Hoping someone here may have encountered my problem and has found a solution.

About 18 months ago my FL2 threw the "Transmission Fault Traction Reduced and Special Programs Off" faults. After some discussion with a friend who runs a LR indy garage we serviced the Haldex but the fault still existed. Noticing that the Stop Start wasn't operating and the "shift up" warning lights were not working I gave the battery a good 24 hour charge. Bingo, all back to normal.

A month ago the problem happened again. Easy I thought, charge the battery. Unfortunately this time it didn't work . The battery tested marginal, so I bought a new one thinking that this would cure everything. However, no different. Even with a new battery the stop start fails to work and the shift gear lights also don't work along with the more important transmission faults.

Interestingly the battery appears to lose about 30% of it's charge within hours, but stays at that level and still starts the car OK. My thinking is that perhaps there is a parasitic drain that the BMS spots and kicks in to prevent the battery draining to dead. The BMS may also be holding the low charge memory and shutting down the stop start et al.

Any help here gratefully received.

Funnily enough , I didn’t shut the boot properly on my 2009 the last time I used it , (didn’t lock the doors so didn’t get the warning peep from the alarm ). Yesterday I popped the key in got the special programmes message , car dead as A dead thing . I disconnected the battery ( which in effect is the hard reset ) because I was going to leave the car connected to my mammoth Clarke charger / mains boost jumper . Four hours later everything was back to normal .

Now I don’t have stop / start on my 2009 auto , but having had various company cars with it in the past I do know it turns off a) at low temperatures which we haven’t got to , and b) at a certain percentage of battery drain or c) if you over ride it manually .

When you changed the battery the leads were disconnected so everything electronic should have “‘ hard reset “ , Although some suggest that we should wait 20 minutes to ensure that any power in the various electronics “ drains absolutely “ . Some others suggest that the correct procedure after removing the battery is to touch the positive lead to the earth lead , but I’m not convinced and think the 20 minute wait would have the same effect without any risk .

What you could do is disconnect the battery whilst you charge it up to 100% , that way you know you are starting from a “ hard reset” with a full battery . Reconnect it and see if your fault clears .

I will also say , that I’ve never owned another vehicle that is as battery hungry as the FL2 , which is why a lot of forumites keep their cars on smart chargers , and despite being on my 3rd new high capacity battery I have the big Clarke charger /booster ! 2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

2016 Subaru Outback SE 2.0 diesel SE Premium Lineartronic Sold 2024 after 8 years and 80k miles . Best Car I ever owned !

2023 Toyota Hilux invincible X 2.8 Auto .

The FL2 has a timer that, even if you leave all doors or boot or glovebox open, will shut off the power to all drain sources after the timer period expires.
The only condition is for the key to be out of the socket and by default it is set at 30 minutes. The period can be changed by SDD.

You don't say what age and mileage your Freely is...………..

Worth checking the battery issue out if there is one, but the symptoms you describe can indicate that the Haldex pump is on the way out

Steve

Update a few days on since new battery fitted.

The stop / start now works, so I am guessing that the BMS has reset itself. I am confident now that the battery is holding charge as it should.

What still doesn't work are the "shift up/down" indicators. The question is whether this is caused by the transmission fault codes or the transmission fault codes are affected by the lack of shift indicator lights. I can't find anywhere that describes how these lights interact with the rest of the car electrics.

What I don't want to do is replace Haldex components only to find the fault is elsewhere.

BTW the car is a 2011 manual XS with 78K miles. The Haldex was serviced two years ago (filter and oil).

I don't know, but I'd question if a haldex fault would remove the shift lights from the display - who knows? 2014 Freelander 2 TD4 Manual Dynamic
1956/7 88" Series One Land Rover
1956/7 88" Series One Land Rover - undergoing restoration

Battery Report post

I have a 63 plate manual and when the battery voltages falls I get the warning Gearbox Fault Transmission Reduced this has been happening since 19k miles about 3 years now.

My cure and it works is turn off the stop/start I know autos don't have a stop/start.

If I leave the stop/start on for a day the warning appears. I left the caravan connected to car on Dover/Calais 90 mins and when I restarted the engine the warning came on, it took 2 days for the car alternator to charger the battery enough to keep the warning off

When it first happened to me I had LR warranty took it back 3 times they told me all sorts Haldex,Gearbox etc they did not have a clue
I still have the original battery on and never fails to start even when left at the airport for a month in winter
(see my posts a few years ago)