I bought a 2004 Discovery HSE about a month ago and love it. Already replaced the front driveshaft and have done some cosmetic work. It has been running great then out of nowhere I get in to go to work and key fob isn't working, put the key in and nothing no lights completely dead. The battery is new as of July. So I researched forums for hours and have done the following:

Replaced key fob - didn't work
Pulled fuse 20 for radio/clock drain possibility - didn't work
Went to advanced auto and got the following results:
*pic attached as well*
Battery
Good - Recharge
Voltage - 12.38V
Measured - 626 cca
Rated - 700 cca
Temperature - 42 degrees F

Starter Test
Low Cranking Amps
Voltage - 10.43V
Amps - 0.0A
Time - 1.06S

Charging System
No Problems
No Load - 14.13V
Loaded - 14.07V

Drain Test
0.00A
pass

I don't know what to do next besides just replacing things or taking it to a dealer. I am capable of doing my own repairs but am really wanting to nail down the problem. Would love some help with this. Thanks

 

These issues are above my pay grade, but you can check stuff like, switches, the interior lights...make sure they all actually work AND that they actually go off after the door shuts. Mine had this issue that a switch for the dome light was bad and they would dim but not turn off...killed the battery. Replaced the middle light assembly and it's fixed.

Any sort of short like that can drain the battery. Are there any electrical componants that don't work? Has anything been modified....stereos, amps, lights, etc??

 

Yeah I turned all the overhead lights to off and the dim light seem to go off fine all this is of course after I recharged the battery.

 

Any chance it had/has airbags and the pump is draining the battery? I had a similar situation after converting from airbags to coil springs.

 

I find the 0.00A drain on the parts store test extremely suspicious. Most ECUs take a few minutes to "go to sleep" (meaning they continue to draw power after the vehicle is shut off) before a proper drain test can be performed.
How to check for drain: Remove the positive battery cable, and use a multimeter set to milliamps to bridge between the battery post and now removed cable end. Any readings above 0.050A need to be checked. Just a 1.0A drain can run a battery down overnight. With the multimeter connected, start pulling fuses one by one, and when the meter changes significantly, you know what circuit is at fault. I do recommend replacing the fuses after you remove them to check just to make sure they get back in the right places.

Not the easiest or most fun thing to do, but it certainly helps narrow odwn the possible causes.

 

Ok great I will buy a multimeter today and test tonight. Does the battery need to be fully charged to accomplish this?

 

Wouldn't need to be 'fully' charged. But enough to be a normal situation.

I did this on a different vehicle. It is a tedious process, but better than paying a garage to do it.

When the meter is in line with the battery be careful not to operate anything. You risk blowing the fuse inside the meter, and another trip back to town for the odd sized fuse. Maybe mine was just an old meter, but that was double-tedious.

I'm interested what you find.

 

Ok so I had the battery charged and got a multimeter and set the multimeter to what I think is right for milliamps but when I pulled fuses it always read 0.00. Can you see the picture attached and let me know if the setting is correct or not. I ask the guy at advanced and I read the directions but not finding good answers.

 

Settings on the multimeter look good. Just to confirm, you removed the positive battery cable, and have the multimeter bridged between the cable end and the positive battery cable, right? While you have things connected like this, if you were to open a door (causing the dome lights to come on), the meter should jump to about 10A or so..

 

Like this? (See pic attached) take the positive cable off and connect the multimeter to the positive cable and positive terminal?