I own a RRS 2.7 TDV6 57 plate and over the last fews days have a transmission fault error message come up on the dash, HDC system unavalible and the suspension lowers. If I turn the engine off and back on, select normal suspension height it all goes back to normal but then after driving for 5-10mins the same error occurs again.

Having reviewed previous topics with simialr issues I thought it might be the battery and took it to halford and Quik fit for a simple battery check. Both of them were unable to complete the test because the meter was telling them that the engine or a componeent was draining / putting load on the battery. The engine had been off for atleast 30mins on both checks and I checked Sat Nav, headlights and stereo were all off. After several tests I gave up and came home, any idea what could be putting sufficient load on the battery to stop it from being tested!

Any advice on how to get the battery tested and the most efficient cost effective way of trouble shooting the transmission error and HDC system failure would be appreciated. I am based in Hillingdon...

Apart from this the car runs fine and I have never had a problem starting it...although it has sat in the driveway more than usual while the weather has been cold.

Thanks

Before any battery test can be done it needs to be properly "off"
Wait until park brake warning light gone off on dash takes around 2 mins from ignition off.

Not sure what could be keeping it on...

Have you checked tail light bulbs? RRS gone
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Thanks, yes I have also checked the tail light bulbs, all working fine.

Hmmm.. the trouble with our wonderful cars is they flash up the HDC fault at virtually any oportunity and the problem might not be suspension related at all... equally it couold be a failing compressor.

next step it to get the fault code(s) read RRS gone
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Alternatively you could do a running engine volt check?

You should get 13.8-14.4volts on tickover with volts staying constant even with more revs.

Then turn some stuff on, heated seats sat nav etc and see if the voltage changes...

This would indicate alernator or battery issues RRS gone
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Thanks I'm going to take it to a local garage now and see if they can run the battery test - hopefully they will be able to do both.

Otherwise i called a local LR specialist and they said to bring it in and would charge up to £50 to read the fault codes and diagnose, does that sound about right?

£50 is about right, mine charge £80

(Thus why I now own a fault reader)  RRS gone
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Audi A6 Allroad Sport 270 3.0TDI

That is handy, I might have to look into buying one. Any advise? Roughly how much do they cost and are they easy enough to operate

Mine is part of my BAS re-map interface

GAP Diagnostics make one too, ask SteveFR (member on here) RRS gone
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Audi A6 Allroad Sport 270 3.0TDI

paying to read fault codes.

Ive seen recently a d4 with a failed battery, causing these errors, that was tested twice - but suggestion might be to pay a few ££ and get a new one if yours is old Mike

2014 Facelift Discovery

Thanks - I will check it out!

Local garage checked the battery and said it was fine so back to square one, looks like I'll have to take it in to have the fault codes read!

Hi PA81,

Sounds very similar to the foot brake switch on the way out, the car will put the faults up and lower the suspension but will still drive as normal, albeit in a lowered state. It will clear on start up with everything as normal inc suspension.

My D3 did this recently so I sprayed the switch with some electrical cleaner and it stopped faulting, but I ordered a new one anyway, and problem solved. The part was relatively cheep, under £10, but I have heard of the same being diagnosed by a dealer and it costing over £100.

Hope it helps

Lee

Thanks Lee, very helpful. This may sound like a basic question but where is the foot brake switch located?

Also switch the screen over to the view with the transmission and suspension / diff locks
steering position on it and look at the indicators for the suspension height sensors (short white or red bars shown above each wheel, I cannot remember if they are normally white or red as I haven't owned an RRS for a while) - check the sensors are all working, a failed one can throw up all sorts of faults on the info screen. 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
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There's a few other things that indicate a battery on it's way out such as the SatNav going off on starting the engine briefly. Does yours do that? Have a search on here to see some of the other indicators.

Hope you get it sorted quickly (and cheaply ) 2011 Autobiography Santorini Black