Battery Changed

I counted I started my car 7 seven times yesterday, all fine, but when it came time for me to take a friend to hospital for an MRI scan, nothing, just weird messages and flashing lights. No warning signs up before - maybe the last start was a bit sluggish - then just all the symptoms of a low battery. Out with a voltmeter, 10.8 volts off load which is low and that dropped more when I tried to draw any current from it, a sure sign of a failed cell.

Called Land Rover Assistance and they came promptly, sure enough it failed his test and I helped (held a torch) in the pouring rain while the guy replaced it. Much more involved than usual - remove under bonnet trim, remove 3 out of 4 bolts holding the cross strut, awkward cables ("the bigger Range Rovers are even more difficult"). Still, a good response and all fine now.

I'm not the first here to have a battery replaced and this comes after a software upgrade to the battery charging to solve the "3 minute problem", so I do wonder whether this complex battery monitoring system is worth the effort.

Got mine changed on Friday, I cant say I'm not a bit annoyed that yours was changed so readily, as I had to escalate to LRCS to get mine done. My dealership insisted there was nothing wrong, but wouldn't explain the daily gearbox warnings. They said I could have a new one if I paid for it! Lol

Now I've got the new one fitted, everything is (touch wood) running as it should and no more warnings on startup.

Mine was still showing gearbox fault after the battery replacement and I hope it will go away as things get back to normal.

I got to see a number of other new messages, "ABS Fault", "Parking Brake Alignment Needed", flashing gear selector lights, it's clear everything goes haywire when the battery is bad.

It does seem battery replacement happens quite frequently and that makes me wonder whether the batteries of early cars were under-charged leaving a legacy of battery damage.

Did the LRA man also reset the BMS after replacing the battery? They had to take my last car to the dealership to get that done! When the battery was replaced for a 2nd time in Feb last year they fitted some new type - the LRA man mentioned something about it contained glass beads! I never thought to go through the hassle of undoing the cover to look at what battery had been fitted before leaving it at HGG last November in exchange for the new one that never arrived!

When I foolishly left my interior light on in my current car, I had to get the car's brain reset at the dealer as all electronically operated systems such as anti-skid, door locks etc. were flashing their warning lights. Luckily they could save the battery with a low pulse recharge overnight.

No, he didn't, but since the car is going in on Friday to have the waist rails along both doors replaced, I will get them to look at any messages which are still appearing.

He did point out the BMS thing to me which appears to be some sort of ammeter chip bonded to the metal bracket and which measures the in/out current by measuring the tiny voltage developed along the length of the bracket. I think the combination of being able to measure the battery current, the battery voltage and the battery temperature can tell you a lot about the state of the battery short of measuring the specific gravity of the electrolyte. There's no temperature sensor in the battery but maybe measuring the temperature of that metal bracket (and relying on thermal conduction from the battery terminal) and comparing it to ambient might give a good handle on what's going on.

It's a pity therefore if the software which makes use of this information appears to have been not working properly in early cars.

Having had a 'gearbox fault' message and seeing the '3 second' warning message I thought there might be issues. Well, on Saturday my Evoque (March 2012) would not start at all (had not been used for 5 days) so called out LR Assist who were there within 2 hours. One hour later a charged battery and the, by now, usual software update for the battery management system. The battery was flat because it wasn't being charged enough because the software didn't allow it to. So, the software update allows this. It's a shame that you have to go through this exercise or wait for a service before you get the update.

I've mentioned it before but the Evoque is the car I've had the most (and by a long way) trouble with in terms of electrics/electronics. Whilst I am a fan of the gadgets and computer-style screens I am extremely disappointed by the quality of the computer/management systems that manage this car. I only hope that the latest versions are not prone to such issues. Also, didn't LR test this car in the real world?

(03-03-2014 01:41pm)mpw Wrote:  Having had a 'gearbox fault' message and seeing the '3 second' warning message I thought there might be issues. Well, on Saturday my Evoque (March 2012) would not start at all (had not been used for 5 days) so called out LR Assist who were there within 2 hours. One hour later a charged battery and the, by now, usual software update for the battery management system. The battery was flat because it wasn't being charged enough because the software didn't allow it to. So, the software update allows this. It's a shame that you have to go through this exercise or wait for a service before you get the update.

I've mentioned it before but the Evoque is the car I've had the most (and by a long way) trouble with in terms of electrics/electronics. Whilst I am a fan of the gadgets and computer-style screens I am extremely disappointed by the quality of the computer/management systems that manage this car. I only hope that the latest versions are not prone to such issues. Also, didn't LR test this car in the real world?

Have you had battery issues, since that last post? Did the last update fix the problem?

By 3 second warning, do you actually mean the 3 minute warning before the audio gets shut down. The "Smart Charging" is anything but. I assume the LR guy tested the battery and found it flat but undamaged; in my case the battery had developed a fault so had to be replaced.

I wonder if anyone has worked out the warranty and assistance costs of this bungled charging method compared to doing a proper job testing it in the first place.

(06-03-2014 07:03pm)12redrover Wrote:  Have you had battery issues, since that last post? Did the last update fix the problem?

Since LR Assist turned up and re-charged the battery and did all the required checks its been okay. They updated the battery management software to latest version which allows more charge to the battery and, as such, sufficient charge to mean the battery won't go flat.

So, happy now but annoyed it ever happened in the first place.

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(07-03-2014 08:01am)mark_n Wrote:  By 3 second warning, do you actually mean the 3 minute warning before the audio gets shut down. The "Smart Charging" is anything but. I assume the LR guy tested the battery and found it flat but undamaged; in my case the battery had developed a fault so had to be replaced.

I wonder if anyone has worked out the warranty and assistance costs of this bungled charging method compared to doing a proper job testing it in the first place.

I did indeed mean the 3 minute warning - thanks.

As regards Smart Charging I fully agree with you. What annoys me more is that it was software that limited the battery being charged fully. Now, LR must of got its figures wrong somewhere along the testing path in order to allow early Evoques to have this issue. Worse still, we need to get a flat battery to get it resolved unless we happen to have the car in at the dealer for something else.

I calculated that 80% of the issues I've had with the Evoque have been due in some way to battery or electronic management systems. I had the battery replaced within the first 3 months when it was being charged (initial battery management issues), have had subsequent issues due to battery or electrical/electronic issues. Given this I just don't think the testing was that good and the faults seem to belay that. Certainly, this is the car I've had the most issues with and spent the most time at a dealers with.