Hi there,

Seems like a common problem -my battery goes flat if the car is not used for about a week.

Battery goosed or have I got a current drain?

I have carried out a battery drain check using a multimeter and I get a reading of 0.15 amps when the car is fully shut down.

Is this an acceptable reading?

For the battery it is a sealed unit so to test the battery i disconnecting it completely from the car and putting it on charge for a few days and then monitoring it over a full week.

I have done this once already and I found after about 5 days that it goes down to 60% I am going to repeat this again over the next week.

Is the Battery goosed or do i have a current drain?

My initial thoughts are that the battery is duff -any views or any suggestions for any more tests?


Regards Graham

You have a current drain which is unacceptably high at 150mA, should be a lot lower.
You also appear to have a battery that is incapable of holding a charge and as such is not fit for purpose. You could have it tested to confirm but I would recommend a new battery, then try and find the current drain.
Start with the FSR.

Graham , this is an interesting thread that has the same problem as you..i would put aside a few hours and have a read..

http://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic15891.html ... - .- -.




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I have now got to the bottom of this now.

Essentially i had two faults

The battery was goosed. I bought this battery on the Internet from the car battery shop in march 2011 with a five year guarantee so I thought I could get a new one from them under the guarrantee however, as soon as i told them it was fitted to a range rover they said there was a known fault on that model of range rover (2004) which resulted in the battery being drained. They said the fault was the car not the battery. I made the point that the battery does not hold a charge and therefore it must be defective but they were admant and said there was no manufacturing fault with the battery but the car had caused the battery to become defective.
Hmmmm i made the point that the battery was sold to me specifically to fit a range rover and I now have a battery that does not hold a charge surely the battery is now defective.
No sir the car has caused the battery the battery to be defective it is not our fault!!!
Not getting anywhere with them so I have ended up with buying another new battery also with a five year guarrantee.(for what it is worth)

2nd fault was the headlamp wiper circuit causing the drain - fuse now removed- no drain

However during the fault finding I found out something interesting I did not have a fuse fitted in slot 37- transfer tow
But putting a fuse in this slot caused the car to tell me to put the car in neutral and slow down.
I have left the fuse out as it was not fitted before but I do wonder if I have a problem.
My independent 4x4 garage says the fuse should not be fitted - is this correct?

Regards Graham

Fuse 37 should only be fitted if towing the car.
Out of interest which fuse did you remove to stop the current drain on the headlight wiper circuit?
So much for 5 year guarantees on batteries.
Glad you got it sorted.

i got my battery from ECP and had a problem more or less a year later and they replaced it without any quibbles.. ... - .- -.




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I think you are ok with a reputable supplier of batteries regarding battery guarantees, internet supplier, possibly questionable.

Unless there was something in the guarantee which specifically excluded the use of the battery on the L322, or reduced then length of cover when fitted to the L322 due to this "known fault" then I can't see that they have a case.
I see they're still selling batteries for the L322 and there's no mention on the website they come with no guarantee due to a "known fault".

It's also interesting to hear that they can diagnose an electrical fault on your vehicle just by knowing it's a FF. They should change their name to "Psychic Auto Electric"!!  

The battery came from the carbatteryshop they said they had a number of batteries returned which had been fitted to range rovers so without any diagnosis they had decided the car was at fault. They tried to justify this by saying if the battery had been frequently run flat then it would damage the plates -huh!!! Now then, how many batteries are run flat throughout their life -you don't just need a fault on the car and how many people have inadvertently left lights on draining the battery, quite a lot i think. Anyway I had only run the battery flat once and if this it all takes to goose a battery then I would suggest the battery is not fit for purpose. But then what the hell do I know!!
I think it is a p*ss poor excuse.

It was fuse 28 that was removed.

Regards Graham

Re the headlamp wash, I was told the same thing by a land rover specialist a few weeks ago when my Bosch 110a battery packed up. First of all they weren't exactly horizontal when in the parked position- just a few mill up from park to be honest. However, if they are like that, they are constantly drawing power. For some reason, they stopped working as well and went on to fail the MOT. When the car was jump started by the rac for the third time in a fortnight, the wipers started working and parked correctly after that.
I might remove the fuse to be honest. Don't really need them