange]

I think it's the BECM issue and I've got solution as I'll park it back to where it was before (and had no problems). The last 2 months it's been going flat every 2 days and with the cold snap I think its mullered one of the cells.

Edited by MrOrange on Saturday 22 January 13:21

[edc]

Sounds like you have the alarm problem with it being kept awake by the rr receiver.

[eliot]

edc said:

Sounds like you have the alarm problem with it being kept awake by the rr receiver.

Yes 2 days is about how long the battery lasts when it keeps getting waken up. Wireless central heating controllers etc can do it.

On the gearleaver (assuming auto) - there is a little red light on the panel. Sit in the car and wait for the car to go to sleep (few mins) - light will go out. Keep sitting there and maybe after another 5-10mins you may see it come back on again, this means its been waken up by interference.

The Radio receiver is under the offside rear window - the parcel shelf rests on it. Remove it and open it up and compare:

You need to have the one on the right - they are £150 from Landrover. I've just bought a P38 today and I know when I get it home I going to have the same problem AGAIN! - Short term fix is to remove the aerial from the receiver - but then you can get hassle with the key getting out of sync.

[MrOrange]

Rather than spending £150 I've simply moved where I park the car so it's 60ft from the house so (hopefully) far enough away so it won't keep waking up.

[edc]

That's not necessarily going to help long-term. If you already suffer from interference then it won't be long before you travel somewhere, park up, lock up and then can't get back in. Or even you park up, turn off and can't remote lock or re-start. I've had it at the odd petrol station, on top in the open of a multi-storey and at the front of a van hire place.

[MrOrange]

So the short-term fix is to pull the aerial?

[Meeja]

MrOrange said:

So the short-term fix is to pull the aerial?

Yes - but depending on how much radio interference there is in that locality, it may not make any difference.

Easy enough to see if it has worked though, by following Eliot's advice about looking for the BECM to go to sleep via the red light on the gearstick