A continuous drain on the battery?

[Redwing]

I appear to have a continuous electrical drain on the system of my 2003 petrol RR. Now so long as I use the car every couple of days then this is fine but more than 3 days and the car is dead. Now the the dealer has had it a couple of times and so far he ahs not fixed the problem!!! All he has managed to do is change the alternator at a cost of £600. Has anyone had a similar problem and what was the cure and has anyone any idea how I stand for work that has not fixed the problem?

[Gazzab]

Have you tried changing the battery? Even when they test them and say they are ok they are often shagged and wont hold their charge. If the battery is more than 2 yrs old I would wager it is that.

[Hooli]

i've heard of similar problems due to the alarm in the past. I've not owned a car to suffer with it, but here is what ive heard.
when you set the alarm is in active mode. atfer a while (i forget how long but its 30mins or something) it drops to passive mode which uses a LOT less power. when it 'hears' a keyfob or other signal in the same wavelength it wakes up for 30mins (or however long). while its awake it uses a lot more power.

i got this a while ago from a mate you worked at Keith Gott & it sounded like a common problem. i honestly cant recall how they got round it though.

[Steve_D]

Hooli said:

......when it 'hears' a keyfob or other signal in the same wavelength it wakes up for 30mins .........

I've heard that these radio weather stations you or your neighbours set up in the garden can also cause the alarm to wake up.

Steve

[Hooli]

i honestly cant remember what sort of thing might do it. as the alarm on my disco got thrown away soon after i got the truck it didnt really matter to me.

[Redwing]

I've monitored it and it as it goes into shut down mode it simply keeps draining the battery so something isn't shutting down. I thought of the alarm so I left it unlocked with the alarm off and it still didn't start.

[Trooper2]

Redwing said:

I've monitored it and it as it goes into shut down mode it simply keeps draining the battery so something isn't shutting down. I thought of the alarm so I left it unlocked with the alarm off and it still didn't start.

By monitoring it do you mean you've done a parasitic drain test?

If not, here are instructions on how to carry the test out and you'll need to find out how much parasitic drain is allowed on your RR. If you find that the parasitic drain on your vehicle is above what Land Rover allows it's a simple matter of pulling fuses until the drain drops to normal levels and that will be the circuit that needs to be looked at and repaired.

http://flashoffroad.com/electrical/CurrentDrain/cu...

[Redwing]

You are without doubt a top man! I can't believe it takes a guy in Colorado to tell me what to do with my Range Rover.....don't you just love the internet!

[Liszt]

Redwing said:

You are without doubt a top man! I can't believe it takes a guy in Colorado to tell me what to do with my Range Rover.....don't you just love the internet!

To be fair, Trooper is a trained Jaguar and Land Rover technician. One of the reasons I got a 300tdi defender is because it doesn't use any electronics and so more diy mechanic friendly. But, have to agree, that the internet is a great place to find out what your dealer doesn't know.

[Trooper2]

Liszt said:

Redwing said:

You are without doubt a top man! I can't believe it takes a guy in Colorado to tell me what to do with my Range Rover.....don't you just love the internet!

To be fair, Trooper is a trained Jaguar and Land Rover technician. One of the reasons I got a 300tdi defender is because it doesn't use any electronics and so more diy mechanic friendly. But, have to agree, that the internet is a great place to find out what your dealer doesn't know.

Correction, I've got Ford and Jaguar factory training, but I drive a LR Discovery.

[Liszt]

Trooper2 said:

Liszt said:

Redwing said:

You are without doubt a top man! I can't believe it takes a guy in Colorado to tell me what to do with my Range Rover.....don't you just love the internet!

To be fair, Trooper is a trained Jaguar and Land Rover technician. One of the reasons I got a 300tdi defender is because it doesn't use any electronics and so more diy mechanic friendly. But, have to agree, that the internet is a great place to find out what your dealer doesn't know.

Correction, I've got Ford and Jaguar factory training, but I drive a LR Discovery.

Like using orthopedic shoes, I stand corrected

[Redwing]

It turns out it was the ECU on the aircon! Even though the car was 4 yrs old the dealer and LR footed the bill! Can't say fairer than that, I'm well impressed! I can't wait to get it back!