Hey guys, need to pick the brains of greater minds again.

Wife's LR3 has been having starting issues. Acts like a dead battery. Every few weeks I will have to scrape away battery acid to get good metal contact again. The vehicle starts fine after this. I took the car to O'Reilly and had the battery tested. They said the battery was fine but low on charge. Their tool also told them that the alternator was putting out too much voltage. They said I need a new one, I am skeptical as the LR3 is pretty complex and normal for a regular car is not normal for an LR3. So what do you think the issue is? Battery, Alternator? Neither? Please help.

Thank you

 

LR3's are pretty hard on batteries.Lots of electronics.My battery tested good but just didn't have quite enough to keep it happy.When my altanator went it cooked itself.

 

You need to check the voltage while not running, and while running to see what is going on.

The negative battery cable is notorious for corroding. Once it starts, it will corrode all the way to where it bolts on the inner fender. Replace the cable.

It is possible your alternator is bad, but I'd suspect the battery first.

If you determine your alternator is ok, then the battery having problems can cause a higher and higher charge rate if the battery is not taking a charge. After having put 5 Interstates in, I finally got off that bandwagon and am happily using a Deka 9A94 AGM Intimidator. I would note, that the Interstate seem notorious for corrosion around the negative battery post itself for some reason.

Let us know what you find.

 

Wow...that's surprising. I'm on my 2nd Interstate (I've had the vehicle for 10 years and only replaced the 2nd Interstate because I was about to go to the Yukon and wanted to take no chances) and have had great luck. Could climate be an issue?

 

I suspect the heat down here is part of it. But the last one, warped at the top of the case, and when I pulled it out and tried to claim warranty, they made every excuse under the sun. That being said, the warranty use suppose to be 24 months replacement, 6 year prorated or some such nonsense. Considering they recently settled a class action regarding their practices (or tip offs) and the fact that my trusted mechanic dropped them due to "quality" issues. --

Anyway-- The Deka is better behaved and American made. Interstate is a re-packager.

 

Hmmm....well I'll definitely keep that name in my back pocket for the next time I have to replace the battery. Thanks.

 

Thanks for the replies. I will get a second check and hopefully it's the battery and not the alternator.

 

For about a year, each morning, I had a "I wonder if it will turn over" issue. It was only at first start of the day and as long as I kept the battery topped up with a CTEK, there was then never a clicking issue from "somewhere" and always turnover on first attempt.

I thought maybe it was the negative battery cable and replaced it; the Interstate battery tested OK and my Deka second battery was OK as well.

The alternator/regulator seemed as OK as any Denso Land Rover charging system ever does, hence it took me a year to tumble to the thought that perhaps the starter solenoid was the problem.

Installation of a new starter motor resolved all. I came to the conclusion that when the battery was topped up and showed at least 12.1 volts when all was shut down, that was enough volts to get the solenoid in the starter to be "strong" and do more than just click. When the battery was a bit weak, then it seemed one had to go thru to clicking process to "heat" the solenoid contacts up such that they would transmit power - well that was my theory anyway. Your constant cleaning of the battery posts etc sounds to me more like one is actually reducing resistance and hence effectively raising the battery voltage a bit.

In summary, if you do not hear clicking noises, it is probably not the starter but instead something wiring related - corrosion, that sort of thing but at the same time, do not discount the starter/starter solenoid.

One can buy solenoid contacts separately but to repair the solenoid, one has to remove the starter, so all in all, it is easer just to replace all.


To me, a test would be just to put the battery on a trickle charger every night, and after about a week, I presume the battery will be topped up.


Then after the week or top up, if the starting problem tends to go away with continued nightly trickle charger use, then perhaps it is the starter solenoid contacts.

 

Battery tests of voltage while running and not running are not a sure battery test. Need to also do a preload test to see if the battery can maintain load. Trickle chargers only maintain voltage, but do not always maintain start load voltage.

 

Yes, you are correct about common testing procedures providing perhaps misleading results; also the trickle charger is not a solution either.

I suppose I should have used the term "Battery Maintainer" rather than trickle charger but the reality is the goal is to get the battery up closer to a 100% State of Charge rather than the more normal 80% that the 3's electrical system routinely achieves.

My reason for wanting a higher state of charge is to get the electrical system sensors and equipment to commence operating at closer to 13 volts than under 12 volts at startup.

I have a theory that for some reason, the 3's sensors and bits have a relatively high minimum voltage at which they need to operate as designed. I am inclined to think that most newer vehicle designs are now not as under voltage intolerant as the 3 is. I think this is because when designed, the 3 was truly at the bleeding edge of the newer computer based vehicle control systems design. The 3 appears to have been Ford's prototype for many of the systems one now sees on current Ford products, be it the split exhaust resonator Y design or the almost digital PWM electrical system. Over time, Ford has learned lessons from the 3 and continues to learn from them on the 4.

In the case of my 3, it was monitoring shut down overnight voltage vs the mis-behavior related to starting and later with regards to a rear hatch release concern. Related to the rear hatch sometimes not opening, the determination ultimately was that the problem was a gear motor that was weak; at 12 volts the hatch would not release, above 13 volts it would - that sort of thing. Regarding sensors, as they age, they tend to get more out of range and voltage variances' make it even worse.

In summary, keep track of the battery voltage prior to engine start and see if there is a pattern. If so, that may provide a hint as to where the real problem is.