Hello All! we have a 2003 Freelander (53 plate) which we were having problems starting. We thought it was the starter motor but took it to the garage and they said starter motor was fine and it was a problem with the battery, which they replaced and it was working fine. About a week later, after sitting on the drive for a couple of days we went to it and it wouldn’t start again. We tried to jump it off another car and at first it had some electric and was trying to start then it went to nothing – no power at all. We can’t lock or unlock some of the doors, a couple of the windows are stuck down and there is zero response when turning the key, no lights or anything electrical. We’ve had a look at the fuses we can see and it doesn’t look like any have blown. We are stuck! Any pointers would be appreciated- thanks Laura

Sounds like the battery is flat. Did the garage that replaced the battery do any other checks, like test the alternator?

Your garage doesn’t sound very good, but then it’s easy to say that from behind a keyboard. A flat battery can have many causes, only one of those being the battery itself. There are several checks to do before condemning the battery:

Alternator output and ripple test, as mentioned.
Parasitic draw, for things draining the battery when they shouldn’t.
Physical and electrical checks on the battery connections.
Other factors, such as if the car is only used every two weeks for short journeys.

Unless you’re handy with a multimeter, take the car back to the garage as they have not solved the problem, merely temporarily cured a symptom.

Can you elaborate on."Having problems starting" "Wouldn't start" "Wouldn't start again" "trying to start" You never mention a flat battery, or for how long the engine is being turned over.

RiversideFreelander said:

We tried to jump it off another car and at first it had some electric and was trying to start then it went to nothing – no power at all.

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Sounds to me like you were jumping from a car with not enough battery or alternator output for a Td4. You need to jump start it with something better. (A Td4 can easily be cranked to start with a standalone battery if good enough)
The garage must have mentioned the alternator output, ring and ask them. If they said it is ok, get it double checked once jump started.
If it is not charging, think twice about that garage.

Strange that it was so totally drained that even things that do not require any power at all will not work.

I hope you haven't fried the car's electronics/CCU (computer) by jump starting it.

Hey, if I was you the first thing I would do is test the battery with a multimeter and check the terminals are tight.

A charged battery connected properly is the first place to start.

Also the trigger wire on the starter can sometimes be an issue.

Rossco

Thank you all, some really useful tips and suggestions to get us started!

We’ve got a trickle charger and have had it on charge with that also after trying to jump start it and it didn’t work either, I forgot to mention that.

I will double check about the alternator and what the garage said and borrow a multimeter to check on battery too.

Devilish said:

Can you elaborate on."Having problems starting" "Wouldn't start" "Wouldn't start again" "trying to start" You never mention a flat battery, or for how long the engine is being turned over.

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Hi Devilish, it was taking longer to start at first, it deteriorated over 2-3 weeks so that when you turned the key it was noticeably longer before starting. Not huge amounts, just a few seconds but still noticeable. It was also taking a couple of times before starting sometimes but this was mainly when coming to it for the first time that day. Then one day we came to it and the key would turn, it sounded like it was trying to start but it wouldn’t start. Each time we tried to turn the key it would sound less able to start, presumably draining the battery that little bit more with each go. Even when we had the vehicle on trickle charge for all day though it still wouldn’t start. We thought it might have been the starter motor for that reason.

RiversideFreelander said:

it was taking longer to start at first, it deteriorated over 2-3 weeks so that when you turned the key it was noticeably longer before starting. Not huge amounts, just a few seconds but still noticeable. It was also taking a couple of times before starting sometimes but this was mainly when coming to it for the first time that day. Then one day we came to it

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There's a couple of checks you can carry out, to help narrow down the issue.

But before we go into those, a bit more information is needed.

When you say it didn't start, is the engine cranking over ok? If it's not cranking, is there just a clicking sound from the engine bay?

If it's cranking, does it sounds like it's not cranking as fast as it should do, or has done in the past? If so, is the battery the correct size for the TD4? It should be an 096 battery, which pretty much fills the battery tray. Fitting a petrol Freelander battery is a common mistake, but unfortunately it's simply not powerful enough to do the job.

Are you waiting for the glow plug light to extinguish, before attempting to start it?

When it does start, does it blow any smoke from the exhaust, if so what colour is the smoke?

RiversideFreelander said:

Hello All! we have a 2003 Freelander (53 plate) which we were having problems starting. We thought it was the starter motor but took it to the garage and they said starter motor was fine and it was a problem with the battery, which they replaced and it was working fine. About a week later, after sitting on the drive for a couple of days we went to it and it wouldn’t start again. We tried to jump it off another car and at first it had some electric and was trying to start then it went to nothing – no power at all. We can’t lock or unlock some of the doors, a couple of the windows are stuck down and there is zero response when turning the key, no lights or anything electrical. We’ve had a look at the fuses we can see and it doesn’t look like any have blown. We are stuck! Any pointers would be appreciated- thanks

Laura

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Morning Laura - I had something similar a couple of months ago, car completely dead, no lights on the dashboard or anything, let alone cranking/turning over. And that was despite having a fully charged battery... In my case when I investigated it I was able to sort it by cleaning a couple of contacts in the fusebox. Start at the battery, on the live terminal there are a couple of leads coming off it, one goes to the starter motor, ignore that one, t'other goes to the engine bay fuse box on the passenger side of the engine bay, this is the one you need to work on.

VERY IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTICE - DISCONNECT THE BATTERY AT THIS POINT!

The fuse box you need is at the back passenger side corner of the engine bay, remove the cover and you'll see the end of this wire from the battery coming in to an eyelet connection and bolting onto some metal strips, remove the nut clean the eyelet and the part of the fusebox it connects to with DRY scotch-brite / steel wool / fine sandpaper before refitting them. Now follow that bar along and there are "fusable links" essentially thin metal strips, remove them and clean them the same way. Put the link back on, put the cover back on the fusebox, reconnect the battery, pray this does fix it as the tailgate window is going to go down when you reconnect the power and you'll need the power to be back on to wind it back up, and hopefully your freelander should start now.

I've grabbed this picture from an ebay listing and annotated it with a thick red dashed line around the area I'm suggesting you clean up the contacts on. The missing bolt on that bar is the one that holds the main feed from the battery.



If that works I'd take an extra ten minutes, disconnect the battery again, and clean all the contacts on the adjacent links, which are to the left of the red dashed lined box in the above picture.

RiversideFreelander said:

Hi Devilish, it was taking longer to start at first, it deteriorated over 2-3 weeks so that when you turned the key it was noticeably longer before starting. Not huge amounts, just a few seconds but still noticeable. It was also taking a couple of times before starting sometimes but this was mainly when coming to it for the first time that day. Then one day we came to it and the key would turn, it sounded like it was trying to start but it wouldn’t start. Each time we tried to turn the key it would sound less able to start, presumably draining the battery that little bit more with each go. Even when we had the vehicle on trickle charge for all day though it still wouldn’t start. We thought it might have been the starter motor for that reason.

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That sounds like a fuel issue getting worse. Also at this time of year it’s getting colder so bad injectors or poor fuel supply make it more difficult to start.

Straight off the bat disconnecting the intake hose (wing to intake manifold) spray brake cleaner in for 1.5 seconds only. When you crank it if it suddenly begins trying to start you know instantly it’s a fuel problem.
If it doesn’t try to start on brake cleaner then the problem is else where.

BEWARE: Do not spray oodles of brake cleaner down it’s throat as you will damage it. Just a sniff sprayed in to see if she’ll kick is all that’s required.

That test will instantly tell you if the problem is fuel delivery or elsewhere.

Can of brake spray is about £1.30.

Rossco