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freddie206

Member Since: 18 Oct 2015
Location: Skipton
Posts: 87

Battery not charging

I regularly leave my vehicle for a few weeks at a time without running it and I’ve never had any issues with the battery, until now.

After 4 days at a holiday cottage I went to fire up and head home to find that the battery was dead. Nothing had been left on so I don’t understand how the battery had drained. After a jump start I drove the 1.5 hour trip home expecting the alternator to do its thing. But that wasn’t the case.

About 10 minutes from home I went to put my window down and the engine very nearly conked out so I left the window and just tried to get back. Once parked up I turned off the engine and when I went to start it again there wasn’t enough oomph in the battery.

Ive since charged the battery and it holds charge so hopefully that’s okay.

I’ve checked the voltage of the battery with the engine off and it’s in the region of 12.5V. With the engine on it stays the same and slowly drops.

The output at the alternator is the same as the battery and I’ve checked that the 12v ignition live on the alternator is okay.

So, before I bite the bullet and fit a new alternator is there anything I should check?

14th Oct 2022 6:34pm

rallysteve

Member Since: 10 Feb 2014
Location: Cumbria
Posts: 2200

2002 Defender 110 Td5 DCPU Keswick Green

Check fuse 12 (10A) in the fusebox to make sure it is okay as this is the ignition feed/exciter to the alternator. Also worth checking the main terminal on the alternator is clean and secure. Just after we bought our TD5 it had stopped charging and was fearing the worst and it turned out just to be the connection come loose.

Steve 02' 110 TD5 Double Cab Rebuild Thread
84' 90 3.9 V8 Caged Pickup Build Thread - Now For Sale

14th Oct 2022 7:14pm

freddie206

Member Since: 18 Oct 2015
Location: Skipton
Posts: 87

Fuse 12 is okay, as is the stud connection on the alternator that goes to the starter.

Oddly I haven’t had a battery/no charge warning light at all.

I also lost the speedo and fuel gauge the other day but they came back all of a sudden.

15th Oct 2022 9:19am

rallysteve

Member Since: 10 Feb 2014
Location: Cumbria
Posts: 2200

The gauges and the charge warning light are all supplied by the same fuse/circuit. Have a check of fuse 15 too.

Do you get the charge warning light at all?

It would be worth unplugging the multiplug off the alternator (not easy to access) and verifying you get 12v on both the brown/yellow and white/green wires.

Steve 02' 110 TD5 Double Cab Rebuild Thread
84' 90 3.9 V8 Caged Pickup Build Thread - Now For Sale

15th Oct 2022 12:27pm

freddie206

Member Since: 18 Oct 2015
Location: Skipton
Posts: 87

Fuse 15 is okay.

I haven’t had any warning lights at all.

I (with a bit of swearing) managed to get the multiplug off the back of the alternator and the white/green wire had 12v with the ignition on. I didn’t check the brown/yellow though so I’ll do that.

Am I right in thinking that, using a multimeter, with positive on the stud of the alternator and ground on the engine block I should be seeing at least 14v with the engine running?

15th Oct 2022 4:14pm

ickle

Member Since: 22 Jul 2010
Location: South Vendee
Posts: 1728

2008 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 CSW Alpine White

Old school method of checking is to park facing a wall so you can see the reflection of the headlights, start the car up, put on all the high load items, (HRW, fan, heated seats etc) and then the headlights - when you rev it, the headlights should get brighter if its actually charging....

HTH Keith

15th Oct 2022 4:26pm

Screbble

Member Since: 26 Apr 2015
Location: Lancashire
Posts: 2040

2004 Defender 90 Td5 XS CSW Zambezi Silver

You don’t need to fiddle about at the alternator - any 12v supply will do if you can’t access the battery.

A crude but helpful guide to expected voltages when engine on/off is as per below, which is broadly consistent with the readings on my in-cabin voltmeter:

Click image to enlarge

15th Oct 2022 5:12pm

LandRoverAnorak

Member Since: 17 Jul 2011
Location: Surrey
Posts: 11240

2013 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 USW Orkney Grey

Quote:
I’ve checked the voltage of the battery with the engine off and it’s in the region of 12.5V. With the engine on it stays the same and slowly drops.

I'd say this points to the alternator. It should be comfortably over 13v with the engine running. Darren

110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak

"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia

15th Oct 2022 8:19pm

custom90

Member Since: 21 Jan 2010
Location: South West, England.
Posts: 19579

As above, as LRA mentioned. You should see a charging voltage of north of 13.2v at least and typically in the 13.8v - 14.8v range. (Mine sits at 14.4v - 14.6v).
Battery voltage at rest of anything below about 12.4v is getting rather low, and voltage should definitely be increased with engine running and alternator charging current active.

As as LRA already suggested, sounds like the Alternator. Diesel$ Live$ Matter. ⛽️🛢️👨‍🔧🧰⚙️ RED, WHITE & BOOST! 🇬🇧

15th Oct 2022 9:35pm

freddie206

Member Since: 18 Oct 2015
Location: Skipton
Posts: 87

Fit a new alternator this afternoon. Battery voltage is back up to 14.2v with the engine running.

I was following the Land Rover workshop manual but had to stop and scratch my head when I saw the gap that the alternator had to come out of. Whipped the EGR cooler off and it came out much easier.

Thanks to all who offered advice. Much appreciated.

8th Nov 2022 7:44pm

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