LR4 suddenly won't start/crank. Even with fully charged battery and/or jump

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pbsmi

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Hey Folks, would really appreciate any thoughts on the following: 2013 LR4 HSE, we have had less than a year. Yesterday, we pulled up to gas station and after getting gas could not get the LR4 to start/crank. Heard a click (solenoid?) then the car went into a bizarre electrical show of various lights coming on and off, various displays flashing then sort of culminated into the low battery warning. Got a a jump (didn't work). Had to call AAA, they diagnosed battery (said it was reading "good"), but swapped it out anyway just to rule it out. Still didn't start. Had to tow it back to house.
Ok, so now I have just fully charged the battery, AND used the other car to jump and it still wouldn't crank/start. Here is the also something worth noting: the battery (on my voltmeter) shows full (12.8v), yet when I hook up the car's terminals the voltage quickly falls down to around 9.4v. (Is this normal for Landys? It can't be right? I know its not the case for all the other cars I have had and worked on.) I am thinking it is a drain somewhere, but am wondering what would drain it that much to the point where it wouldn't even start with a charged battery AND a jump at same time. Any thoughts again, would be really appreciated. thnx, Phil
 

Quijote

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I'm no master mechanic, but if you are getting nothing at all from a battery that is initially showing good voltage, that points to the starter motor as the culprit.

This happened on my old Grand Cherokee and the AAA guy even crawled underneath and fed power directly to the starter (I think) and claimed the started was good (trying to help me diagnose it). Brought it home, put in a new starter to be safe, and all was well.

Maybe this will help.
 

pbsmi

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Man, thanks for the response! Ill definitley use that vid if I proceed to the starter. I actually did some more troubleshooting last night and what I found was if I pulled the SM relay/fuse (the big square one closest to the front) the voltage would go back to regular battery voltage (12.5). Then, if I put the SM relay/fuse back in, it would stay at 12.5, not drop back down to 9.4. The only time the voltage now drops down to 9.4v is if I try to start/crank it. (then it stays at 9.4v.) I swapped the SM relay with another just to rule that out, and it still didn't start. I am going to take the battery in to get load checked at NAPA (just to 100% rule it out), then, if battery is "good", then proceed with troubleshooting/replacing the starter. Again, thnx for the response.
 

Al Pizzica

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As someone who frequently overthinks things, I say this with love. You are overthinking it with the voltages, etc. There is only a battery a starter and a relay. Sounds like you eliminated the battery and the relay.
 

pbsmi

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Okay! Problem solved. Hopefully someone else who is not familiar (like me) with Land Rovers can benefit from this. Here goes:

Short version, new battery from NAPA worked. Long version below:
So, last night I said in my earlier post that I trouble shot whatever was dropping my voltage; and what I figured was that I had to "reset" (basically just pull the SM fuse/relay and then put back in 10-20 seconds later) for it to keep from dropping my voltage down to 9.4v. So, it makes sense that the new battery that the AAA repairman put in didn't work. He never "reset" the SM relay (nor did I tell him to because I didn't know about it.) Also, my battery didn't test out "good" at the NAPA store; the guy said it was pulling about 100 amps......... so, you can all make up your own conclusions on that one.

I guess I am left with the question though why the SM relay needs to be reset? Shouldn't this be an automatic feature (or at least reset once battery gets disconnected)? If I am missing something real obvious please let me know; I won't be offended. I am totally new to Land Rovers and have never had to reset anything before when swapping out batteries or when jumping. Thanks again for everyone here who has responded or was about to; I look forward to becoming a member of this community.
 

Quijote

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That's odd. I replaced my battery preemtively a couple of years ago and reset it with the IIDTOOL. Never had any issues. Good to know in case this happens.
 

Al Pizzica

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It's amazing how bad batteries can cause a very wide variety of wacky symptoms in modern vehicles.
It is very good to know about the starter reset.
 

SKIDAD

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Man, thanks for the response! Ill definitley use that vid if I proceed to the starter. I actually did some more troubleshooting last night and what I found was if I pulled the SM relay/fuse (the big square one closest to the front) the voltage would go back to regular battery voltage (12.5). Then, if I put the SM relay/fuse back in, it would stay at 12.5, not drop back down to 9.4. The only time the voltage now drops down to 9.4v is if I try to start/crank it. (then it stays at 9.4v.) I swapped the SM relay with another just to rule that out, and it still didn't start. I am going to take the battery in to get load checked at NAPA (just to 100% rule it out), then, if battery is "good", then proceed with troubleshooting/replacing the starter. Again, thnx for the response.
 

SKIDAD

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Does your instrument cluster contine to light up like a christmas tree each time you turn the key?
 

RoverPhilMN

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SM Relay is starter relay? And do you pull it out before you disconnect the old battery and put it back in after the installation of new battery?
 

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