Thank you all for taking the time to read this and possibly help. I have been having this problem off and on for 2/3 of the 2+ years I have had the vehicle. I love the car but it's just getting to the point that it's not reliable. Last time this happened, I was in the mountains of West Virginia camping and had to have the car towed to Chantilly, VA. Thank God I had the extended LR warranty and the tow was covered. Would have been almost $1,000!! That being said...

The car will be running fine and have no issues whatsoever. All of the sudden, I will go out to the car later on and it just won't start. The first time it was in the dealership, they said that it was the battery. I paid $150 for a new Interstate battery and it worked fine for a couple of weeks. Then it happened again. This time they had the car for 2 weeks and claimed it was some kind of 'top dead center sensor'. They replaced that, I paid my $100 deductible for the warranty and off I went. This time it lasted a few months. I went to start the car and it started but as I pulled out of my driveway the car lowered and then stalled. I turned it off and restarted it and all seemed to be fine. Net occurrence was in West Virginia. I made a 400+ mile trip from my house with no issue making multiple stops along the way. I get to my destination and turn the car off. I go to start it to move it a half hour later and it's dead again. I have it towed to LR Chantilly, VA. They have the car 5 days and tell me it's a 'starter solenoid relay' or something. I pay my $100 deductible, again, and off I go. As of 3 weeks ago, I am now out of warranty. I go to start my car the other day and here we go again. I turn the key and nothing. I try again and I hear a clicking sound for about 2-3 seconds but nothing else. I test the battery voltage and it's fine. I leave it be for the night. Next day, I borrow an electric battery jumper and try to jump the car. Nothing. Out of desperation, I decide to put the car in reverse and push it a couple of feet to see if maybe getting the engine to turn once or twice will get it to start. Now I try to start the car and it makes the clicking sound for about 10+ seconds but still won't start. I don't want to get rid of this car but I just can't afford to keep dumping money in to it at LR's oh so reasonable labor rate of $120/hr.

Any help or suggestions would be VERY much appreciated!
Thanks,
Larry

 

Update...
I went out this morning to give the car another try and it started right up. I let it run for a few minutes and then turned it off to see if it would start again but no dice. Back to the clicking.

 

Is it throwing any codes (have you scanned it)? You mentioned the clicking noise towards the end of your post; was the engine cranking previously?

 

Larry,

My 06 is having the same issue. Land Rover battery dies giving me the typical warning signs of HDC faults and slow starts for weeks. I pony up for a new Interstate MTP-H8 (IIRC). 3 weeks later it wont start, I hear a relay clicking in the glove box area. Crap! I charge the battery for 20mins and she starts right up. the second time this happened, I tried to jump it once but nothing. Just a click from the relay. An hour later it starts up. Although I do not see the Tell tail weak battery signs (HDC fault, etc) I start with the battery and have it checked at 2 places both times it reads good, but with a small hand held meter. So I take it to Land Rover Dealer and they pull a load on the Battery with their "snap-On" battery testor. They give me the good news that the battery is producing only 228 Amps vs the 900 rated and tell me the battery is bad. The service manager told me they see a few of the Interstates bad from the begining. So I got a new Battery from Interstate and all seems good so far (1 week) I am holding my breath that it does not come back.

I hope this helps and if your dealer is willing to throw parts at your car under warrenty, they should stand by their work and not charge you for work out of warrenty.

 

I have had two Interstates replaced under warranty. My next battery will be Optima, although I have had good luck with my last battery. You may also have an issue with the transmission lockout, not allowing the car to start. There was a transmission recall on the 05's and not sure if 06's too related to transmission and key about 4 years ago. Check to see if it was covered by that. It might have been missed.

 

Okay, sorry about the delay but here's what happened.

As I said in my original post, LR has tried several times (at my expense) to repair the problem to no avail. I offroad with the truck pretty frequently in the spring and summer months. I also frequent the beach. That being said, it turns out that the issue was corroded ground wiring between the block and the chassis and the distribution block and the chassis. After cleaning the terminals and connection points and replacing the ground cables with insulated wires, I'm back in business. The resistance readings on the ground system were off the charts. The starter was just not able to overcome it and thusly wouldn't start.

 

FWIW - I have a very similar problem....

I have a 2006 LR3 which I really like.... but the darn thing occasionally just wont start... seemingly random.... it will start/drive perfectly for days or weeks on end.... then suddenly (normally at the most inconvenient times) just wont start. It either turns and clicks or MOST COMMONLY just turns over and over without catching.

I've found that popping the hood, disconnecting the battery for 5 minutes and then reconnecting will solve the problem 4 times out of 5. But sometimes it just refuses to catch.... and I have to leave it till the next morning.....

when I try again it fires up first time.

I'm on the verge of trading the damn thing but will try this route before I do. It's weird how I love driving the old tank and dont *want* to get rid of it. But it really is a mind over heart thing.

Thanks for advice and will cross fingers....

 

EDIT - I see that it is turning over for you. Not the starter if that's happening. Are you getting a check engine light when you have the problem?

Don't give up! It's the best vehicle in the world! That being said, I would check the ground wires firstly. If that isn't the issue, it is possible that the starter could be bad. Try hitting it a few times with the handle of a screwdriver to see if it will start. If that solves your problem then it likely is the starter. The ground wires are the more sneaky culprit though.

 

hi there I have the exact same problem as you are describing. When I turn the ignition it just clicks, I thought I was battery first and replaced that it wasn't. I heard from someone else that ground cable can be problematic.

Is it possible you can send me picture of those 2 ground wire connections so I can clean them up myself?

Thanks

 

Our 2005 LR3 was having the same issue with the starter not working intermittantly. It was driving the wife crazy as the LR3 is her daily driver. This last week it started acting up again. I could get the starter to click but nothing else. After 10 or so tries it would start!
Being a do it yourself kind of guy I removed the starter to check for problems there. Bench testing gave the same results as in the vehicle. The starter gear would push up but no turning of the motor. Further investigation found the internal copper contacts heavily pitted. I removed the contacts and cleaned them up with emery cloth and reassembled. Bench tested perfectly! The LR3 starts better know than ever since we bought it used last year. I have pictures of the starter contacts before and after if anyone is interested in trying this yourself. Its nothing that any shadetree mechanic couldnt do.
Hope this helps.