1994 r.rover battery drain

[singingcamel]

1994 r.rover with a constant battery drain.
the ignition switch would not let me remove the key until the battery dies.
its there a key lock relay that is causing the drain? the switch was changed,no difference,i,ve had the switch problems before with these sxs and replacing the switch did it..anyone been here before? marc

[J!m]

This is easy to find.

Remove the negative terminal from the battery.

Use your volt meter between the negative terminal of the battery and the cable end you took off and read the voltage. With a draw, you will see voltage here, perhaps as much as full battery voltage.

Now go to the fuse box and start pulling fuses one by one.

Once the meter reads zero volts, you found the circuit with the problem.

This cuts the job down to a reasonable one...

[Rod Turnbull]

I've being fighting with the same problem in my Rover for some time... after I had all the fuses in all the fuse boxes pull out and I'm still getting a voltage, I went to the next obvious source to look for problems (things that have been "FIXXED" in the wiring system by whom ever owned this gem before me) I took care of these... It will run with the battery disconnected, can I assume the alternator is OK? It still drains the battery intermittently (takes about 3-4 days to kill a new battery if it is going to, sometimes it doesn't drain at all). Could something be getting wet and shorting out someplace, are there any obvious places to start looking (alternator maybe)?

Thanks,
Rod

[J!m]

Well, here's one for you....

I had a similar draw where I could not find it...

it turned out to be the top of the battery was dirty. Yep. The dirt across the top of the battery was causing a poor connection across the terminals, and drawing the battery down slowly. It was the craziest thing, and as you can imagine, took a lot of hair out of my head finding it... "I un-hooked EVERYTHING and there's STILL a draw!!!! WTF???"

I don't mention it often, as it is quite a rare occurrence; however if you do off-road and swamp the engine occasionally, it might be worth looking at. Just clean the battery top with soap and water, and dry it off. It's worth a shot!

I suppose along the same lines, if the positive cables fro the battery to the starter and onward from there are covered in muck, it could short over the wire insulation too I suppose... Perhaps a thorough engine compartment cleaning is in order?

PS the alternator is good if the engine runs with the battery disconected, yes.

[Rod Turnbull]

Thanks Jim

I have had to put a new battery in recently and I keep the battery clean as a rule of thumb (I've seen that before too)... but the starter... then my eyes open... you know it have been leaking oil from the valve cover, right over top of the starter, that has the potential to be encrusted with enough crap to be the problem. Next time I get under there I will have to scrape the stuff off of it.

[J!m]

Yeah! Scrape off the chunky stuff, then wash it down with brake cleaner.

That should do it!

Don't forget to check for draw when you're done to be sure...

[singingcamel]

i will have to come forward as well with a dirty battery confession ( on my 109 series 11a .
now that we have come clean , we both can breathe a little easier,thanks for comming forward with this jim .you made my day.
the battery is new, i will have a look this week end and try all that has been recommended.
thanks to all that have posted.. http://singingcamel.com

[J!m]

No problem!

This is what these boards are for...

[JSalyer]

Just a couple of notes on Electrical problemsThese are simple fixes for alot of the issues on these cars)

Stay on top of Battery cleaning!! I clean my posts and cables about 4 times a year!! Put any of the anti corrode pastes on to keep good connection.

Rovers are very bad about poor grounds!! Check all of the multiwire grounds in and around the engine compartment, unbolt, clean thouroughly with wire brush(I keep one of those cheap NAPA 4 brush sets in my tool box) and again coat with anti corrode goo. There are other grounds in passenger compartment, underbody etc., you will need to order a factory electrical schematic from Rovers North (the best investment you will make!!, you can take it to your mechanic if you dont do your own work and he will love you and save you money!!) to locate all of them.

Many of the irritating "blinking lights, running/driveability issues etc" come from corrosion.

Another big issue was water invading the dash(RR classic early Disco)and getting into the major elec junctions and inturn these corroding out.
You will find real horror stories under there and LR had Service Bulletins addressing these(I know cause I did a lot of these in my LR days!!).

Hope this helps,
Remember Rovers are a Maintenance heavy vehicle and time invested in PMCS(a military term for preventitive maintenance) will pay off big time!!

Cheers from Bavaria
Jack