08 LR3 loses all electrical when starting

[BlueMerle]

Hello gang,

My second post here! First only being an intro in the welcome section. Anyhow, I've just recently purchased an 08 LR3 SE with 38k miles on it and have started to run into an intermittent electrical problem. (I know. A Land Rover with an electrical problem... hahah) Twice now the car has lost all electrical power when I've tried to start it. As in everything works fine with getting into the car including the remote entry. The interior lights light up as well as the stereo display. I get in and turn the key and all power goes. Everything. The truck never turns over. Nothing. At this point the key fob no longer works. The power locks don't work. Total power loss! I get out and pop the hood. Take the battery cover off and jiggle the cables. Then all power comes back. Truck will start fine and run for days. Then it happened again yesterday. This time a quick jiggle of the positive cable got the power back almost immediately. I've noticed that the positive cable's battery terminal is slightly loose, but at no point does it ever lose contact with the battery post or slip off. Are the on board electronics really that sensitive that it has to be 100% locked down on the post? It's as tight as it will go and it's still moveable. I've also noticed that there appears to be some sort of large fuse that's attached to the battery at the positive terminal as well. Possibly a loose connection there? I'm weary about changing out the battery cable terminals as I can't find anything that even resembles what's on there now on-line or the likes. That "battery fuse" is throwing me off for sure. Any insight or help would be greatly appreciated!

[Eniam17]

I would try searching on this, there are a lot of threads because it's a typical LR3 issue. Chances are it's your battery needing to be replaced. Have you tried a voltage test? Due to the electronics, the LR3 batteries seem to be going every 2 or 3 years based on what others on here or saying. It could be that simple for you. Good luck. I'm looking for an 08 with similar miles myself right now by the way.

[BlueMerle]

Thanks for the response. I took it down to AutoZone and had them test the battery, alternator, starter, etc and all came back good. The battery had 87% life left on it and was getting the proper voltage. I'm really thinking that it might be the terminal that's loose. I haven't had the issue for a few days now, knock on wood. I'll definitely have to search the forums more and see what I can come up with. If anyone else has any input feel free to chime in! :

[bbyer]

I think you have found the problem and it is easy to resolve. Yes, the positive battery post may be broken internally and hence you need a new battery however I doubt it.

I would suggest that you purchase a battery brush similar to the thumbnail below and clean both the positive and negative posts as well as inside the battery post terminals.

If the problem was with the ground side, then I would suggest you replace the negative cable as that has been known to be a problem but in this case, it sounds like the problem is on the hot side.

I suggest you remove the negative terminal first and put it back on last. That way if you ground the wrench to the body when doing the hot side, nothing bad should happen.

Also just because the posts etc look clean to the eye does not mean that they are look clean to the electrons. Yes, that sounds silly but my suggestion costs virtually nothing, takes less than a half hour to do and even if it does not work, is a first step to finding where the real problem is. Also even if the clamps are on tight, that means nothing when there is a film of corrosion between the post and the clamp - and it sounds like the positive is not that tight - tight enough for a small amount of power to leak thru to run the courtesy lights etc, but not enough to power the starter.

While you are at it, you might want to put some of those coloured chemically treated felt washers under the cable clamps per what you see in the second thumbnail. The chemical within the felt soaks up whatever it is that tends to cause corrosion around the battery posts.

[BlueMerle]

Thanks! I plan on cleaning the posts tomorrow as well as the terminals. Going to check all the accessible wiring harnesses and connections too just for good measure.

[bbyer]

I suggest that you read up on how the mechanical door lock works, (in the owners manual), and then exercise the lock just to make certain it works. Roll the drivers window down however to avoid locking yourself out.

Dead battery means no power door unlock and if the mechanical unlock is frozen from lack of use, the 3 really becomes no fun. It is near impossible to get in without breaking something. If you have trailer hitch electrical, perhaps maybe you could back-power up things to get the door locks functioning but then you really have to know what you are doing to pull that off. Knowing the mechanical unlock still functions before you need it is easier.

Bye the way, do you have a second key? If so, start using it; a problem key can cause these sort of troubles as well. In this case, I think not, but now is the time to get your second key at least charged up by using it.

[BlueMerle]

The dealer showed me how to use the manual lock and I've already had to use it once when this happened the first time and I locked myself out with the groceries still in the car. I use the second key on a regular just to keep it charged as said. Going to clean the posts and terminals as soon as I clean my garage a little bit today. Maybe even change out the terminals to some that clamp on a little better than the weird Land Rover ones. Hopefully that should solve it. Haven't had the issue since the second time it happened over the weekend so I'm thinking it has to be that slightly loose positive. We did a little light off-roading on Saturday and that might have loosened the cable just enough. Been all city driving since so it would make sense if that's the actual issue. Thanks for all your help!

[bbyer]

Re cutting the battery cable ends off, I try to keep my 3 as stock as possible. For the most part, the LR designed stuff does work. Yes, it is often of unusual design and why I do not know, but as LR is ahead of the design curve in most areas, (bleeding edge), so I think it is best to keep the bits as LR designed them. The exotic design stuff eventually shows up on other makes as well, like about ten years later on Toyota, that sort of ahead.

The positive cable end is a work of art as well - even includes a threaded hookup hole for the second battery or a winch. You might ask yourself where the alternator cable feeds to for instance. It is not to the battery post as it is in all other vehicles I know of, but instead to the starter motor. The thick cable you see at the battery post is to the starter; hence the starter threaded stud is a junction point for the B+ off the alternator. That is the sort of weird I tend to wonder about as strange things can result.

I figure when all is working, the design variation makes no difference, but when there are problems, then very few of our conventional trouble shooting techniques work. In other words a starter solenoid problem can affect the alternator more than one would expect and it would not necessarily show on a clamp meter at the battery end - that sort of weird.

Make certain your battery vent hose is there and connected to the battery. It is not for show - the gases off the maintenance free battery will eat up the tranny computer located behind the battery. This means you install a Euro size battery with a built in vent in the right location, an H7 or better yet, H8 - the details matter.