L322 Battery Drain

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Papatoad

Member
Posts
32
Hello All,

2004 Land Rover Range Rover HSE with some battery drain problems let me be as detailed as possible. I got a Diehard Platnum battery put in on 9/22. I've taken it to a mechanic 3-4 times in total since acquiring the vehicle for a battery drain. I've had the blow motor resistor replaced 3 times, however, I bought a BEHR myself and will install it myself soon as I believe they put a cheaper one in there. This drain only really becomes bad in the wintertime the summer it will last longer obviously. Massachusetts gets pretty cold so. This summer I took it to the mechanic and found out my glove box light was always on as the wires were touching keeping the power constantly going. I went on Vacation in August and pulled fuse 27,28 and the cigarette lighter out as I saw on forums to do that. When I came back it started up with no problem. Now however it's back and a little worse.

Just like normal the battery will die overnight or if I'm lucky two days of being charged. I've watched the light on the center console it goes off within the normal time so it is going to sleep. I've come to find out that fuse 27 which is supposed to control the glove box light, interior lights, and windshield washers for some reason when plugged in turns the blower and the fan behind the AC controls. Is that normal for people? It also seems to control the light on the console and if it's not plugged in the red light will never show up nor will the AC or heat work at all. Recently within the past few weeks if I have the battery charging while connected to the vehicle the battery seems to not either charge fully or keep the charge as it cranks over very weakly. I took the battery out and took it to AutoZone to have it tested itself and it said it was holding 12 or so volts, but it went down to 10-11 when load tested. The guy said it was normal for that to happen, but I'm not so sure. I've had it charging out of the car still and will update how it is when I put it back in. Last thing. I've seen on some forums to disconnect the headlight washer pump and I'm also working on that. I haven't gone into it yet, but I've seen videos of connectors on top of the pumps. Do I just take the entire pump out or is there a thing at the top that I can just disconnect? Any more suggestions on things I should look at or do to fix this ongoing problem?
 
Sounds to me like it's not man enough for the job. Maybe a short-life battery? My partner has recently (or rather I have) changed the battery on her 2013 Disco TDV6, that was showing 12.4v. during starting dropping to 11 v, and don t "poor" on a 10 second load test. But then it was the original battery and done 120,000 miles. Maybe lack of regular use has something to do with it?
 
Sounds to me like it's not man enough for the job. Maybe a short-life battery? My partner has recently (or rather I have) changed the battery on her 2013 Disco TDV6, that was showing 12.4v. during starting dropping to 11 v, and don t "poor" on a 10 second load test. But then it was the original battery and done 120,000 miles. Maybe lack of regular use has something to do with it?
I drive it pretty much every day all year round. The guy at Autozone did say 3-5 years is the battery life and I bought it in August of 2022. When I replaced it the first time I bought the truck it was an off-brand name battery. The second time there was just a bad cell in the battery. This one did ok last winter but to me, it seems each battery will survive one winter and then the problems go back to normal.
 
Yes it's normal for a battery to drop to 10 or 11 volts under a load test, but it depends on the battery size and it's health. I would expect it to be closer to 11v in this case.
I don't know about your car, but as soon as i unlock and open a door, it starts pulling ~35amps, that's a lot and will soon flatten a battery. If you open and close doors while you get kids in the car etc.
3-5 years isn't unusual, depending on how you use the car
 
My previous decent 08 Vogue suffered earth strap failure. an additional earth strap cured a lot of starting problems. i suspected my partner's Discovery had the same trouble, but a battery change was the answer, it was 11 years old.
 
A battery of 120AH/1000CCa is the go to size for an l322 its a tight fit but goes in, MF31 is the code.
the unwritten rule is the biggest AH highest CCA you can fit sorts out a lot of Range rover problems.
Any suggestions for what kind of battery? Should I just stick with a diehard battery or go to a different one?
 
Yes it's normal for a battery to drop to 10 or 11 volts under a load test, but it depends on the battery size and it's health. I would expect it to be closer to 11v in this case.
I don't know about your car, but as soon as i unlock and open a door, it starts pulling ~35amps, that's a lot and will soon flatten a battery. If you open and close doors while you get kids in the car etc.
3-5 years isn't unusual, depending on how you use the car
No kids😂 only 22. 99% of the time its just me hoping into the car and hoping out. I haven't measured what it is when you unlock and open the door. I have noticed that last winter I could tell if the battery was basically dead as when I unlocked the car it would sound very slow and weak. Now after removing some of the fuses it's never weak and it unlocks strong but it wont crank over.
 
I don't know the car but it sounds to me very much like the battery is at fault of the alternator is not charging as it should. After starting, you should see around 14.8 volts at the battery, certainly no less than 14.4 volts. A common failure is the earth strap from engine to chassis.
Welcome to LZ.
How can I find/check the earth strap?
 
In Europe/UK the Hankook MF31-1000 is one of the best batteries or Yuasa in the same size but I doubt the same reference numbers apply in the USA so the biggest battery that will fit 120AH 1000CCA
Im gonna start looking for a battery that size. I also want to make sure nothing is pulling power or something else before I put a new battery in and the same problems will just keep happening.
 
Im gonna start looking for a battery that size. I also want to make sure nothing is pulling power or something else before I put a new battery in and the same problems will just keep happening.
Any new battery must be charged before fitting to the car, with a 4 amp charger which seems to be a common size, it will take at least 24 hours.
 
The earth strap on an L322 is by the right hand ( when stood at the front looking in the engine bay) engine mount , you can test it by using a jump lead from the battery negative to the engine
the earth straps corrode inside the cover so look ok but are not.
 
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In Europe/UK the Hankook MF31-1000 is one of the best batteries or Yuasa in the same size but I doubt the same reference numbers apply in the USA so the biggest battery that will fit 120AH 1000CCA
From searching at shops around me online it seems pretty hard to find a battery with that size. I'm gonna keep looking though through other forms etc. If not I might end up buying one of those and have it shipped from the UK. Do you have a good site you would buy it from? Also if I do end up getting one of those Hankook or Yuasa ones do you think it will survive in the cold we get here? In Winter, it will get down and stay below freezing or close to 0 for months. I'm not familiar fully with the weather around there. I only really get to see it when I watch Premier League "Football;)" on TV. Also, I have 2 chargers. One is a 4 amp and another is a 2 amp and a 10 amp and I've been using the 10 amp charger. I've noticed when watching the meter when in the car charging the needle will continuously bounce. I don't remember exactly where it stops but it goes from the middle then bounces down to the left side and it continues to do that. Since it's been out charging it has not done that once. I don't know if that means anything.
 
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