I am about 30 miles north of Chicago. Weather has been very cold for last few weeks.

I have a 2003 Disco 2 which is parked outside in driveway. It has new 8mm wires and iridium plugs, tuneup, servicing, rotella etc all done in Sept. 70k miles on odo with a slipped liner the only problem. A few weeks back I had to recharge the 1.5 year old battery as car had sat for weeks without driving and wouldn't start. Prior to the dead battery the M and S would flash and I would have to turn ignition off and restart to get that clear. Voltmeter showed battery at 12 volts after charge and sitting. While running I am getting 14,6 volts with all electrical accessories on. Have not had any flashing M and S since.

Today the temp was 0 F. The truck hadn't been driven since Saturday. It started right up, I let it run about 3 minutes then took a 5 mile drive to shopping center. It was fully warmed up, lights, heat and radio on. I locked it with plipper, came back in an hour, plipped it open, got in, inserted key and got nothing - no attempt to crank, electrical power, door lock, nothing. I tried to start it a number of times. The plipper no longer worked. Finally, i decided to get out and call for service. I went around opening doors and manually depressing lock buttons. Went I got back to the driver's door, I decided to check the key lock mechanism. I opened and closed the driver door lock with the key 3 times. I then tried the plipper and the locks opened and interior light came on. I got in and started the truck right up. There was no trouble driving home, parking and locking. I went back a bit ago and opened it and started it up just fine.

Does anyone know what the problem is? I seem to recall a thread about some magic key lock sequence to revive a totally dead disco 2 but can't find it now. There must be some problem with a weak battery. I guess I will buy a diagnostic tool and check trouble codes. I have had these trucks before,never had any major issues, and figured everything out without trouble codes. Anybody have any ideas what the problem is? Somebody must have some definitive notion based on experience.

Thanks. Sorry for verbosity.

 

Loose battery cables?

 

I'll second that...both times I've had the same problem and after opening the hood the positive cable had worked loose and was practically flapping in the breeze due to the stupid clamp design. I've since put in a metal 'spacer' ring around my battery post that acts as a wedge to keep things tight and haven't had any issues since.

 

Thanks USAroverman. I didn't check that tonight as it was too damned cold. I now recall that when I used my volt meter last, the clamps seemed loose. I couldn't tighten them up well. (They don't seem to tighten at all really.) Didn't think much of it at the time. I think I will pull into the garage and change them out.

 

I once used a toothpick to shim between the battery post and the clamp. No need to find a properly sized metal spacer ring. But I eventually took my Vise Grips and squeezed both clamps just enough to deform them from being round (while off the battery). Worked like a charm; both clamps now fit snugly.

 

I have used a small machine screw to drive in-between the clamp and the post.