63 reg Disco TDV6 268bhp auto commercial, battery light on

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roythebus

Well-Known Member
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198
My partner has the 63 reg Disco van, V6 (I think) 268bhp, runs nicely, but she noted the battery light on sometimes. We were out in it yesterday I noticed the light on when the car was running. We left it a few hours and went back to it, as he unlocked the car the red light was still on. I mentioned it to has and thought it may be the battery, s it's the original and doing well. I'd drop tested the battery and charge. The battery holds its charge on a 10 second drop and it charges to 14v when running. The charge light went out on the way home.

Any ideas?
 
Not sure bout that, checked the cr this afternoon with an old-fashioned drop tester. Before starting battery volts was 12.8v. 10 seconds with resistive load on bounced back from 12 to 12.6. Meter said battery is good. Starting pulled the meter down to the "bad" sector for a second or two as one would expect, then bounced up to 14.8v, charging ok.
A second test showed much the same, except this time the red light stayed on momentarily, down to 12 v. Then 14.8 for a few seconds, then down to 12 for about 10 secs as though the regulator was just switching on or off.

My other half said she's happy with that. she uses the car for a 20-odd mile commute along the M 20 3 days a week, not usually used for short trips. I'd noticed the starter was a bit sluggish the few times I've driven it over the last couple on months.
 
So could still be the alternator in that the diode pack etc makes up part of it. I once had to drive a Ford Transit minibus back from Paris to Poole with it behaving just like yours. The alternator worked intermittently. I never thought we'd make it. From Portsmouth to Poole was driven at night, so on the motorway with lights dimming and the vehicle slowing, gradually, until suddenly all would suddenly go back to normal.... until the next time. With 16 kids on board. :(

Am I insulting you by asking if the auxiliary belt is OK and the tensioner is OK too?
 
Not insulting at all, I can't actually sse where anything is as it's a mass of pipes under the bonnet! I'm used to deling with old buses where everything is (usually) visible and get-at able. The only belt I could see part of is on the left side of the engine, seems to be driving. pump of some sort. My thoughts were along the same lines. I'm a bit too creaky to lie under cars these days. I need restoring!
 
roythebus said:
Not insulting at all, I can't actually sse where anything is as it's a mass of pipes under the bonnet! I'm used to deling with old buses where everything is (usually) visible and get-at able. The only belt I could see part of is on the left side of the engine, seems to be driving. pump of some sort. My thoughts were along the same lines. I'm a bit too creaky to lie under cars these days. I need restoring!
Click to expand...
I do not know the Disco 3/4, nor the engine in question.
My personal knowledge stops with the TD5 Disco 2 (and 2 of the flavours of D1).
So my statements and questions are purely theoretical.
@gstuart is the guru for these vehicles.
Over to you Gary!;)
and best of luck Roy!
 
Diode pack/ regulator on back of alternator failing, it’s bound to have a smart alternator that disconnects when accelerating etc
You should probably get it on diagnostics for live test whilst running
 
Thanks, that sounds like a sensible idea. what surprises me is how well the battery, original Land Rover, seems to be holding up, it's never been changed since the car was made! Now in its eleventh year! My first L322, the battery was the most reliable bit of the car, lasting for 9 years and over 200,000 miles before it died.
 
Iirc alt is told what to do via a pwm signal.

In your case I would be checking the earth strap as it is a common fail point, have a google, it is underneath the engine.
@gstuart might have some pics.
 
Problem solved I think. Partner reported engine difficult to start, clicking sound. so we done another drop test, battery volts 12.4, dropping to just under 12 v with the drop tester in circuit, going just into the red. Luckily we had a spare battery that I got in February for my 08 Vogue that died with terminal engine failure. Swapped that over, 12.8 volts, charging rate good, starts properly first turn, job done. It was aJLR battery that's been in the car from new. On a 63 plate it's not done bad, 11 years service and over 110,000 miles.
 
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