strange that, I just drive around and the battery is fine , it will fail eventually that will cause me to buy a new battery, somewhat easier than buying a fancy charger then pugging it in every week
surely the battery will loose its extra charge on the first use anyway At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

Hi Chickengeorge

in warmer (and very cold) climates, conditions are somewhat different. During December, had I had a mobile charging station with me on holiday in St. Moritz, I could have made an absolute fortune, assisting the many motorists who got stuck with flat batteries. Funny thing was, there was a very high percentage of cars, that were less than 12 months old

Some forum members will heed my advice and will have the benefit of superior battery performance throughout the life span of such battery.

My knowledge is based on many years experience with two of the top international luxury car manufacturers. A very common, while also very concerning report from our friend down under was, that on the many failures of new technology Toyota vehicles, insufficient battery charge was the culprit. This most probably can be traced back to a sloppy attitude of the dealers or (also possible) a lack of knowledge of their service personnel.

I have witnessed this here in SA during 1987 - 1989 when I was involved in a campaign to uplift the understanding of dealer personnel on matters batteries, as this was hurting their pockets in those times. Tempers were flaring VERY HIGH in those times  With kind regards
DiscoGeorge
1998 Disco1 ES 300Tdi with twin TrueTracs
2005 Disco3 TDV6 S
And some more serious stuff

I think in extreme cold charging is wise but stop trying to make us all buy chargers are you a dealer or similar? At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

chicken george wrote:

I think in extreme cold charging is wise but stop trying to make us all buy chargers are you a dealer or similar?

Perhaps he'd swap a charger for a chicken  2002 Honda VFR800
2002 Toyota Celica 140 Silver (mid life crisis - again!)
2007 FL2 GS Manual Army Reconnaissance Green + freel2.com sticker
2004 Toyota Celica 140 Black - Gone
2000 Toyota Celica 140 Silver - Gone
1998 Toyota Celica ST Pearl Green - Gone
1996 Nissan Primera 1.6 - Gone
1994 Rover Montego 1.6 Auto - Gone

I can understand the sentiment from some forum members that having to buy an expensive battery charger to periodically top-up the battery is uneconomical and inconvenient. Fair enough. For those that have a battery charger anyway, it's probably not a bad idea to top up the battery every now and again to (a) extend it's life and (b) improve reliability and in some cases, safety (ie: flat batteries in remote areas can be dangerous to one's well being and mental state of mind).
I'm not sure why car manufacturers don't have solar panels and smart regulators built in to ensure batteries remain charged to optimal levels all the time. Cost I suppose. Interestingly, an Australian Company (Dyesol) that has the technology to "print" solar arrays on to practically any surface has teamed up with Tata Steel (yep, same mob that own Land Rover) to start production trials on roofing panels. Can't be long before the "metallic paint" option carries a whole new meaning at Land Rovers dealers!
Alex - any enlightenment on the regenerative braking system and how it affects battery charging vis-a-vis the alternator?? I also appreciate the tip on charging voltages changing after start-up so I'll do some more monitoring. Cheers.

jaksbak@freel2 wrote:

Alex - any enlightenment on the regenerative braking system and how it affects battery charging vis-a-vis the alternator??

VM's use a very comprehensive test programme for charging systems, more than anyone on this forum is probably capable of reproducing.
Why DiscoGeorge uses a charger on BY614 baffles me; there are two batteries in the boot, one hotel for body systems and another for crank complete with a battery management ECU. There is a big contactor in the boot so that the hotel battery can be used should the voltage at the crank battery fall below threshold levels.
Crank battery always has charge priority.

GC has the right idea; just keep driving around and don't worry. Short journeys in the winter will benefit from charger every so often.

Pulley size, rpm, temperature, driving cycles etc are all subject of exhaustive testing during vehicle development.
Trust the designers!! Another member of the failed FL2 clutch/DMF club, twice.

After suffering a flat battery (wouldn't start) even though I'd double locked the car, no ancillaries charging off one of the accessory sockets, and on another occasion, the HDC failure fault message when turning on in the cold I don't trust the designers. I'd rather charge the battery as suggested. Didn't buy a CTEK though, got an Accumate. Seem to do the same thing. Even comes with fittings for quick connection.

Pegleg wrote:

VM's use a very comprehensive test programme for charging systems, more than anyone on this forum is probably capable of reproducing.
Why DiscoGeorge uses a charger on BY614 baffles me; there are two batteries in the boot, one hotel for body systems and another for crank complete with a battery management ECU. There is a big contactor in the boot so that the hotel battery can be used should the voltage at the crank battery fall below threshold levels.
Crank battery always has charge priority.

GC has the right idea; just keep driving around and don't worry. Short journeys in the winter will benefit from charger every so often.

Pulley size, rpm, temperature, driving cycles etc are all subject of exhaustive testing during vehicle development.
Trust the designers!!

Hi Pegleg

in theory you are naturally correct. However practical day to day operation tends to throw a curve ball to this theory. My dad was naughty and despite my advise only periodically charged the lhd side battery in his 2007 Continental GT. Anyway during the cold winter time in Switzerlands Engadin the Electronics started playing up. We have a battery monitor on that battery and it showed trouble. So after only 4 years a new battery was due. I am running some Mercs with fancy electronics and average battery life span on those is in excess of 8 years with the maintenance I give them. On my R129 500SL I am now on the third battery and the vehicle was built in 1991! My record for battery life was 12 years on a 6V battery in one of the vintage cars.

After 37 years of hard earned experience I have got a fair idea what goes around and what is bound to whack you on the head

As far as battery makes are concerned, here in SA I use Varta and Optima batteries. Expensive but at least you get quality.

And Chickengeorge, my place of residence is some 8500mls away from yours, so there is definitely no commercial interest for me in UK.

I do however source certain parts from the UK, such as from various suppliers of Land Rover parts and accessories.  With kind regards
DiscoGeorge
1998 Disco1 ES 300Tdi with twin TrueTracs
2005 Disco3 TDV6 S
And some more serious stuff

Alex. I'm just back from 3 days offroading which is the first break I've had in over 4 months so please excuse me if my head isn't in the right place, but I seem to remember that regenerative braking was one of the "developments" for the Freelander 2 in recent years and popped up in public relations material while I was looking at different vehicles. If you search Google using "Regenerative braking Freelander 2" you get a stack of articles where it is mentioned. I don't always believe everything I read but . . . . Perhaps it's a feature of the Stop/Start TD4_e's ONLY, I don't know. My new SD4 definitely has a load on it when I take my foot off the accelerator some times, so I naturally assumed this was the regenerative braking system??????
http://cars-dealers.net/land_rover_freelander_2.html (but one example, though most of the articles focus on the TD4_e).

Indeed, it seems so, but as you said, mostly, if not all, focus on manual equiped gearbox 150 HP TD4_e version...
From what I know, a true regenerative system is an electrical system that reverse the function of the electric engine to be the battery charger when braking...
It may be an overstatement from LR this regenerative braking stuff, because, as I've said, the generator is driven directly by the engine, like on any standard car.
I don't see how this can be improved more than, maybe, driving/exciting the generator's exciter more than usual, when the car is in motion, clutch engaged and accelerator pedal in idle position.
Indeed in such situations the generator drag is much greater than usual.
This is possible because the generator is driven by the engine ECU and Central Junction Box ECU who have all the informations that are needed to make such decisions.
More than that, I don't know how much the system can be improved...

Last edited by alex_pescaru on 13th May 2011 9:29 pm. Edited 1 time in total

Sorry if this is off-topic and not being a Techie, this may be a "Duh!" question but sitting in the traffic today in my week old Freely with the engine stopped by the Eco system yet with the air-con still blowing and the "permanent" running lights (dipped beam headlights) on, it occurred to me that this probably wasn't doing the battery any favours and I would be better off disabling the Eco mode.

Surely LR have catered for this scenario, though, or what is the point?

What do you all think would be best for the battery?

On the topic of charging my FR2 used to charge at 13.6-13.8 but having read your topic I though I would check the charge rate since I fitted the extra engine earth cable direct to the battery. The charge rate has now soared to 14.8-14.9 Volts at tick over, may be this is partly why it now spins over so fast on a cold start
i have check with 2 volt meters and a scope and the scope took an average over a 5 min drive so may be my battery will now be fully charged.

14.8v sounds too high - might "cook" the battery if this is maintained for too long. In short bursts, I suspect it should be fine. Yet to test the charging voltage/ampage over longer period as Alex suggested.

Hey guys ! Have had a prob with my batt recently ! Had LR assist out they said I need to give the batt a trickle charge? Thing is I don't wanna disconect the batt as I have a tracker.... What's the best way round it ? Cheers