Bad Starter Battery or Electrical Problem?

[tolyinoz Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close tolyinoz]

Yesterday, all of a sudden, my Prado wouldn't start. There was no sign of life at all: no salon lights, nothing. I measured the battery voltage and it was 2.6 volts!
I was able to jump start the car to get going and made it home. When I arrived home I switched off the engine and tried to re-start it immediately, but once again there was no life.
My neighbour suggested I try to jump start it from my auxiliary battery, but I wasn't able to; probably not enough juice in it. After a while I noticed that the salon lights were on so I tried to start the engine just from my starter battery....and it started!
Do you guys think that this is a sign of a faulty battery or possibly other electrical issues?

[404pug Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 404pug]

Dead battery. The modern ones give no warning before a cell collapses to the bottom of the case.

[120D4D Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 120D4D]

Wow, epic fail.

In my 120 the OEM battery lasted around 6 years before slowing giving up - I had plenty of warning.

[Corigator Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Corigator]

As above, but check the leads are not loose.

[Guest Close Guest]

Check all your leads are clean and tight. Have a battery place/mechanic load test the battery, if its on its way out a load test will show it up (Read as finish it off completely).

[drivesafe Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close drivesafe]

Hi Tolyinos, as above, check all your cable connections.

BUT.

When you measured the battery voltage and got the 2.6v reading, did you measure between the two battery terminals, across the battery’s positive ( + ) terminal and the battery’s negative ( - ) terminal?

Or did you measure from the battery’s positive ( + ) terminal and an earth point on the vehicle?

If you had a loose battery terminal clamp, and you touched the clamp and not the actual battery stud, this could give you a poor voltage reading.

If you measured from battery terminal stud to battery terminal stud, then because the battery came good by itself, you may have a faulty battery, caused by a loose plate inside the battery and while this is rare, it does happen.

This is just a suggestion!

If you get another “flat” battery, try giving the battery a good clout and see if it comes good. If this fix works, the battery is a risk and should be replaced.

When the first of the Land Rover Discovery 4s came out, they had a batch of batteries that would suddenly be dead flat, but someone must have lost their temper and given one of these batteries a hard clout and suddenly the battery came good. I heard of this “fix” working on a number of times.

[sweetpea Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close sweetpea]

Also check there is alternator output.

My alternator failed a few weeks ago (99,000km) and the battery went to about 6volts.

S.