Bad Battery ???

[txfromwi]

Out running errands this AM.

From idle
Out of nowhere - felt like missing cylinders, pump the gas - no response.
Then total shutdown
Happened so fast - battery idiot light, check engine idiot light, message - shut down all auxiliary systems - or something like that.
Then total dead black.

Let it sit a few seconds, luckily re-started, died again twice, same symptom felt like missing cylinders as it died.

After 3rd or 4th restart ran RMP up to a healthy amount and held it there, briefly ran rough, then smoothed out.
Starts easily with plenty of crank speed.

Continued running and made a mad dash to get home.

IID Tells me 14.2V
No faults.

Intermittent internal battery short?

Background - battery says 05/01/21 - so it's plenty old - especially in our Houston heat.
Battery has been poorly maintained - sitting for it's entire life with very prolonged, (months) of inactivity followed by very limited use - probably well below fully charged it's entire life.
Put a charger on it maybe a year ago and battery was very low - truck has been in light service for maybe 9 months.
No problems.

Of course it's new battery time before it moves another inch - any other suggestions??

Thanks.

Heading out of town for a bit - might be a couple weeks before I can get that new battery in - I will update...

 

[Quijote]

These cars are notorious for battery-related gremlins, even when they at times don't make any sense or would seem unrelated. I can't speak to specifics, but if your battery is 5 years old, I wouldn't pay much attention to what readouts say. Just replace it as an item that is due and as a foundational first step in troubleshooting. Then go from there.

I always use a high-quality battery in the biggest size the car will accept, especially for this car.

 

[Ryan00TJ]

ID telling you at 14.2V your alt is charging. The battery itself needs isolated and load tested to determine its health. A 21' battery? Replace and go from there.

 

[f1racer328]

When you put in the new battery go with an H8 sized one as well, it'll fit.

Just update your CCF for the new battery size.

 

[BBLR3]

Mine goes crazy when the battery drops off. Always out of nowhere and a jumpstart doesnt work. Weirdest thing ever.

 

[txfromwi]

Replaced battery and it starts with noticeably faster crank speed.
Also seems run better - but maybe that's just my imagination.

Of course used an H8 !

 

[16FujiDisco]

1,000% recommend a tender in between drives if you’re able; just cuts down on the biggest variable to gremlins these cars have

 

[gsxr]

1,000% recommend a tender in between drives if you’re able; just cuts down on the biggest variable to gremlins these cars have

Yup! This: ^^^

Our LR4 is parked in the garage and usually sits a week or more at a time, so I always plug it in to a maintainer with desulfation functionality. Currently has an AGM H8 (Group 49) that is 5.5 years old and going strong. I usually see 10-12 years of life out of our batteries maintained with desulfation maintainers, and have no plans to replace it until it fails.

I test all our vehicle batteries about yearly with a Midtronics tester and start to keep a closer eye on them once the Midtronics claims "Bad Battery", usually when the battery is still working fine.

 

[f1racer328]

Yup! This: ^^^

Our LR4 is parked in the garage and usually sits a week or more at a time, so I always plug it in to a maintainer with desulfation functionality. Currently has an AGM H8 (Group 49) that is 5.5 years old and going strong. I usually see 10-12 years of life out of our batteries maintained with desulfation maintainers, and have no plans to replace it until it fails.

I test all our vehicle batteries about yearly with a Midtronics tester and start to keep a closer eye on them once the Midtronics claims "Bad Battery", usually when the battery is still working fine.

What battery tender are you using?

I have a BMW with one of the NOCO chargers and its battery is 7 years old and still going. Car has lived on a battery tender and air conditioned garage for the most part.

 

[gsxr]

What battery tender are you using?

I happen to use a C-TEK on the LR4, which has part-time desulfation. It's the only C-TEK charger I have. I think most NOCO are also part-time.

I mostly use PulseTech chargers with full-time desulfation (details here) and also have one BatteryMINDer with full-time desulfation.