While trying to jumper my car, there was a red tape on the one connector to the battery, so, I did the horrible. I hooked up the jumper pack to what I thought was red to red, black to black. To find out the 'red tape' was on the NEGATIVE terminal. The jumper clamps were sparking and getting hot, so I disconnected and waited for assistance.

I had the car 2 DAYS.

Now the radio doesn't work, the abs, traction control light, the break light and new yesterday the transmission light are now all on.. oh and the speedometer & odometer don't operate as well. I've hurt her bad.
I've checked fuses. Relay #3 in boot is always warm. Put a coder on it, NO CODES came up.

I need help. Ive been googling, and honestly, I am not finding any answers. What can I do to get my girl back up to par????

 

Hello ma'am and greetings from down under . . .

First advice - stay calm or, as the younger ones insist, chill out. Any damage done is done. Let's start with a cuppa and quiet sit-down. Why? Because in any apparent catastrophy (and I have seen plenty), they don't always end in tragedy.

Secondly, and I admit to a great hatred of any form of jump starting these modern Jaguars with their sophisticated electronic technology, by using methods that evolved with Grandpa's unreliable agricultural tractor. Anyone who can afford to maintain a beautiful Jaguar beastie, has to be able to afford a new age Smart Charger or Battery Tender which retail from less than $50. Using it instead means you will never again need to jump start.

Thirdly, lift the boot (pop the trunk) connect up the Smart Charger according to manufacturer's instructions (by now, you know all about correct polarity). Start charging . . . and be patient. Do not attempt to use, or even start car, until the unit indicates your battery has reached FULL charge and is now in trickle or maintenance mode.

Fourthly, after a good night's rest off charge (or, if you must, 5-10 minutes with headlights ON, then switched OFF), measure the battery voltage. Be assured that anything less than 12.6V indicates your battery has outlived its useful life. It MAY start the engine, but it will NOT run your electronic systems on which the vehicle relies. Big WARNING here . . . less than 12.6V, you will be replacing your battery with a new one. Removing and refitting new one is heavy work in a difficult situation and you will need help. Please check NEW battery voltage. Rarely are they sold fully charged, so you will need to do so.

Fifthly, but only if your battery (old or new) is in vehicle, connected correctly, and now holding above 12.6V, use keyfob to test doorlocks and power windows. If these operate (albeit windows may have lost their auto function memory), insert key in ignition and start engine. Observe, record, and report back any and all warning lights, messages etc. Take accurate notes and don't worry about DTCs as yet.

That's enough to be going on with immediately, but do spend that cuppa coffee time to visit the New Members section of JF to introduce yourself and get a wider welcome as well as pointers to all the resources of Manuals in the "Stickys . . . HOW TO . . ." section.

Sometimes, just sometimes, these outstanding Jaguars can be forgiving. Let's work in the hope that you may well be forgiven by yours!

Cheers,

Ken

 

Check the fuses as well. However, unless the various computer modules are reverse voltage protected then they may be damaged. You would think that the computer module manufacturers would have reverse protection. Perhaps one of the other folks can jump in and let you know if Jag computer modules are damaged by a reverse voltage.
I did help a friend with his 06 Lincoln LS that had the battery put in the wrong way round. There were a lot of blown fuses, but after sorting out the fuses the residual damage was to the radio, trunk CD changer and the alternator.

 

The current and voltage spikes can cause damage and can be so horrible that the kind of protection you'd need would be a huge extra cost to every car. Mostly they survive but you have to be realistic that this is the kind of thing no-one should ever do, yet a few manage. You can't protect against every tiny risk or you'd not get out of bed in a morning.

Fit a known good battery, go test what's damaged - start with fuses.

 

Welcome to the board.

I know that there have been mistakes made like yours throughout my many years being here. I just spent about a half an hour doing advanced searches on how previous members made out after reversing the jumper cables. I cannot for the life of me remember what was done to correct the problem. Sorry.... There is info here, if I remember I will post back any and all links.

Maybe Jon89, JagV8, tbird, Mikey, norri, Statsof or aholbro will recall. These are long time members filled with a wealth of knowledge. Start with norri.

Good luck and check ALL the fuses. Start by pulling them out one by one and returning to proper spot. I would do the task with a couple of icy cold bevies.... to make the time pass quicker!

 

If not already done, I'd disconnect the battery and charge it fully. If it's not permanently damaged and accepts a charge, reconnect it. Look for evidence of significant sparking when the negative connection is made. If not try starting the car, possibly all will be OK.

The warm relay is of concern.

 

I'm with the others, fully charge the battery hook it up and cross your fingers.
Document anything that happens, warning lights, chimes etc, then try and figure out what works and what doesn't. If a lot off smoke escapes when you connect the battery disconnect immediately.

 

No one remembers the couple of people threads that have done the same thing. I am still racking my brain on the old posts.

Norri I figured you would recall.

 

I'm at work, so I haven't put much effort in.
If the OP shows up again, I'll have a look, if I had his problem I'd be on the forum like a rash.

 

I have seen 3 live cases of Jaguars (S-Types and XJ8 of perhaps 2000/2003 vintage) which were reverse polarity connected for charging . . . in workshop; not here on JF. One came out almost unscathed - 2 or 3 blown fuses of which one was a major power fuse. The second was a tad worse with damaged alternator and, of all things, fried door lock system. The third was nasty (read, very expensive) replacement of several modules including PCM. Seems you can be lucky . . . and not so lucky! (Sound of dice rolling across baize).

Hence advice . . . stay calm . . . start with recharged or new battery . . . check all fuses . . . start car and report back with all warnings, msgs etc.

No news from our lady OP is a worry. As a 2 days only new owner, I fear she is sweating blue light-bulbs!

Cheers

Ken

 

I'm here fella's!!

Ok here is what I did today.

Did not disconnect the battery and did a trickle charge on the battery for the day ( it wasn't reading 12.6, and I don't recall what it had read) after not quite a half a day, it now reads 12.8 however, after reading the above advise, I have disconnected the battery and now am charging it with out having a draw on it. I will check in morning what the voltage reads both before & after pulling a load on it.

I did put a test light onto the positive terminal and checked all fuses in the boot. None of them light up but #9, making me believe it might be a short and is grounded.

How does this sound? And what next?

 

R3 and F9 in the boot fusebox are not used. Exactly what kind of test did you do?

I'd do as suggested above, charge overnight, then connect the battery making sure there is no evidence of shorting, then check and see what functions and what doesn't.

 

According to my manual fuse number 9 is for a heated mirror. I used a tester. A metal tool with a handle that looks like a pointy screwdriver that has a light in the top of it that will go on when it gets power to it. It gets connected to the positive terminal of the battery, then touched to each metal tab on the fuses, showing that power is indeed going thru it.

 

Looks like you are right, I looked at the fuse and relay info in the handbook but JTIS shows F9 for the mirror heating.
Are you using JTIS or another manual?

 

The Owners manual.

 

Please stop this testing IMMEDIATELY!!!

I do hope this does NOT mean what you are saying. How, precisely, are you using the test light - where are you probing - and where is the flying lead connected? Once again, I suggest you stop . . . and re-consider.

No, I am not being pedantic . . . if you are connecting the flying lead "onto the positive terminal" and using probe to test fuses, you are using the test probe incorrectly and your results (especially for fuses) take on an entirely different meaning. Please advise, because you CAN use a test light probe to diagnose this issue, but only if connected onto negative terminal. Using a DVOM (multimeter) avoids confusion.

OTOH, if this is just a confusion of language used (your end) or reading (my end) . . . then further tragedies already averted!

Cheers,

Ken

 

Since we don't know what or if anything is damaged I would follow the above advice.

Get the battery to full charge. Then hook it to the car and see what you have. Just too many different things could be wrong so your testing is not helping anything at this point.

Maybe the car will start and you can find out what's not working?
.
.
.

 

Ok. Battery was charged slowly overnight. It got up to 13.6 After sitting quite a bit and still disconnected, it went down to 13.0 After reconnecting and taking her for a less than 10 mile ride, this is what I know.

Traction control light STILL on
ABS light STILL on.
RADIO Still Does not work
BRAKE light Still on
SPEEDOMETER still not working
ODOMETER still not working
When I hit the TRIP button "FUEL COMPUTER DATA ERROR" comes up.

So basically, nothing has changed. Still having issue with the slot for fuse #9 (pretty sure it's grounded, but shows no signs of abuse/melting.). Both sides of fuse terminal has continuity with ground.

Help me out Guru's. I am stumped

 

Find a jag indy good at electricals.

 

I don't know what that means. I need to fix this without taking to Jag garage.