But then

Hop out, open bonnet, have a look to see if the terminals are still connected to the battery. Get back in car and it starts (clearly rebooted the system though, as clock 00:00). Voltmeter reads 14v when running.

Am I looking at a dodgey battery at this point ? or is there a sensor somewhere I need to check ? or is it a simple case of poor connection at the battery terminals ?

Happy New Year anyway

Make sure terminals are clean and tight. However, 14v seems low as mine pushes 14.6v-14.8v. Check your battery voltage before starting next time, should be around 12.8v if healthy. 2011 RRS HSE Luxury 3.0 TDV6 Fuji White on Ebony/Ivory
Born and raised in So Cal. Moved to the UK in 2018 for a few years. Now in Poland and looking at moving back to the UK.

The battery should be checked with a suitable diagnostic machine - a simple voltage reading doesn't tell you about how healthy the battery is.

As mentions, 14V when idling is a bit low. 2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

just to follow up on this - and not leaving it in the ether !

Positive terminal was loose - it must have been loosed up by myself when I was attaching the trickle charger in December. Also upon further checks voltage was reading 14.5 - 14.7 when running.

So the old L320 - still to this day has not left us stranded ever ! Thanks for your advice.

 2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

ondafly wrote:

just to follow up on this - and not leaving it in the ether !

Positive terminal was loose - it must have been loosed up by myself when I was attaching the trickle charger in December. Also upon further checks voltage was reading 14.5 - 14.7 when running.

So the old L320 - still to this day has not left us stranded ever ! Thanks for your advice.

yup, they are trash,i'm looking to add one of those security type clamps, will post an update in a week or 2