Hey All,

Been having issues starting my Disco for the last several months. Its a 2004 Disco HSE7, 150KM or so. New battery (Motomaster Eliminator), thermostat (180degree) Coolant Reservoir, serpentine belt, idler pulleys and lift kit etc.

It's been throwing a secondary air trouble code since I bought it (P1412) have tried and tried to isolate the issue, code will come and go, but do not think its related to the starting issues.

Some days it will start, even after sitting for a week, other days it won't. Bout a trickle charger that I will often plug in when parked, but lately haven't needed it as the truck has started every day without it. Until today.

Often I can jump with just another charged battery (thanks neighbor) which tells me the battery is drained just enough to not start but not completely dead. I've checked fuses and tested battery for a parasitic draw but OHMS with everything off is less than 0.40 which I believe is within spec.

On top of this I have a horrible coolant leak that will drain a full reservoir in a 10-minute drive, which I am pretty sure is due to a faulty water pump, for which the replacement part arrived today. Not to understate the importance of coolant in a Land Rover but the starting issue is causing me way more grief at this time.

I should add that battery terminals and negative posts are clean and tight and the alternator appears to be in good working order, getting around 14V on the Ultraguage.

I am starting to think it could be the starter but it doesn't quite ring true as I had the starter go on my 2001 Disco and this doesn't feel the same..I've had the battery tested but perhaps after weeks of this issue its no longer healthy??

 

 

I can open the doors, all electronics appear to work and I just get the clicking sound which I assume is the starter not getting enough power until which point it will of course drain. As mentioned before, it will start off another charged battery so it doesn't seem to need much.

I did have the battery tested several months back when this started but the kid at CT (Canadian Tire) told me it tested all good. Wonder if I should get a second opinion or just run a new battery myself..

 

Try a simple test, a bit painful because of all the electronics:

• Disconnect the battery overnight.
• Check the voltage at that point
• Check the voltage in the am before you hook it up.
• Hook it up and try to start if it starts fine you may have a small drain and finding that will be no end of fun. I use to do it by pulling fuses.
• check the voltage while the engine is running.

It is both cold and wet now an iffy battery is going to struggle.

Next coolant leak, that is a big leak you should be able to see and smell the coolant with zero effort. If it is the water pump it goes 1 of 2 places the ground or the oil and you will be able to tell.

 

Yup, cold and wet, the perfect time to be isolating a drain..luckily coolant is going on the ground so at least its exiting the vehicle, I could see it draining out under the pulley when I was changing the serpentine belt.

 

You can jump the starter with a wire from the battery to the starter and try to crank, if it cranks after you do that then it is not the battery. It could be the starter, and if it is the original it could have just developed a gap that is out of tolerance when hot, but back in tolerance when cold. This recently happened to me, and I replaced with a Parts Player starter from Amazon at Best's advice and it has been great.

Inspect your XYZ switch, if the rivets at the bottom front of it have the tops popped off, it is time to replace or rebuild that switch. That will cause intermittent no start issues.

 

Well at least you know where the coolant problem is