Battery Issues

[Azgirl5]

Wondering what happens if distilled water is added to the LR3 (06) no maintenance battery? Big deal, or not a big deal?

The dash lit up like a Christmas tree shortly after with transmission and suspension errors and issues (aka "limp condition" according to the iphone research). There was additional corrosion on the negative terminal. After cleaning, the lights are off and suspension appears to be working ok. Wondering if all is working out ok, or if I'm battery shopping or dealing with trani module tomorrow.

Separate issue, but also just had 2 coils go bad in 3 weeks of each other. Is this due to an overheating / hose blown issue a few months ago - ie, heat damaged the coils and is making them go bad prematurely? Techs are scratching their heads over that one.

LR3 is an 06 with approx 56k miles. Thanks!

 

[kingfishgrapeja]

My guess would be the coils just went bad on their own. From experience with other makes there is no real rhyme or reason to that type of coil's life span. If your battery is original then it is probably slowly giving up. I have the same year and miles and my battery is giving me hints as well (HDC unavailable at startup).

I would think you are probably just battery shopping.

 

[e24kgold]

The stock battery should be a sealed unit...i.e. you cant add water

 

[blackforestham]

I sure hope you're under an extended warranty. New batt may solve many issues. My experience with coil packs is this - when 1 goes out, the rest will soon follow. Don't know why but it just works that way. Plan to replace all coil packs asap - $$$$$$$

 

[Azgirl5]

Thanks for the responses. Always appreciated.

 

[schafari]

Technically, you can check the effectiveness of your battery and add distilled water if some of the cells are low. This can happen in severe use scenairos such as you battery constantly discharging to a significant degree and recharging.

"Azgirl5" . . . you don't happen to be also known as "audigirl" do you?

 

[MilehighLR3]

Wondering what happens if distilled water is added to the LR3 (06) no maintenance battery? Big deal, or not a big deal?

Coming from a 20+ year veteran of the battery industry (15+ years as a design engineer) . . . .distilled water is the technically preferred variant. The reason is to limit or reduce any potential contamination from public water (nitrates, chlorine, etc.).

My guess is that you had to pry the plugs off to gain access to the "hole". You shouldn't have to add water to a true maintenance-free battery although in hot climates, it's not unusual to see electrolyte loss due to the high underhood temps. It's also not unusual to see a battery fail within two years in these environments . . . . the higher cost AGM designs (Optima, Odyssey, Sears Platinum) will last longer. There are some other AGM designs that will also last longer as well (DEKA for example) but will not last as long as the higher end designs.

 

[schafari]

To check your electrolyte level, there are screw in caps in the OEM lead calcium battery. They can be unscrewed by using a coin. Don't try to use a screwdriver unless you have a titantic sized one. Wear safety glasses, don't smoke, and don't get the liquid on anything.

 

[Azgirl5]

To answer a few questions...

1 - No, I am not under extended warranty. LOVE my Rover, but it's putting a serious dent in my wallet. It's been in the shop 3 times in the past 3 months. Debating about trading and don't want to, but... getting nervous.. and broke.

2 - 2 coils replaced in the past 45 days. Only 6 to go (not funny). Have had people warn about the air suspension going out. I'm at about 57k miles.

3 - As of Friday, battery replaced, ECU transfer case "brain" behind battery replaced due to too much water/acid in battery and overflow. Cha ching. $800 not counting the tow from the house. At least it died there and not in the middle of nowhere like it did when the hose blew.

4 - Nope - not audigirl. No experience with audis except a rental once which I wasn't impressed with.