I thought I posted something earlier, but apparently it didn't go through on my phone...

Are you saying that the pronounced battery drain is happening even with the engine off? I would have thought that perhaps the rectifier bridge on the alternator failed and it was discharging your battery instead of charging it, but I can't see that being the case if it is rapidly discharging even with the engine off.

Also, if the battery is rapidly draining with the engine off, pulling relays may not help anything. Keep in mind that they are only supposed to be energized when the ignition (or something else) is turned on. It may be that one is staying energized, but I think your best bet may be to pull fuses instead.

Do you happen to have a DC ammeter? I'm pretty sure Harbor Freight sells one for $50-60 and you could use it to start narrowing down which circuit is carrying the high current.

Not sure it would help at all, but have you tried "resetting the system"? In other words, with the battery out of the car, touch the positive and negative cables together and leave them touching for... I forget how long... 30 seconds? Then, put the battery back in and hook it up and see if the drain is still occurring.

 

Follow the 4ga wire down to the starter / solenoid area and check there. If the wire is okay it's probably a component along that path (including the starter itself).

Honestly everything else in the vehicle is protected in one way or another by fuses or breakers, plus nothing else would have the capacity to generate that kind of heat or short in the first place.

Does anything click when you start to put the batt cable back on? I guess that's probably a difficult test depending on how bad the short is haha.

As for last poster, most of your diag procedures and thought process are for tracking down small failure, nuisance discharge/short, etc. An ammeter is nice to have but kinda pointless in this situation since the draw/short is so large. I don't think most of that applies since the short is so big it sounds like he wouldn't even really want to connect the battery back in the first place. My money is still on the high amperage circuits in the car, namely starter - pretty sure the rest are protected, even big stuff like compressor.

The alternator / charge circuits might be another possible route worth following. I think it's a PWM alternator w/ internal rectifier and just goes to the junction box. I don't know if it's fused or not - some kind of alternator/rectifier/regulator failure might be able to cause that type of short as well.

Those two things are really the only ones with a possible direct battery connection that I can think of.

 

What I think is going on is that something is shorting out and causing a pretty good arc on the battery itself. I dropped the battery off at the interstate battery store and the battery checked out so they are charging it back up and gave me a loaner. When I hooked up the loaner, the post arced enough to burn almost a bb sized notch in it.

If I reset, I wonder if this will still happen ..

 

Yeah I saw your comment about the arc - my last post should hopefully cover that situation rather thoroughly, at least that's how I'd diag here at the shop if you dropped it off.

Sigh, I wish we got land rovers in here.

Anyways - just to reiterate though, a short THAT powerful would require a LARGE gauge wire (very few of those on the rig) I really think the the starter is latched, shorted, wire damaged, etc. Second bet is on alternator rectifier or its' supply wire.

EDIT: What does the positive battery cable terminal look like again? I know theres a few wires going to it directly. Is there some kind of hex set screw attaching the 4ga large wire to the terminal? If so, disconnect that wire but leave everything else attached and reconnect the battery. I'd guess everything in the vehicle should work find minus being able to start.

 

Eeek. Yeah, I wonder if you just have a shorted lead cable somewhere. Did you check your battery lead cables and the cables to/from the alternator and starter motor (per EstorilM's suggestion)? See if you can find anywhere the insulation has worn through. If not, see if you can view the leads/bolts on the starter motor and alternator to make sure nothing conductive has wedged itself between the + and - causing a short.

 

DISCO3.CO.UK - View topic - Alternator Failure

This sounds remarkably similar, including "sitting for a few min then dead, batt short, and batt. ending up being okay."

Looks like I may lean more towards the alternator / rectifier side of my thought process. Try to find that charging cable on the junction box and disconnect that guy.

Per the disco 3 guy though, be prepared for warning lights once the vehicle knows the alternator is disconnected/fried.

 

I called a local euro mechanic and they say it sounds like a module is stuck on. They would have to diagnose for two hours.

 

Although like you guys suggest, I will check all hot cables and see what I can come up with.

 

Check out that disco3.co.uk link - worth following that lead first.

A short that big should be easy to track down, I wouldn't take it to the shop. Save that $200 for the new alternator or starter you might need!

 

Definitely going to check that site, and the car. I appreciate all the feedback.