Low Battery Warning while camping overnight....

[Harold_C]

Hi everyone - My wife and I were camping in our new to us 2016 LR4 just a few days ago. This was our first time sleeping in the LR4 with a SUV tent attached to the open tailgate. We slept on an air mattress in the LR4 and setup our table and chairs in the tent. Luckily we had the tent for space.... it rained most of the time so we spent a good deal of time relaxing in the tent and LR4.

However, because of the rain we had to adjust the windows a couple of times through the night. This meant powering up the LR4 and adjusting windows and then shutting the car off. However, in the middle of the night the "Low Battery" warning came on by itself, the ignition was off but the tailgate was open and the interior lights were off. The same warning would come up every 30 minutes or so for the next few hours - with the ignition off. It finally stopped after a few hours, but not a comforting sound and warning to see while camping.

My understanding is that the car goes to sleep after a while, despite the tailgate being left open. I obviously do not want to run the battery down, but also don't want that warning to come on through the night each time we sleep in the car.

Any ideas?

 

[Rover Range]

All the doors and hatch has to be closed for the vehicle to go to sleep.
You can manually latch the rear hatch latch with a screwdriver.
Vehicle is asleep when the red light goes off in the hazard light switch.

 

[f1racer328]

I wouldn’t worry about it.

I camp with my vehicle all the time and usually leave the tailgate open all day until I go to sleep.

Our vehicles are smart enough to not **** their own battery.

As your battery ages you’ll see that message more and more.

 

[ktm525]

Bring a lithium booster pack and take the anxiety away.

 

[Harold_C]

Thanks for the replies.

@Rover Range - I didn't see the red hazard light button was illuminated. Also, didn't look at it either, so it may have been lit. I'll try the screwdriver or something in the latch....

@f1racer328 - The problem is my tent set up has the rear tailgate open, all the time. The challenge is the warning dings every 30 min or so

@ktm525 - I've got a NOCO and had it with me. I wasn't too worried but the warning did wake me up and kept me awake.

 

[txfromwi]

These vehicles never really go to sleep, they just wake up less often as they are left alone.
Please there is always a draw down current usage of about 20mA.

If the battery is sufficiently discharged, say when you leave it parked for 3 months without touching it, or for any reason, just be aware that it can take - per the mechanics manual - more than 20 running hours to totally recharge the battery - so, in that case, you would be seeing the low battery warning for longer than you might expect.... ask me how I know... duh...

 

[djkaosone]

Turn off/on the interior lights by holding the center button for 5-10 seconds and a message will appear in the dashboard.

 

[BigBriDogGuy]

@djkaosone that was a good tip that I got in response to my drive-in movie nightmare. Now the dome light off is my default. Seems I'm constantly opening and closing the thing or leaving the rear open. Most times, I don't need the interior lights and, when I do, it's easy enough to reactivate them by pressing and holding the same button. Your dash display will even alert you when it's on or off.

 

[djkaosone]

@djkaosone that was a good tip that I got in response to my drive-in movie nightmare. Now the dome light off is my default. Seems I'm constantly opening and closing the thing or leaving the rear open. Most times, I don't need the interior lights and, when I do, it's easy enough to reactivate them by pressing and holding the same button. Your dash display will even alert you when it's on or off.

Only when camping do I leave them off by default throughout the trip. Easy enough to momentarily tap the lights on/off when needed. After the trip, I reactivate them full time.

I switched to leds, I can't imagine the draw on incandescent lights. I can, but that's why I switched to leds.

 

[Harold_C]

@djkaosone - The interior lights were off. It seems as though the car only sleeps when locked. I'll try to close the latch on the tailgate and lock the car and see if that works. Hopefully there are no interior sensors.....

@txfromwi - 20 hours! We drove home, which was about 1.5 hours and I've driven it around town for the last few days with no error. It seems like the battery should be healthy enough....