Hello all!

I have a 1996 SD Discovery I, and she is giving me fits. Last week my Disco started having starting problems. The morning of, she started with no problems and drove perfectly to work. I got in her to go to lunch, and she was completely dead...locks would not lock, clock off, no noise coming from starter, etc...

My friend and I were able to "jump" the battery, and my Disco started fine. I turned the engine and off and went to re-start and deader than a door nail. Once a again she was able to be "jumped" and would run fine until turned off. I was able to make it home without her dying en route.

The next morning my adventure would include taking "Dora" my Disco to Checker Auto Parts to run a test on the alternator per a mechanic friend of mine. She had to be "jumped" in order to start but when I put her in drive she died. I put the jumper cables on the battery (they were not connected to the other car), and I heard the heater turn on, so I tried to start her, and of course, she did which I thought was weird since the jumper cables were only on my car and not the "jumper" car. The battery in my disco was only 3 months old, but I went ahead and replaced it but it did not solve the problem. Checker Auto Parts stated that my alternator was over-charging my battery.

I've since had a mechanic look at it and he does not believe it is the alternator or battery but cannot understand what is wrong. Today, my car will start fine and run fine...no problems starting or dying while being driven or at stop signs. Can anyone help?

 

do you have a volt meter so you can verify alternator output voltage? If not you should pick one up, it is something you will need if you plan to work on your vehicles yourself.

 

First whenever you jump start a car never turn it back off until you need to, all the "juice" that you put into the battery is going to be gone as soon as you try and strt the car, by jumping the battery you are only giving it a "surface" charge.
Just like if you plug your dead cell phone into the charger for 10 mins, it will go dead again next time you use it even though the battery level says full.

Have your mechanic friend check the battery cables for a good connection, after that look into loose/bad electrical grounds.
http://www.roverparts.com/TechTips/g...l_problems.cfm
Open the link and print that page and take it to your mechainc friend.

 

If you check it at home, you need to be within 13.6 volts and 14.4 volts or you have a problem.
Did the people at the auto parts store tell you exactly how much voltage your alternator was putting out?

 

Right after I got my Disco i had a similar problem. Drove around all day, no problem. Got back in and tried to start. Nothing. Popped the hood and started poking around. Looked at the battery and all appeared normal until I decided to pull the cables off and clean the terminals. I found that my negative battery cable was loose enough that it wasn't making contact with the terminal. Tighten down the cable and problem solved.