Intermittent battery dead.

Hey, just an update!
Did you hear the one about the Terrano with a charging problem?
Just fix it by replacing the thermostat!
Seriously - check your temperature gauge does it take ages for the needle to barely get off cold? (and is the heater useless?)
The needle should get to just below half way in 2 or 3 minutes.
If the thermostat is stuck open, then the engine does not get up to temperature.
The glow plug control senses the engine temperature is cold, so the glow plugs stay on for an extended period of time (sometimes 10 to 15 minutes) - short trips particularly in winter, with more headlight driving - the alternator can't keep up with the current being drawn off and from time to time you will end up with a flat battery!
A thermostat is cheap, and easy to replace (three bolts and about a half litre of coolant - I pumped the coolant from the top of the radiator, and didn't spill a drop when the thermostat housing was removed).
Sure enough, as the engine temperature reached about 50C, the glow plugs turned off.

Hey, just an update!
Did you hear the one about the Terrano with a charging problem?
Just fix it by replacing the thermostat!
Seriously - check your temperature gauge does it take ages for the needle to barely get off cold? (and is the heater useless?)
The needle should get to just below half way in 2 or 3 minutes.
If the thermostat is stuck open, then the engine does not get up to temperature.
The glow plug control senses the engine temperature is cold, so the glow plugs stay on for an extended period of time (sometimes 10 to 15 minutes) - short trips particularly in winter, with more headlight driving - the alternator can't keep up with the current being drawn off and from time to time you will end up with a flat battery!
A thermostat is cheap, and easy to replace (three bolts and about a half litre of coolant - I pumped the coolant from the top of the radiator, and didn't spill a drop when the thermostat housing was removed).
Sure enough, as the engine temperature reached about 50C, the glow plugs turned off.

Just had this happen on my 1996 Terrano. You will need short 14mm and 16mm ringspanners due to lack of space (cheap ones tend to be short) remove the battery cable (10mm) undo the 14mm nut to remove the cable from the starter solenoid, squeeze to unlock and unplug the small wire to the solenoid, undo the two 16mm bolts which hold the starter motor one from above, one from underneath, I also had to remove 3 12mm bolts from the inlet manifold which hold the bracket of electrical connectors, to get the starter motor up past the connectors. At the cable end of the starter motor, ther are two screws which hold the brush plate to the end cap, if you unscrew these and they just snap off because they have carborized from arcing then you have the same fault. Remove the two long screws which hold the starter motor together, remove the end cover you will likely see there has been arcing between the brush plate and the end cover, clean this up with sand paper or similar. Two brushes are connected to earth through this connection - no earth = no turnover! I turned the heads off the long screws and threaded (5mm x 12mm long) where the heads were, then screwed the short threads into the starter motor, screwing a nut down onto each of the long thread ends to go under the brush plate, then refit the brush plate winding the nuts down until the brushes are fully on the commutator, then the end plate, and two more nuts on the outside, so when tightened, ti holds the motor together, but also clamps the brush plate to the end cover, and reassemble. Just had this happen on my 1996 Terrano. You will need short 14mm and 16mm ringspanners due to lack of space (cheap ones tend to be short) remove the battery cable (10mm) undo the 14mm nut to remove the cable from the starter solenoid, squeeze to unlock and unplug the small wire to the solenoid, undo the two 16mm bolts which hold the starter motor one from above, one from underneath, I also had to remove 3 12mm bolts from the inlet manifold which hold the bracket of electrical connectors, to get the starter motor up past the connectors. At the cable end of the starter motor, ther are two screws which hold the brush plate to the end cap, if you unscrew these and they just snap off because they have carborized from arcing then you have the same fault. Remove the two long screws which hold the starter motor together, remove the end cover you will likely see there has been arcing between the brush plate and the end cover, clean this up with sand paper or similar. Two brushes are connected to earth through this connection - no earth = no turnover! I turned the heads off the long screws and threaded (5mm x 12mm long) where the heads were, then screwed the short threads into the starter motor, screwing a nut down onto each of the long thread ends to go under the brush plate, then refit the brush plate winding the nuts down until the brushes are fully on the commutator, then the end plate, and two more nuts on the outside, so when tightened, ti holds the motor together, but also clamps the brush plate to the end cover, and reassemble.