Phonecall: "Daddy, my car won't start!"

My oldest child, who WOULD be the smartest and most beautiful daughter in the world EXCEPT she is only tied for that honor with my youngest child, was calling from her institution of higher learning over 300 miles and 5-6 hrs' drive from home. It was Thursday, one week prior to Thanksgiving. With some discussion, we established that it wouldn't crank. A bit of review on the phone and she had the IP in test mode and confirmed the battery was reporting 8.7V.

Battery: 84 mo. AutoZone grp 49 that is 30 mo. old
Alternator: Wrecking yard model from 05 3.0L that replaced Autozone replcmt that charged fine but had constant Batt light

Suspected cause: She makes many VERY short trips, across and about campus, primarily in the evenings.

THen I started reading battery-drain threads here in the forum. S-Type, first, then others. I think the Solar charger idea came from the XK section...and I believe it was Gus, but not really sure.

Although she has AAA+ and campus police offer complimentary jump-starting, I was concerned that my guess may be wrong and if batt/alt were really bad, she'd only be stranded somewhere. Since she agreed she could do without the car until the following Tuesday, when she would have academic requirements completed and be ready to drive home, I took the day off to go rescue her. I have been keeping the 6 yr old battery removed from my wife's 05 S-type on a batteryminder for several months. We replaced it due to age, before it caused any problems. I loaded the Excursion with ramps, the functional Autozone Alternator, the spare battery, and most of my tools, save the multi-meter. If I'd be honest, I d***-near forgot the battery! Arrived before noon and accomplished the battery change along with wiper-blades which had come apart. Voltage on th IP checked good above 14v on startup so I had her follow me home.

Due to my reading here, I was persuaded that proper troubleshooting alone would consume more time than I had available until she had to return to class. So I elected to treat the symptoms / supposed cause of short trips. The 30 mo. old battery checked good down at the zone after several days on a batteryminder. However, they offered to prorate the warranty as-if it were bad and had a new one in-stock, so I took the deal. While I performed the install, I had the car in the shop on the old OEM battery and was continually "awakening" it by opening a door or the bootlid. The last thing I did before installing the new battery was to start the car and that worked fine. If it has a latent-drain issue, it appears to be intermittent.

So far, no problems reported from LA and she'll be home for Christmas next weekend. I hope to re-do the bracket and minimize the visual obstruction and hopefully tidy up the wiring a bit before she goes back.

 

Zane,

My money's still on simply a bad battery. It happens from time to time, particularly to vehicles with relatively complex electronic modules like these S-Types. But keep us posted as you continue to investigate. The solar charger idea sure sounds impressive. But I wonder if it truly works as advertised....

 

Thanks for slogging through it, Jon. Yeah, glad the Zoners offered to process a warranty on it...otherwise I'd have had to choose between sending it back, or the 6 yr old OEM....or...sshhhh! robbing the few-mo. old Motorcraft from the wife's ride! to send back with her. (Actually, despite loving S-types as soon as I talked the two of them into getting one "that old" for our daughter...my wife bought hers in part to be able to swap out with JR at college should there be some problem)...so she'd probably be fine with a battery swap.

I've been impressed over the past 1.5 yrs with my VDC model 12117 plug-in battery maintainers. I rolled this one out fairly late Saturday afternoon in a very heavy overcast and measured 14.5 V at the Solar terminals where they join the controller, and it was showing to be in "maint." or de-sulphate mode, so I have high hopes for it.

But I didn't get 'round to the Reverend Sam visor fix like I wanted to do over T-giving

 

Your wiring looks great, but that PV panel! It's ENORMOUS! Why did you settle on a 5v panel instead of a smaller 1.5v?

 

Thanks for reading and comment, Jagtastic. I realize it's not pretty but thought tinting the windows to hide it may be self-defeating!

13.5" X 19" I believe. Or is it 19.5"? VDC only offers a 5W and 15W - that one's 36" X 12"! I wanted their technology....and didn't have time to fool with additional regulators and such. Granted, I could've just bought a smaller-panel and wired it up, but even though the DFW area has more shopping options than many places, I couldn't find this unit locally and had to order it. At the time of order, my tape measure and I, by measuring the rear shelf on the wife's 05, reasoned the panel would fit fairly well. Additionally, I wouldn't have as much safety margin with a 1.5W system if the car is staying awake and draining the battery as opposed to it just being the short trips. I think it will work out well once I get the bracket redesign accomplished.

 

I can understand the time sensitivity of your issue. What are your plans now?

 

Kudos to you on a job well done! My solar charger was installed in my S-Type & XK8 and both are working just fine. It is great not being tethered to commercial power.
This was my setup Solar Battery Charger

 

Thanks Gus! I was pretty sure it was one of your posts that led me to search out the Solar Powered one. Not really much option for her where the parking is....even a 100' extension would be hard-pressed to reach a plug, let alone providing security for it.
She did call today - and my son looked in and asked, "Car trouble? Or Technology?" hehe.. (guess he doesn't know she sometimes calls for money, too) it was a low front tire. So I guess I'll be looking for a nail or screw next week as well.....not to worry, I sent her with a tiny, Slime, 12V compressor that should be good for 5 or 6 top-ups. She was down to 25 from 32 psi.

I'll have the car back by the end of next weekend, and will attempt to make a new bracket; Imagine just laying the panel down flat - but I can't go totally flat without getting really fancy with some kind of clip-in-place bracketry. While you could attach the panel to the bracket at one end after the bracket is bolted in, it would be impossible to fit the screws back at the rear glass - that is butt-against the rear shelf. I need space between the anchor bolt and underside of the panel for tool access and 2" or so for bolt clearance. So I'll likely just stick with the same style and tilt the panel down to get it out of the line-of-sight.
Notionally: (modify the profile (cross-section) to that denoted by the gray line (below)


May go up the street, my neighbor restores old cars and pickups and makes a very mean pair of spurs (probably several, but I've only seen the ones he made for James Wood, the local Chevy (and all GM brands + Hyundai) dealer. So I suspect he possibly has a break-press or at least higher-order tools for working metals than I and I KNOW he has higher-order skills - a true craftsman from what I've seen of his work. So it may be time to appeal for help.

Otherwise, the woman that lives in my house, with her 5 kids that she claims are all mine, and "allows" me to maintain her S-type has a full complement of projects and myriad pent-up management assistance available to allocate my way.........

 

Gus, Did you mount the panel? From your description it looks like maybe you just hook them up when you park for the winter so it wouldn't be necessary. Also, not sure what the back of your panel looks like, but if flat, I could imagine mounting it with adhesive hook-and-loop....er...except the VDC documentation recommended a minimum of 3/4" free space under/behind the panel...I reckon most are similar. Not sure if they produce heat whilst making electricity or not.

It is "goodness" that you can plug/unplug your cord at the panel. In order to remove mine to work a new bracket...I'll have to pull all the hidden/tied-off wire. I may get a 1.5w panel (harumph! coulda had the whole 1.5w charging kit from Northern Tool on black Friday for $9.99!) but not really sure if it would "keep up" if she really has modules staying awake. I guess I could always trouble-shoot during the 5 wks she has over Christmas....

 

I understand the college thing, my son would call with what to do and send money. As for your wheels do not be surprised if you do not see any nails. I had trouble with a bad seal around the rims on the aluminum wheels.

My panel just sits on the back seat and when I have guests I just unplug it and put it in the trunk. Neither car sits for an extended period of time, so when I want to take the car I leave all of this connected. The solar panel is equipped diode to prevent back feed when driving and I installed a regulator to prevent the overcharging of the battery. The one thing I wanted and found was a fuse to protect the system and the battery adapter had one incorporated at the battery connection. As for the solar panel the back is the same plastic as the surround and has holes to hang it if you wish.

 

It's encouraging that you get enough out of a 1.5w panel on the back seat with tinted windows. I thought the plastic probably went around the back based on your picture. I may have to re-think this...it may be cost-effective to buy a 1.5W kit and just use the solar panel with my current set-up. Coupla strips of adhesive-backed velcro that I already have on-hand would sure be an easier solution than more heat/beat/repeat!

On the tire.....it went low a few weeks before the battery checked-out, but she had it re-inflated and it was still fine when I got over there to swap batt's. I made a cursory check of it over Thanksgiving and couldn't find any foreign matter...and, more importantly, it didn't lose any pressure sitting here Wed - Sunday morning. Seems to be a "sometimes" leak so I was thinking she has a nail or screw that only leaks when in contact with the ground and noticeable pres. loss comes down to parking on it? Guess I'll dunk it in a tub of water over Christmas...for now she seems to have it burned-in to resident memory that 20-25 psi is ok to go across the street or down the block to get it pumped up...but sustained highway speeds for several hours requires 32 psi to start and a recent history of not bleeding off more than say 2 psi/day. Full-size spare and I topped it up to 36 psi whilst installing the charger - so she has ample means to get home safely (though I can't imagine her changing the tire - seems that would be a good use for a college boy)

 

With the wheels Chrysler PT had a major problem with the aluminum wheels first then it spilled over to others. I used Nitrogen in the tires after I cleaned them and it worked well to keep the moisture down, but many do not agree that is a choice. I think using the liquid soap when installing the tires has an effect on the aluminum wheels and the moisture that builds up in the tire from driving. Good luck and let us know how you make out.

 

Zane,

I'd start by checking the valve stem. Pull the wheel, submerge the valve stem section of the tire in water (I use our dogs' old plastic kiddie pool for this), and watch for faint air bubbles. If you indeed have an intermittent leak, you may need to leave that tire in the water for a day or more and check it periodically....

 

I always sprayed them down with a soapy mixture and looked for bubbles.

 

Have had some success with this method finding FOD in the tread. Only rim-leaker I've had was pretty obvious - one of the wife's 18's with a crack/dent in the bead area....not sure what she hit "nothing" of course in her after-incident report..."Yeah, that musta happened while I was parked at the mall.." even though it was on the Inside of a rear wheel......

 

Zane,

You should know by now that our wives never hit anything. Wait, that's not entirely correct. Mine will nail me in a heartbeat when she catches me staring at a little black dress-wearing, 95 pounds-weighing, long dark-haired Jessica Alba-lookalike two tables away in the restaurant....

 

Stopped off at Harbor Freight on the way home from work last week and picked up a "bending break" for $39.95 with an advertised capacity of 16 ga steel. Did a quick-bend on a bit of scrap 1/8" X 2" W Al stock left over from my bracket fab and confirmed it was up to the task. Before compromising the $12.55 bar-stock (1/8" X 2" X 48") I picked up at the bldg supply (with visions of returning it still dancing in my head) I did a quick-fit with a bit of scrap 1/16" thick Al that was long enough to make another bracket. My suspicions that it would be too flimsy to meet the task were confirmed once I completed it...but measuring/forming/drilling etc. was good experience before I take a stab at the thicker medium:

Before:


side-by-side:





After:



Well, now she can see what she's backing into......
It would be "functional" as-is, but I think it would rattle against the back glass. I'll attempt to rework the original bracket. If unsuccessful, I'll delve into the $12 stock. I notched the mounting hole which I believe will give me clearance for the wiring sans pinching. Didn't feel like unrouting/rerouting it since I'm not yet to "final" on the mounting bracket.

 

Good job - rear visibility looks to be greatly improved. Look forward to hearing how this project works out for all involved....

 

I was able to re-work my original bracket into what I wanted, but may just have a 4' length of 1/8" X 2" Al bar stock added to my project supplies - took me so long to get 'round to fixing it I seem to have misplaced my reciept! The $40 Harbor Freight bending break was well-worth the investment. I effected the notch in the mounting hole as in the interim bracket, allowing the wiring to be co-located with the mounting bolt, which also facilitated re-installation of the left-side child seat upper anchor and trim. Electrically - Everything seems to work fine - as one would expect with a new battery! I reckon the true test will be next fall/late winter or beyond when the battery is a couple of years old and she is still making tiny, cross-campus trips after dark.


View to the rear:


Wire routing:


Overall shape:

 

Can I get a pic of the outside looking in on it? I am curious to see what it looks like.