hello Girls and Guys,
I wonder whether anyone can advise me on the issue as follows.
I have a Range Rover Vogue 3.6 TDV8 59 number plate.
Three weeks ago my 1-year-old battery went flat in probably what I would think was 20 hours. I could not find any obvious reasons. No lights, no instrument left on. No warning signs on the dashboard, either. I had thought it was one of those misterious battery drains one can read a lot about on Landyzone and I decided to recharge the battery then watch and wait.
Everything had been running perfectly for weeks until disaster stroke.
We took the RAngie to France for a weekend. After a shopping trip to a supermarket I started the engine and the alternator warning sign did not go off as it should have. I knew it was big trouble but I thought if I always keep my battery fully charged I might just get away without having to visit a garage in Fance and I can make it home. I drove to another store where I bought a charger. Unfortunately, I switched off the engine. When I tried to switch it on again it would not start but I received a dozen of different warnings re: electric parking brake, transmission etc. Basically Signs of Not enough juice in the battery. I called AA's European Assisstance. They had sent a guy who arrived in 20 minutes who could jump start the engine but as soon as he disconnected the starter battery the engine cut off. He took us to the nearest Renault garage where the mechanics immediately started looking for the problem. After an hour and a half they told us that they replaced the battery but the warning on the dash was still on. They did not think though that the alternator was dead as they measured 13.5 Volts on the battery when the engine was in idle.
Well, 13.5 Volts seemed to me a bit low but I drove off thinking if I happened to break down again I would call the AA again. Just to be on the safe side I put the battery on the charger for the night but strangely enough the charger always indicated the battery was fully charged. Anyway, I used the floating charge mode to keep the battery topped up.
To cut a (already long...) story short I have managed to take the car home without any trouble although I tried to avoid using anything that required electricity but was not essential. I drove about 240 miles and only stopped the engine for the ferry crossing that took 6 hours. The engine started without any trouble when we arrived in the UK. On the way from the port to home I even have to use the headlights as it was already dark but that also went OK. When I finally reached home ( sigh of relief...) I was too tired to check the battery. The next morning I connected the charger and surprisingly saw the the battery was still fully charged. The red warning on the dashboard is still on.
Well, it's either that the Renault garage has managed to install a super battery that never goes flat, or the alternator still does work , I.e. Supplies stuff with electricity and charges the battery but only partially.
Any thoughts?
Obviously, the next course of action is to take the Rangie to my garage for a checkup but in the meantime it just cannot stop bothering me to find the answer.
I wonder whether anyone can advise me on the issue as follows.
I have a Range Rover Vogue 3.6 TDV8 59 number plate.
Three weeks ago my 1-year-old battery went flat in probably what I would think was 20 hours. I could not find any obvious reasons. No lights, no instrument left on. No warning signs on the dashboard, either. I had thought it was one of those misterious battery drains one can read a lot about on Landyzone and I decided to recharge the battery then watch and wait.
Everything had been running perfectly for weeks until disaster stroke.
We took the RAngie to France for a weekend. After a shopping trip to a supermarket I started the engine and the alternator warning sign did not go off as it should have. I knew it was big trouble but I thought if I always keep my battery fully charged I might just get away without having to visit a garage in Fance and I can make it home. I drove to another store where I bought a charger. Unfortunately, I switched off the engine. When I tried to switch it on again it would not start but I received a dozen of different warnings re: electric parking brake, transmission etc. Basically Signs of Not enough juice in the battery. I called AA's European Assisstance. They had sent a guy who arrived in 20 minutes who could jump start the engine but as soon as he disconnected the starter battery the engine cut off. He took us to the nearest Renault garage where the mechanics immediately started looking for the problem. After an hour and a half they told us that they replaced the battery but the warning on the dash was still on. They did not think though that the alternator was dead as they measured 13.5 Volts on the battery when the engine was in idle.
Well, 13.5 Volts seemed to me a bit low but I drove off thinking if I happened to break down again I would call the AA again. Just to be on the safe side I put the battery on the charger for the night but strangely enough the charger always indicated the battery was fully charged. Anyway, I used the floating charge mode to keep the battery topped up.
To cut a (already long...) story short I have managed to take the car home without any trouble although I tried to avoid using anything that required electricity but was not essential. I drove about 240 miles and only stopped the engine for the ferry crossing that took 6 hours. The engine started without any trouble when we arrived in the UK. On the way from the port to home I even have to use the headlights as it was already dark but that also went OK. When I finally reached home ( sigh of relief...) I was too tired to check the battery. The next morning I connected the charger and surprisingly saw the the battery was still fully charged. The red warning on the dashboard is still on.
Well, it's either that the Renault garage has managed to install a super battery that never goes flat, or the alternator still does work , I.e. Supplies stuff with electricity and charges the battery but only partially.
Any thoughts?
Obviously, the next course of action is to take the Rangie to my garage for a checkup but in the meantime it just cannot stop bothering me to find the answer.
