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Hello Rovers North Community!
I'm a new Defender owner and a first time poster on this forum. I apologize if this is the incorrect format or post location. I'm grateful for any insight/guidance you an provide!
I am looking for help diagnosing and correcting an electrical problem with my 1995 Defender 110 County, 300 tdi.
Problem: When switching the ignition to position III, the battery voltage drops from ~12V to ~8V and then lacks the voltage required to turn the engine over. If connected to a jumper battery or another vehicle, I can turn the engine over. When connected to another running vehicle in parallel, the voltage climbs to ~13V; as soon as the other vehicle is disconnected, the voltage drops to ~11.9V.
Once turned over and with assistance disconnected, the voltage is steady at ~12V at idle; with the engine reved, the V climbs to ~13.
When left for several days without running, the battery discharges.
Additional info
- The battery is new.
- The Defender is mostly stock and low-mileage. It sat in a previous owner's grain silo in UK and is very well-preserved.
- The only modifications of which I am aware is a pair of Land Rover brand driving lights that were mounted to the front bumper. I have since disconnected the power source to these and insulated the power leads that were running to them. I have not traced these wires back into the dash and disconnected them though (the wire bundle for this appears in good shape and I'm not concerned about a short along this circuit).
Diagnostics thus far:
- Fuses: with the engine off and key out of ignition, I've connected a multimeter in series with the positive terminal of the battery and pulled each fuse under the dash and the 4 fuses in the engine bay one-at-a-time while taking note of the voltage drop. The most significant drop was under-dash fuse #2 which dropped from 11.76 V to 11.49 V. I've attached a photo of the fuse box as well as the fuse box key.
The only other voltage drop was from pulling the 60A fuse in the engine bay (3rd from the front, depicted with red arrow in picture attached) wherein the voltage dropped from 11.69 V to 11.32 V.
- Alternator: I've also disconnected the alternator and observed the voltage with all batter terminals connected (multi-meter in parallel). There was no voltage fluctuating with the alternator disconnected -- both when the engine is off/key out of ignition, as well as with the engine running. Since I've seen a number of posts discussing incorrect wiring of the alternator, I am including a picture of my current alternator wiring (attached).
Thank you for reading. Again, I am so grateful for any help!
Best,
Josh
I'm a new Defender owner and a first time poster on this forum. I apologize if this is the incorrect format or post location. I'm grateful for any insight/guidance you an provide!
I am looking for help diagnosing and correcting an electrical problem with my 1995 Defender 110 County, 300 tdi.
Problem: When switching the ignition to position III, the battery voltage drops from ~12V to ~8V and then lacks the voltage required to turn the engine over. If connected to a jumper battery or another vehicle, I can turn the engine over. When connected to another running vehicle in parallel, the voltage climbs to ~13V; as soon as the other vehicle is disconnected, the voltage drops to ~11.9V.
Once turned over and with assistance disconnected, the voltage is steady at ~12V at idle; with the engine reved, the V climbs to ~13.
When left for several days without running, the battery discharges.
Additional info
- The battery is new.
- The Defender is mostly stock and low-mileage. It sat in a previous owner's grain silo in UK and is very well-preserved.
- The only modifications of which I am aware is a pair of Land Rover brand driving lights that were mounted to the front bumper. I have since disconnected the power source to these and insulated the power leads that were running to them. I have not traced these wires back into the dash and disconnected them though (the wire bundle for this appears in good shape and I'm not concerned about a short along this circuit).
Diagnostics thus far:
- Fuses: with the engine off and key out of ignition, I've connected a multimeter in series with the positive terminal of the battery and pulled each fuse under the dash and the 4 fuses in the engine bay one-at-a-time while taking note of the voltage drop. The most significant drop was under-dash fuse #2 which dropped from 11.76 V to 11.49 V. I've attached a photo of the fuse box as well as the fuse box key.
The only other voltage drop was from pulling the 60A fuse in the engine bay (3rd from the front, depicted with red arrow in picture attached) wherein the voltage dropped from 11.69 V to 11.32 V.
- Alternator: I've also disconnected the alternator and observed the voltage with all batter terminals connected (multi-meter in parallel). There was no voltage fluctuating with the alternator disconnected -- both when the engine is off/key out of ignition, as well as with the engine running. Since I've seen a number of posts discussing incorrect wiring of the alternator, I am including a picture of my current alternator wiring (attached).
Thank you for reading. Again, I am so grateful for any help!
Best,
Josh