Greetings all. Would anyone be able to send a quick pick of the battery cable hookup configuration on a circa 1999 P38 Diesel? There is a possibility that mine is not hooked up correctly, which may be the reason for some of my battery issues. I could guess that one of the recent garages might have done something odd with it, but since I can't watch over their shoulders, there is no telling.
One of the reasons for this is that I got a few new cables being the old positive connector is broken and won't stay snug on the terminal and the new one doesn't match the configuration of the current cable in place.

Many thanks for anyone with info to share.
Teri

Hi Teri. I'll add the picture so people know what you are talking about.

Every battery cable I have seen has the battery terminal on the main feed to the fusebox. I've sent her a spare I had but unfortunately it can't be fitted as hers has the terminal on the feed to the starter like this:

The lack of a bolt is the main problem as the terminal can't be firmly attached to the battery. When I last saw the car, it was there so I suspect the bodgers at NorAuto (think a French version of Halfords only much worse) have lost it when they fitted a new battery.

Question is, is this a normal arrangement on a later diesel? It would make sense to have the best connection going to the starter but it's different to all the others I've come across.

Thanks for filling in the missing pieces of my story - though I don't think I can blame Nor-Auto since they didn't even have the correct battery for my vehicle. In fact, they didn't have anything for my vehicle. Now their place is burned to the ground they can't even give assistance or anti-freeze.
Anyway, still hoping someone can help solve the mystery. I hate to think what kind of shape the BECM will be in at this time with no juice getting to it...

Now their place is burned to the ground they can't even give assistance or anti-freeze.

I know their customer service wasn't the greatest but isn't that a bit drastic? :-D

As far as I know, all the diesel vehicles have the battery clamp, cable to fuse box, the extra one to the glow plug timer/relay unit and then one cable to the starter, which then has another cable from the starter to the alternator charge point.

The part number for the later diesels for the positive cable (which probably includes the battery clamp) is YTA101690

Though the easiest solution is probably to chop the old battery terminal off, and replace it with one which has a threaded stud on it, and then crimp a new ring terminal onto the +ve cable that goes to the starter/alternator.

Any (decent) auto electrician should be able to crimp a terminal on without much trouble.

the BECM should be fine if the battery is disconnected - as long as the vehicle is unlocked/alarm disarmed when the power is disconnected, then it should power back up in that same state.

Can't blame me for the burning of Nor-Auto. I was out of the country at the time.

As for the re-working of the cable - finding a worthy auto electrician seems to be the problem. I mean, I am in France.

Martyuk wrote:

Though the easiest solution is probably to chop the old battery terminal off, and replace it with one which has a threaded stud on it, and then crimp a new ring terminal onto the +ve cable that goes to the starter/alternator.

That was my thought, it should be possible to remove the existing terminal with a blowlamp and solder a new ring terminal onto the end. Then it can be fitted to a standard battery terminal the same as all the other cars.

Martyuk wrote:>

Any (decent) auto electrician should be able to crimp a terminal on without much trouble.

Unfortunately, Teri is in France and the terms decent and electrician do not appear in the French language......

Gilbertd wrote:

Unfortunately, Teri is in France and the terms decent and electrician do not appear in the French language......

Remind me to post up a picture of a plug fitted to Madam's hair straightener (don't ask, not a curl in sight) by a local "artisan" that she insisted she used, rather than me.

Needless to say, I took one look, bought a new plug, cut the old (new) one off and made it so you don't die.

Can't do it now as Philippine internet has gone for a lie down...

id go down the local electrical wholesaler and pick up a tab, as as Gilbertd say, solder it on, a pair of mole grips would crush it on otherwise..

GeorgeB wrote:

Gilbertd wrote:

Unfortunately, Teri is in France and the terms decent and electrician do not appear in the French language......

Remind me to post up a picture of a plug fitted to Madam's hair straightener (don't ask, not a curl in sight) by a local "artisan" that she insisted she used, rather than me.

There we go!

Did he steal it from the Louvre?

Marty,
Thanks for supplying the part number. Problem now: Land Rover no longer has this part in stock. Ugh. Tried several part shops online and no one else has it either, since they get their parts from LR. Any other ideas? I am going to have to move this vehicle soon, since it is parked in the town center parking lot and they will be holding events there soon.

Is it not possible to swap with the older Renault type that screwed down from the top, fitting flat connectors should be easy enough.
Obviously the height of fitting would need to be checked,, only other way I can see around your problems is to fit a splitter box and run auxiliary cables to that,

Teri. The problem is that if you order the cable Marty gave you the part number for, it will be the same as the one I sent you. What you need to do is find someone that can cut the battery terminal off the cable you have and fit one of these https://www.autoelectricsupplies.co.uk/product/155/category/32#gallery-9 on the end instead. Then it can be fitted the same as all the others.

Not sure how that configures with the piece I have. Guess I would have to see it to believe it. My house electrician said his dad used to work on cars, so maybe he will have a go at it. I just don't know how else to get this fixed. Again, a beautiful vehicle gathering moss. I will be pleased if I ever get to drive this the same amount of time it has been sitting in state.

The cable I sent you has one of these https://www.autoelectricsupplies.co.uk/product/118/category/26#gallery-3 on the end which goes on the battery and the other end goes to the fusebox. The cable you have that goes to the starter has a strange looking version of that on the end. That needs cutting (or melting as it is made of lead) off and a ring terminal fitting instead. This ring terminal and the other one (marked on the picture above as the extra one for a diesel) then go under the nut on the bolt that clamps it onto the battery.

Morat wrote:

Did he steal it from the Louvre?

Nope, apparently they turned it down as too old.

Gonna have a dig through the huge box of odds and sods I have, possible I've got one of the old type connectors that had the 2 screws to secure the cable, change one of the screws to a bolt, problem solved straight away,,

Had a quick search on the net,,
Terri, have a look on eBay at battery terminals, there's various types which will take more than 1 cable, either through a block connector, or a bolt which will take ring connectors

Chris,

That would be great if you could find something that I can use. Another thought is to go to the local LR dealership. I found a new one between me and Paris. It looks rather small, but maybe I can convince them to try and find a part. Most of them flinch if I mention the year of my vehicle. You would think they should be proud any of their vehicles stay on the road this long.

There's bound to be a terminal of the kind you need among this lot
http://www.polevolt.co.uk/acatalog/Battery_Terminals.html