Trying to help out a friend of mine that has a Disco 1, He drove it yesterday, no problems at all. He goes to start it this morning and nothing. Turns the key, no lights, no noises, nothing. Battery has 12.9 volts, battery leads are tight, starter only a couple months old. Any ideas where to start looking?

 

Maybe check main ground wires and connections, then check for voltage at fuse boxes.

 

That is where my train of thought is going. I'm trying to help him out remotely as he doesn't live close by, he's not very mechanical minded and doesn't do forums.

 

Brown wire on positive cable which goes to the fuse block can get broken internally from years of people moving the terminals out of the way and cause all sorts of issues. Sounds like broken or bad battery terminals to me.

 

Make sure to check the orientation of the terminal wires as it can be confusing. The short lead from the fuse box should be connected to the positive (+) side. The positive terminal also gets the main red (positive) lead that goes to the starter. The short lead becomes the bolt on the positive side. The main ground / negative (-) just gets the main black (negative) lead and a regular bolt.

Photo attached from random website.

 

He's clueless when it comes to stuff like this, so most likely I'm going to have to drive 60+ miles to his house and figure it out for him. It's not his daily driver, so there's not a rush to fix it although I think he's starting to get fed up with it and he may try and sell it. I already have a Disco 2 and A Series, I don't need another one. LoL

 

I went and saw my friend today to see if could get his Disco 1 sorted out, but I didn't have much luck. I found the battery to be overcharged, 15.7 volts which I guess means the voltage regulator on the alternator is faulty. All the ground connections are good, under bonnet fuse box has power, the fuse box underneath the steering wheel though seems to be dead. Power is going to the fuel injection ecu. Is it possible that continued excess voltage has fried something? Key in the ignition does nothing, no lights, no hazards, no dings, nothing at all.

 

Did you check the main engine compartment fuses? They are high amp fuses near the battery and feed the ignition circuits and fuel pump, etc.

Over voltage causes over amperage that can rarely blow fuses, but if it has not been running, then the portable charger is at fault (or you have a bad meter). Resting voltage of a 12V battery is 12.2 - 12.6 typically. Alternator voltage ranges from 13.8 to 14.4 typically (measured at the battery posts).

 

Main engine compartment fuses were all good. I used my volt meter to check the voltage, when I first got there it was reading 19volts resting, I thought my volt meter was malfunctioning so I checked the resting voltage of my battery and it was normal. His Disco was sitting in the sun so I thought that may have been effecting the reading I was getting. After the sun moved an it was in the shade, resting voltage dropped to 15.7 and stayed like that the rest of the afternoon. Last time the Disco was able to start was last Friday, Saturday morning it was dead.

 

Maybe try a different battery?