Hi all,

my timed climate doesn't seem to come on when left in timed mode, despite the outside temperature being below 5 degrees.

If I have the engine off and manually press the Timed Climate button on the screen to start it, it comes on fine, and similarly the FBH kicks in correctly when you start the engine too. But if I leave the car in Timed Climate mode overnight, it won't automatically warm the car up for me. I get a message saying "Timed climate unavailable - check battery or fuel level"

The fuel is above half, the battery reads 12.3v (engine off) and 14.4v (engine running). And I'm leaving the vent set to "Auto" as you should for TC to work correctly.

Any ideas?

Many thanks. Current: Range Rover Sport 3.0 TDV6 HSE in Stornoway Grey
Previous: Discovery 3 2.7 TDV6 HSE in Zambezi Silver

My money is on you having a battery health issue.

Is timed climate factory enabled or retro enabled?

The battery - how old is it? Isn't 12.3V quite low? I had this issue with my remote heat (retro enabled). I did not measure the battery charge but when a couple of weeks later the battery failed completely I figured it was not healthy! I got a new battery and a year on no issues with remote heat - only got the battery low message once and that was when I had left it warming up for quite a long time and I had not driven the car for over a week so battery must have been a weak. Car started first time and no issues since.

If the battery is fine then it sounds like you need some diagnostics to find out why the car is getting bad data regards those 2 settings, which may cost you some ££. For example, external temperature gauge may be misreading?

Or maybe the fuel line has an issue - not read about that. Only thing I hear is the first use of the FBH after summer / autumn and the fuel can be quite smelly.

The manual use of the FBH via remote or timed heat is external temp up to 15C not 5C. 5C relates to the external temperature the FBH kicks in when starting a cold engine. L405 P400e Autobiography (MY2020)... Silicon Silver / Espresso
RRS TDV6 HSE Lux (MY2011)... Nara Bronze / Arabica - now gone!

Thanks for the reply

My battery was replaced in august as the previous one started to lose charge. I thought 12.3v was about right for a battery with the engine off? It's 14.4v with the engine running so I assume the alternator is working correctly, and with the battery being 6 months old I don't suspect this to be the issue, unless you have any other reasons for it being to blame?

I haven't checked the fuel lines, but the FBH working with the engine running at low temp, and the TC working when manually started suggests these are fine?

TC was retro-enabled just before Christmas by my local Indy. The external temperature guage seems to be correct (it's the same or within 1 degree of the guage on my missus' mini).

I think it may need someone with an IIDTool to look at the fault codes and clear them as you suggest.

Many thanks! Current: Range Rover Sport 3.0 TDV6 HSE in Stornoway Grey
Previous: Discovery 3 2.7 TDV6 HSE in Zambezi Silver

Are you able to set it manually with the remote if you have one? ON THE WAY: BMW F21 M140i
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No, I don't have the remote fitted. If I start it from the button on the touch-screen it comes on fine though. Current: Range Rover Sport 3.0 TDV6 HSE in Stornoway Grey
Previous: Discovery 3 2.7 TDV6 HSE in Zambezi Silver

Hmmm, that's odd
Could be that it needs to be re-flashed to work properly on the timer  ON THE WAY: BMW F21 M140i
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another customer of mine in a D4 has the same issue. if he charges the car up overnight and starts in the morning, he doesnt get the message.
If he doesnt charge it, then he gets the message. 12.14v and he gets the message. His is original battery, not an AGM one from 2010.

When you measured the voltage. was that after switching the engine off, or is that in the morning before you start?

I'm very convinced that it is a voltage issue. If you can charge your car up overnight, I bet you will not get the issue... Bodsys Brake Bible
Software Updates Contact me
RRS Timed Heat/Remote kits - Contact me
BAS Engine Re-maps/ EGR Blank EuIII and EuIV
Clock On The Dash/ SNOTM /3Flash / BT Update /Service Reset/Error Codes read\ Gearbox Reset
See it HERE

Strange!

That's measured with the diagnostic display at the end of the day (about an hour after getting home), but I've also measured it with a voltmeter at the weekend before I started it up and found the same readings. It's a Halfords Yuasa silver battery.

My journey to/from work only takes around 10-15 minutes so I make sure that I take it for a long run every weekend. Current: Range Rover Sport 3.0 TDV6 HSE in Stornoway Grey
Previous: Discovery 3 2.7 TDV6 HSE in Zambezi Silver

I suspect that it wont read 12.3v in the morning before you start the car.
on the 2010 RRS and D4, the best battery is an AGM battery as it charges up far quicker than std batteries. Bodsys Brake Bible
Software Updates Contact me
RRS Timed Heat/Remote kits - Contact me
BAS Engine Re-maps/ EGR Blank EuIII and EuIV
Clock On The Dash/ SNOTM /3Flash / BT Update /Service Reset/Error Codes read\ Gearbox Reset
See it HERE

I'll have a look in the morning.

Thanks for the pointers so far! Current: Range Rover Sport 3.0 TDV6 HSE in Stornoway Grey
Previous: Discovery 3 2.7 TDV6 HSE in Zambezi Silver

I didn't get chance yesterday, but I did look this morning and the battery was showing as 11.7v in the "secret" screen. I think this is the reason that TC isn't working.

Any ideas how to progress? The battery is only 6 months old, I've never had any problems with it (stand-fast what I've just discovered) and the alternator seems to be working fine, as the charging voltage is 14.4v. Current: Range Rover Sport 3.0 TDV6 HSE in Stornoway Grey
Previous: Discovery 3 2.7 TDV6 HSE in Zambezi Silver

The timed heat is timing out to protect the battery so you can still start the car, but the message is (sort of) clear: battery doesn't have enough grunt.

My battery (also Halfords, January 2015) is 900 amps, a Yuasa Silver HSB019, is yours the same?

If so, then I wonder if we conclude your battery is a bit of a dud? If not, could it be your battery doesn't have enough amps for low milage + timed heat. L405 P400e Autobiography (MY2020)... Silicon Silver / Espresso
RRS TDV6 HSE Lux (MY2011)... Nara Bronze / Arabica - now gone!

Yeah, mine is the same battery as yours. It looks like it's a bit of a dud despite having good specs (on paper).

I think the AGM batteries (having just read about them) are more suited to the job we want them to do - charges quicker, holds charge longer, lower self-discharge.

I'm not sure what to do as I'm not sure I know where the receipt is, and I don't know how we stand when we say "your battery's ok, but won't hold charge enough for my TC to work"!! Current: Range Rover Sport 3.0 TDV6 HSE in Stornoway Grey
Previous: Discovery 3 2.7 TDV6 HSE in Zambezi Silver

How did you pay for it, credit card? show them the statement.
Facto of the matter is, it's not fit for purpose, should be an easy discussion. Halfords don't usually give two rats about returns, so get your money back and get and AGM  ON THE WAY: BMW F21 M140i
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New AGM 100Ah battery on order & ive found the receipt for the Halfords battery. Hopefully it'll sort the issues out and Halfords will give me the refund! Current: Range Rover Sport 3.0 TDV6 HSE in Stornoway Grey
Previous: Discovery 3 2.7 TDV6 HSE in Zambezi Silver