Morning all, wonder if you guys have had any experience with this.. around two weeks ago my car just stopped.. battery was dead, couldnt open the boot cigerette lighter trick didnt work so had to take the front wheel off and wheel liner to get to the terminal all roadside, managed to jump it and gingerly get home luckily was on 5 mins tops from home... went to charge battery and it didnt charge well at all so thought ok get a new battery which I did, stuck it on and did all the re calibrations as suggested and great all clear off we go, so I went to work thursday night fine but when I went to come home I had the battery light on again, I thought odd its a new battery so thought I must have a drain somewhere. Got home ok anyway went inside to make cuppa and thought ok id check the voltage on the battery... couldnt open the boot, battery was flat... have it fully charged and have just put it back on the car, re calibrated it all, got it started left it idling. Turned it off for a few mins before going down to the shops and when I went to start it, was dead, the battery had gone from full to nothing. Its a 2007 2.7 Diesel

 

Did you check to see if your alternator was charging? That would be the next step in troubleshooting your issue.

 

Key should always open boot - fix whatever's now wrong.

 

Mechanism isnt working, tried easing it off but the lock wouldnt turn in boot, I did spend a lot of time reading through these forums, hence I knew to take the front wheel off.

 

Havent yet but thats what im suspecting, was only this morning its all happened, I thought after the battery was charged it would be ok but it just went from full charge to not even central locking working so im wondering if it took all its juice to turn the car over that one time and together with the other battery, whats the chances of two batteries being knacked especially when the new one was only bought last week and the car has been used every day, I to am wondering if the alternator was on its way out but is now knackered. Whats the best way to check it? take it off?
You guys on here are a wealth of info, if it turns out to be that do I just get the alternator or do i need modules to? i see sometimes after people have replaced them that the red battery light stays on.

Also forgot to mention I smelt burning and when I lifted the bonnet there was smoke, could that have been the alternator? perhaps thats why the freshly charged battery drained right away after starting?

 

Okay, time to start peeling back layers of this onion.

1) First and foremost, put a proper charger on your battery. Doesn't matter if the battery is new, as they are usually not fully charged at the time of sale. From Troubleshooting 101, always begin any electrical diagnostic work with a fully charged battery. Do NOT rely on the alternator having kept the battery charged. This is a very important step, so please don't skip this. If you don't have a charger, most auto parts stores will charge your battery for free.

2) After fully charging the battery (note how I slipped that in there...), test the alternator output. 2003+ models have a smart charging system, where you should see approximately 14.5 volts after engine start. After a few minutes, the voltage should taper down to about 13.7 volts.

3) Don't rely totally on the little red battery symbol to indicate a problem. Under certain conditions, the charging system or battery can fail, but you never get the warning light. Usually the light works, but not always.

4) You mentioned observing smoke under the hood. Did it have that acrid smell, indicating something electrical in nature? Or was it more like burning rubber from a slipping serpentine belt? If the latter, carefully inspect the belt for glazing and check the belt tension. A loose or damaged belt could keep the alternator from running at full speed, which could be the root cause of the problem.

5) I recommend a little voltmeter doohickey that plugs into the cigarette lighter and shows system voltage. It's a great way to keep an eye on the charging system while driving.

6) If all of the above checks good, check for something draining the battery when parked. Details here:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...-drain-123535/

7) If troubleshooting points to a bad alternator, this thread on my '02's alternator may be of some help. Part numbers will be different, so please order for your specific application. However, I think some of the physical details will be the similar, such as the plug and mounting bolts:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...rnator-241668/


With electrical trouble, it may help to think of the battery like a bathtub. The charging system is the water from the spigot going into the tub. The electrical loads (starter, lights, ignition, etc.) are water draining from the tub. If the inflow exceeds the outflow, the tub/battery fills up. When the outflow exceeds the inflow, the tub/battery is drained.

 

Thanks I will charge the battery again and begin the work through in the morning. Thanks for your reply. When I put the new battery on last week there was no red light on until friday morning on my way home from work and it came on the moment I turned the key, I charged the battery and it never went off, the smoke I dont recall what it smelt like but I will have a look at the belt. Again thanks for taking the time, I only bought the car in January and its proving a little bugger, but it drives so well when it does go.

 

Go get a voltmeter and give us some numbers. Need to know what the battery voltage is before you started and after you’ve charged it and when the car is running. Without those voltages we can’t tell you anything

 

Thanks will do

 

Ok finally got the boot open, although mangaed to get power to the cigarette lighter socket it wouldnt open the boot, had to take the front wheel off and go in that way. Have tested the battery as soon as I opened the boot so connected to car still and it was at Zero,0,nothing.... so am now just charging.
Whilst boot is open im gonna take the lock off to see where the problem is using the key as taking the wheel and liner out each time is crazy, again thanks for all advice.

 

Have you seen this thread?:


https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ng-port-87362/


It describes how to recharge a dead battery via the fuse box under the hood.

Before tearing apart the trunk lock, see if your key works on the glove box. If not, you have a valet key. It only works in the ignition and doors, not the trunk or glove box.

Zero volts on the battery? That’s dead, dead, dead. Unless the battery itself has totally failed, you’ve got a huge draw running it down. One likely culprit is an alternator diode.

Disconnect that poor battery and charge it fully. Reconnect it, turn on the headlights for about 15 seconds and turn them off. This dissipates any surface charge, a misleading high voltage. Now measure voltage again and tell us what you’ve got.

Don’t try to start the engine just yet or even turn on the ignition. With everything off and doors closed, wait about an hour and check battery voltage again. It should be within a fraction of a volt of your previous measurement. I suspect you will see a substantial drop, indicating a major drain.

 

No I hadnt seen that thanks, battery is on charge and is taking a charge but I plan on slow charging it over night. Yep it was dead dead... I only turned the engine on once for that to happen.
Just checked both keys in the glove box they do indeed lock it. Im curious to know what could drain it that fast, as ive never known a fully charged battery to go dead with one turn over

 

Are you saying the battery was able to briefly crank the starter? And after that, you measured zero volts?

This is all very odd. Let’s say the battery was nearly depleted, for reasons still unknown. It had enough oomph (sorry for the technical terminology) to give the starter a little kick, but obviously not enough to finish the job. A healthy battery, even if nearly depleted, should have shown maybe 2 or 3 volts after a failed start attempt.

That’s not nearly enough to do any useful work. But it’s almost unheard of for a good battery to reach zero unless some major drain is killing it. I’m confused how it had a little bit of power only moments before and then zero so quickly. Or maybe I misunderstood your comments.

Is your new battery defective? Rare, but it can happen. Take it to a shop to be load tested to rule out the possibility.

 

It was brand new on to the car and I had bought the battery brand new, it wasnt charged anymore until I got the red light when I got home, then when I went to check it no central locking and no nothing... I then took it off and fully charged it, Then put it back on calibrated the windows,epb and throttle and then turned it over.... left it idle for a few mins then turned it off. Came back out and plugged a code reader in to see if I had any codes.. none. So then went to lock the doors and nothing... Your certainly not miss understanding me. I couldnt measure as the boot wouldnt open, I had to wait almost 24hrs to measure it.

 

Ive just put the old one on whilst the new is charging before it went on it read 12.40 and when connected to the car its 12.24, I only turned the headlights on for a short moment as advised, now im leaving it for 45mins, engine wasnt turned on.

 

ok update
with old battery the battery light went off
12.24 on car
13.41 engine on
13.38 radio on
12.60 climate control
13.38 cc and radio off
12.33 both on
12.80 radio and headlights
12.10 CC,radio and headlights
13.50 all off
currently leaving it locked for a hour then will go back and record

 

Those numbers are a little confusing to me.

First thing: Was the old battery fully charged before installation? It's very important to have a fully charged battery for electrical troubleshooting. If not, you can end up with misleading results and condemn perfectly good components.

Some of those numbers do seem low, but I may not be following you 100%. You mentioned 13.41 engine on. That's at the very lower range of acceptable. Some of the following values were far too low if the engine was running, but you didn't specify either way. Going to see if I can get a refund for these mind-reading pills I got on eBay...

 

No the battery wasnt fully charged as the new one is on charge.
Engine on I meant thats all that was on.. lights off, radio off and no cc on.
The new battery is taking a charge and im slow charging it

The aircon blows cold on passenger side and hot on drivers... I know theres a issue with that.

 

Here you go:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ol-how-185002/

 

your all kinds of great, thanks