Namlandy
Member Since: 14 Sep 2008
Location: Namibia
Posts: 57
  
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Can somebody please help? My Disco 3,2006 models battery is going down within a week, it is 9 months old, and I install it because off the old one gone flat. They say it is the software, could it be?
Please help
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 24th May 2010 10:06 pm |
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Trackman
Member Since: 16 Apr 2010
Location: Glasgow
Posts: 430
  
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Could be software related like the ECU not going to sleep but the way to check would be to measure the current draw from the battery when the car should have gone to sleep.
If you find its still drawing about 3amps or more I would suspect the ECU. Also check that interior lights are going off and anything that could draw current. 
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| 24th May 2010 11:27 pm |
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Tawny Owl
Member Since: 22 Oct 2008
Location: Here and there
Posts: 1645
 
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Anything upto 0.2 amp drain is acceptable , anything over that will drain the battery down.
Best to get an amp clamp around either the negaive or positive battery leads , which ever one you go for , make sure you clamp all the wires and wait a little while for the ECU to shut down 
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| 25th May 2010 12:02 am |
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Namlandy
Member Since: 14 Sep 2008
Location: Namibia
Posts: 57
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Thank you for your reply. I measured the current drawn, it is 0,52Amps. I work out that will take 7,6 days to pull the battery flat. At ,2Amps you will do it in 20 days, more or less. Thats now if you park it and never start it for that long. I made sure all lights is off and radio! I will do a load test on battery to make sure that it is 100%, but I think the current drawn all the time is to high.
Don't know if it is a good thing to disconect battery if I park it for so long.
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| 25th May 2010 10:08 pm |
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Tawny Owl
Member Since: 22 Oct 2008
Location: Here and there
Posts: 1645
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0.5 amps is far too much although it may take a while to completely shut down , some vehicles taking up to 40 to fully shut down.
0.3/0.4 amp drain is generally the same amount drawn from a single filament interior light bulb so your reading is the same as you switching that said bulb on and going in doors .
How are you doing your working out , RC (reserve capacity) or CCA (cold cranking amps) ?
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| 25th May 2010 10:22 pm |
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Tawny Owl
Member Since: 22 Oct 2008
Location: Here and there
Posts: 1645
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And if you had a drain of 2amps the battery would surely be flat in 12hrs
Side lights left on would pull 3-4 amps and the battery wouldn't last 20 days 
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| 25th May 2010 10:25 pm |
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Namlandy
Member Since: 14 Sep 2008
Location: Namibia
Posts: 57
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I worked on RC, that is about 95Amps. I made sure about all the lights,but can start pull fuses to isolate problem. I'm not sure that the computer can pull that amount, but will pull his fuse as well.
Must tell you, the dealers in Namibia is off no help, if they can not fix it with there computer it is your problem.
Thank you for reply.
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| 25th May 2010 10:57 pm |
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Trackman
Member Since: 16 Apr 2010
Location: Glasgow
Posts: 430
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0.5A is way too high as Tawnyowl said. If you have a standard battery its 90Ah or 1amp for 90 hours and you need at least half of that to start the engine.
You could remove fuses from the obvious circuits like lights and the internal power plugs to see if you can identify which circuit is drawing power or insert a current meter in place of the fuse.
On my Disco, when the ECU shuts down the power draw drops in a further two stages - the last one is when the light on the radio goes out and thats after approx 3 mins.
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| 25th May 2010 11:05 pm |
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Namlandy
Member Since: 14 Sep 2008
Location: Namibia
Posts: 57
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I also thought so. I had my tester in line for about 10min, still on ,5Amps, maybe leave it longer and then start with fuses. Hope I can get this local mechanics to come online to sort out some problems.
I will try all this tips in the morning.
Thank you.
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| 25th May 2010 11:24 pm |
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Namlandy
Member Since: 14 Sep 2008
Location: Namibia
Posts: 57
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HI, I done a load test on battery, its ok. Charge and put back. Measured curent to fuses, still 0,35Amps. Pull all the small fuses to lights, heaters,seats, just left the big ones. According to the auto electrician it must be less than 0,1Amp. Doanny body know what is the spec on the Disco?
Something else, what is the livespan of the injectors on the Disco? I had mine in for a tune up and the mechanic said to me he is running rich, I have 93 000km on the clock. Can somebody help me there?
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| 27th May 2010 9:50 pm |
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Tawny Owl
Member Since: 22 Oct 2008
Location: Here and there
Posts: 1645
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Upto 0.2 amp is acceptable on any modern vehicle 
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| 27th May 2010 10:01 pm |
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Trackman
Member Since: 16 Apr 2010
Location: Glasgow
Posts: 430
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Can't comment on the Disco's injectors but used to be you could get 100k miles before you might need to give them some attention. Talking about Diesels here with no electonics and going back 20 years.
To check where the current is going, I would start with the larger fuses in the engine compartment and work your way down to the smaller fuses. (Remove the ECU fuse to stop it doing anything daft)
If you go on the basis that the car could draw, say 0.15A, you are looking for something that is drawing 0.15A to 0.2A. To me, that is some module that is not going to sleep.
It could even be the audio amplifier under the driver's seat.
Good Luck
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| 27th May 2010 10:37 pm |
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Trackman
Member Since: 16 Apr 2010
Location: Glasgow
Posts: 430
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Just noticed you said 0.35A, you originally had 0.5A.
What changed 
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| 27th May 2010 11:11 pm |
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Namlandy
Member Since: 14 Sep 2008
Location: Namibia
Posts: 57
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I'm not sure, after load test and recharge it came down , 2Amps. Could be that volts was to low. Still bussy testing.
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| 29th May 2010 7:54 am |
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drivesafe
Member Since: 23 Feb 2006
Location: Gold Coast, Australia
Posts: 867
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Hi Namlandy, just out of curiosity, how often do you drive your D3 and when you do drive, how long for?
If your not driving enough, your battery could be going flat quickly because it wasn’t fully charged when you leave it. 2008 TDV8 RR Lux + 2009 D4 2.7
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| 31st May 2010 8:35 am |
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