can you leave your landy waiting?

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Jimsoncity

New Member
Posts
7
I am a new member and hoping to buy my first landy very soon even though I dont really need one.
I have a question, I will only get to drive my passion every third or so weekend.
Will an 04 Defender be happy to sit for 3 weeks (garaged!) at a time and start happily? I can put it on trickle charge if battery is a problem and leave out of gear and the handbrake off but is there anything else i should be aware of?

Probably a daft question but thought I would ask.
any thoughts greatly appreciated!
Jimson
 
It is not recommended to let the 04 Defender stand still for more than 20 mins as once the oil ceases to circulate it will find the lowest point and collect. In this case that would be the garage floor.
 
storm99 said:
It is not recommended to let the 04 Defender stand still for more than 20 mins as once the oil ceases to circulate it will find the lowest point and collect. In this case that would be the garage floor.
Click to expand...

its not just the 04 Defender that does this Storm, I do believe its every feckin Landy they ever made, not including the Gaylander as they arent real a Landy.
 
Mine often sits around doing nothing for weeks and sometimes months at a time. I have a 5w solar charger hooked up and haven't had a flat battery on it or the previous landy for over 5 years.

If you leave any vehicle unused for long periods of time it can damage the battery.
 
Mine often stands for weeks at a time sometimes in temperatures as low as -16C. I have never had a problem yet. The longest I have left it was three months over the winter. Started after a couple of turns.
 
My '86 90 sat for over a month this winter in the snow and rain on my driveway at home. started on the button no problems.
 
rovers are basts and will happily wait for you to want to drive them next , the batteries will be fine, a trickle charge wouldnt be a bad idea but i really doubt it would need it, so long as the engine is kept well then theyll charge when ever its used. i like the solar charger idea may need to incorperate that when i build mine
 
I suppose it depends what state your battery is in? Also how good your battery is in the first place :D
 
It wouldn't do it any real harm, the battery is probably the weak point here. If it was me I would simply connect it to a float charger (white still in the vehicle) so that the battery is always in peak condition - get a good charger, ideally a 30mA charge is all you want to keep it topped up with automatic shutoff.

When you start it for the first time after a period of sitting it's a good idea to let it run at idle for 30/60seconds just to get the oil circulating again.
 
I recently left my 85 petrol for 3 weeks outside in temps as low as -16 it was about 5 when i picked it up again but it started straight away :)
 
I leave mine connected into an optimate charger I had when I had a bandit 1200 , it runs a cycle of charge/ discharge so the battery is always fresh
 
i find that if you use them every day they break down more often, so once every 3 weeks will mean you will only need the garage 17 times a year
 
Finally got the defender and yes, it's sits for a few weeks and starts easy on one turn of the key! Even in this damp weather, magic
 
Besides the battery, what about other things sitting doing nothing. i know a few weeks wont matter but what if its locked away for a few months or maybe more. Do things like brakes sieze up? Does it not do the engine any harm starting it after so long sitting with all the oil drained into the sump?
 
Jimsoncity said:
I am a new member and hoping to buy my first landy very soon even though I dont really need one.
I have a question, I will only get to drive my passion every third or so weekend.
Will an 04 Defender be happy to sit for 3 weeks (garaged!) at a time and start happily? I can put it on trickle charge if battery is a problem and leave out of gear and the handbrake off but is there anything else i should be aware of?

Probably a daft question but thought I would ask.
any thoughts greatly appreciated!
Jimson
Click to expand...
I have a 200tdi and each year has been left standing for three months from December to March. For about a run of five years. It started without any problems on almost the first turn of the key.
 
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