I usually drive my disco every day, but last week it sat for 5 days and when I jumped in to start it the battery would just barely turn the engine over.
This week I decided to look into the battery drainage.
The alternator is good and regulates, I?m 100% sure of that. (Although I?ve heard the alternator can draw current and kill batteries if there?s a bad internal circuit, but let?s assume that?s not the case for now).
First thing I did was charge the battery and unhooked it from the car, to see if it was bad or draining on it?s own. After 2 days it was fine and holding about 12.9 volts.
I then put the battery back in, and when hooked up to he truck the voltage was reading 12.65volts installed.
Then I took off the negative lead and put an ammeter inline. The amps were fluctuating between 0.01 and 0.07 one evening when I checked, 0.01 and 0.04 another time, and 0.01 and 0.03 another.
I?m fine with and think up to 0.03 is ok; so it?s the intermittent 0.04-0.07 draw I?m worried about. I started pulling fuses but couldn?t get it to consistently stay in that range long enough to work through them.
Truck does not have and never had air leveling suspension, which seems to be the most common reason for battery drainage.
Is there a sequence of shutting the truck down and waiting times for computers and etc. to shut down I need to follow, or any good write ups on tracking down and measuring parasitic drains in a 2003 disco?
This week I decided to look into the battery drainage.
The alternator is good and regulates, I?m 100% sure of that. (Although I?ve heard the alternator can draw current and kill batteries if there?s a bad internal circuit, but let?s assume that?s not the case for now).
First thing I did was charge the battery and unhooked it from the car, to see if it was bad or draining on it?s own. After 2 days it was fine and holding about 12.9 volts.
I then put the battery back in, and when hooked up to he truck the voltage was reading 12.65volts installed.
Then I took off the negative lead and put an ammeter inline. The amps were fluctuating between 0.01 and 0.07 one evening when I checked, 0.01 and 0.04 another time, and 0.01 and 0.03 another.
I?m fine with and think up to 0.03 is ok; so it?s the intermittent 0.04-0.07 draw I?m worried about. I started pulling fuses but couldn?t get it to consistently stay in that range long enough to work through them.
Truck does not have and never had air leveling suspension, which seems to be the most common reason for battery drainage.
Is there a sequence of shutting the truck down and waiting times for computers and etc. to shut down I need to follow, or any good write ups on tracking down and measuring parasitic drains in a 2003 disco?
the girl friend just gets mad when I make her open and close the hood all day, my weight lifting restriction is pretty much the ammeter, ha!
