Hello everybody and thank you to accept me as a newbie. Please note that english is not my mother tongue, so grammatical and semantical errors.

Short story: I have an s-type 2000 - 156k kms
Dead today. No real problems history.
Smelled some strong odour in the highway (that means front of the car), like brakes failure (but in that case, those were not the culprits, by experience - different odor also).
When I was in the streets, I had suddenly errors on my dash.
From first to last: abs and control enabled/disabled (spontaneously changing), rpm turned to zero while driving, battery indicator, then something like chrismas tree....
The motor was still running but pretty irregulary. I safely parked my car and switched off. End of the story: no more switch on since then.
I had to tow my car and the guy tried to bring me some energy with his tools (plural, he used 3) to allow me to close the roof and the windows: no luck.
At home, I tested the battery voltage (the battery is new - about 6 months) and it was almost 0V. I estimated manually that the battery was kind of hot (hotter than expected)
Removed the battery and the voltage raised to 8V, it's now charging...
I read a lot about jaguar batteries failures, but I think this is not the case, mostly because of the odor and the related problems minutes later.
I put a charged battery in the car to test the lights (and close the roof... rain is coming today - how lucky): no luck`: no sign anywhere: no dash lights, no lights, no moving windows. Like an instant dead.
My spontaneous opinion (feel free to deny this): the alternator or [insert anything else] made a short circuit somewhere and short-circuited my battery.

Now my question(s)
I like this car (never old style after 18 years) and I like to drive it. WAF is high. even the mpg are, you know, very low. No real motor troubles (changed maf, starter, oil, regular stuff - tires/struts). Becomes pretty rusty (chassis and around the wheels). A/C is dead and not reparable. recent obd error (P1388 - timing advance). So, is it worth it to solve that problem if not obvious (alternator dead - will see my mech tomorrow) ?
Electrical problems are nightmares and you can spend thousands by changing parts after parts, without solving the problem.

You opinion is welcome
Regards
Mike

 

The battery may or may not be OK. If fully charged and left to stand (disconnected) over night, it should read at least 12.6V.

It would help when you connect the battery if you can watch the current (amps) and see if there is a big value (watch for a few minutes). If so, there is a short circuit.

If not, you can follow the guide for a non-starting car. E.g. JagRepair.com - Jaguar Repair Information Resource

There is a huge amount of useful data on this site and also on JagRepair.com - Jaguar Repair Information Resource

 

Hello Mr V8,
thank you for your reply. I charged my battery along the night. The voltage was 12.1V but the full depletion was maybe a sign of not holding more right now.
I hooked the battery and, yeah, some lights. And I was able to shut down the roof and the windows (after a long night of rain... hopefully without any damage after the right protection - aka garbage bags) !
I was also able to run the motor, that's a nice think to know, that means the starter is ok, but the smell remains somewehere. Heard a unsual noise round the motor. the alternator belt is running fine (at first sight), no blocked gears and no belt slip.
The battery voltage after few minutes dropped to 11.25V. Even I stopped the car 2 times, I was able to restart the motor again and the idle was ok.
I left the battery in that state and left it connected to my car to see if the voltage will drop faster (probably). No alarm set or whatever to reduce the power consumption.

Is it a good idea to exchange the battery with a new one to see what happend ?
And related to what I read on jag forums, S-type seems to be batteries hungry. Even a new one can be decimed in a quick. This one has only 6 months (daily use, no winter) !

But the remaining smell scares me a little bit. Is it possible to share here a small vid of my running motor ?

Mike

 

 

 

Hi kr98664,
thank you for your prompt reply.
Since my last message, I went to the garage where I purchased my battery earlier this year: even the voltage was low (partially discharged), the test with the special meter leads to a working battery.
That leads again to an alternator failure. You message put some cream on my shoulder (this is not a big problem).
The smell was mostly like burned cable and not burned belt and I checked the belt later: looks ok with no marks or slip.
I was able to ignite everything and the motor run normally (except one strange sound - not a hiss- that I've not heard before, but again I'm more a driver than a fine-tuner), several time.
My kitten is now on charge for the night...
I'll manage to check youtube videos this night about alternators ;-)
regards,
Mike

 

Oh yeah, one more thing:

Carefully inspect the wiring at the alternator, especially the large wire by itself. The wiring is prone to heat damage, specifically at the crimp for the large wire. Repair pigtails are available if you find damage, so don't panic.

 

Hello folks,
Thank you again for your replies.
After my own tests, I went to my garage (with a set of 2 fully charged batteries in parallel to be able to drive few kilometers) and the guy retested it. It was obviously the alternator and just that.
Replaced it with a new one and voila, my kitten is on the road again (with music in my head), as before...
Still old but far better than the honda the man offered me while repairing my car !
happy story ;-)
Mike

 

Glad it's fixed but just a comment about alternators?
We have found that after market units usually cause problems and don't last. Was your replacement a factory alternator?
Just something to watch out for.
.
.
.

 

I don't know yet and I need to ask more about this (or look under the hood).
The mechanic told me that he replaced the dead one with a new one (including diode) and not a refurbished or OEM one. Don't know the brand yet, but will ask him soon.
cost : 400$ cad (about 235 gbp)
Mike

 

Good news, please the info when you find out. The big question, is your battery indicator light off? Per previous comments, most aftermarket alternators charge fine except the light stays on.

 

Karl,
all indicators are off and all seems fine. The battery voltage is steady 12.6V and higher when driving, except maybe a little unusual sizzle or hiss (will ask the mechanic about the belt tension) not coming from the alternator (bottow left) but from the upper right side. Can upload a mp3 somewhere (dropbox) if interested.
Mike

 

Mike, that seems quite low. 12.6V is what you might see on a battery at rest. You should be seeing around 13.5V while driving. 12.6V isn't really charging much, if at all.

 

Some info is missing ;-)
So, I rephrase the sentence: 12.6V at rest and motor not running, (with the battery who was fully depleted when the alternator failed), Higher voltage (don't know exactly, but around 13.5 for sure as I remember) at idle or gently driving at 2000 rpm.
Mike

 

Phew, that's a BIG difference. Sounds like all is good.

You may want to pick up an inexpensive voltmeter that plugs into the cigarette lighter. As you have already learned, the stock warning light is basically useless, coming on only well after the battery has been run down after a charging system failure.

The plug-in meter I have also has a chime that sounds if the voltage drops below a certain point. It should give plenty of warning, unlike the factory warning.

 

In fact I have a wifi obd2 meter with some android app (torque pro). Very useful but I don't use it all the time, only when I have problems or to check some parameters. Will probably put a simple voltmeter on the dash. Thanks again.