Having trouble with various messages popping upon the dash: ie: DSC Failure, Air suspension Fault & one other I can't recall. This happens randomly but usually when I'm in heavy traffic & out of town. The Air Suspension Fault doesn't make me lose power, but the others do. I had the battery disconnected & it worked for 3 weeks, then yesterday the Air Suspension Fault popped up again. I do not know what that means. Anyone have any issue with these messages. I have a very well taken care of XJ8 2004.

 

I've moved your question from General Tech Help to X350 forum. This is the place to post tech questions about your model.

Members here with the same model will be able to help.

Graham

 

How old is your battery? Marginal batteries cause issues such as the ones you describe.

 

This. Random unrelated faults are usually a battery issue. We've owned two Jaguars now and both have had oddball faults that ended up being the battery. The 2000 S-Type we had wouldn't allow the radio to turn on while the car was running and would work with the engine off. Jaguars are so voltage sensitive that this is common even when the battery is plenty strong enough to start the engine.

 

Thank you for the heads up. I checked my battery is just under 3 years old. Would that qualify as marginal? Seems like most cars have batteries for many, many years. This vehicle hasn't been driven a lot except during the last 1.5 yrs & that was just less than 10,000 miles.

 

It's possible. Some batteries fair better than others. Based on date code when I installed my new battery at the time, it was the original and lasted 8 years. I'm not sure that's typical.

 

Replaced my OEM Jaguar battery today. Was installed Sept 2013. It bit the bulit in under 2.5 yrs. I dont know how the car was stored durring the winter, before I purchased it. If stored poorly or a lot of short trips in the cold, that could have beat it up bad. I'm going to contact the service manager at the dealer where it was installed, and see if at least I can get it pro-rated. It should have had at least a 3yr warranty. Most batteries have at least a 30 month no prorate. Ive never had a battery only last 2.5 yrs.
It did solve all my problems.
The christmas lights really get your attention !

 

Usual things that upset batteries are things like being left a bit flat, then flatter, flatter and very flat. E.g. not driven much. E.g. a steady small current that ought not to be there but is not investigated or fixed.

 

Thanks for your information. I never thought a battery would have such short life but if it stops this un-nerving situation, I am happy to get a new battery, worth every penny if the flashing lights & pop up messages cease. It's is really scary when you are in the fast lane of 4 and you get these & your power shuts down.

Thanks,
Wladja
XJ8 2004
Taken care of like a member of the family.

 

Short life may be sign of an undiscovered fault like a drain. You could go hunting.......

 

When I bought my first X350, I changed preventively the original battery which was 6 years old but still good, because I knew how sensitive theses cars are to a good battery.

To get some extra reserve, I purchased an AGM Start and Stop Plus battery from Varta (this is the original supplier of batteries for Jags in the EU). I think that AGMs are now put originally on X351s because of the Start and Stop systems to increase mpgs and reduce CO2 emissions in the EU. The battery was very strong until I sold the car this year.

That's why I am now thinking to put an AGM on my current SV8 Portfolio 2006 that seems to show a battery weakness (I had already a Christmas tree and the weakness will probably show up again).
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...hboard-155654/

AGM batteries are worth the extra expenditure, much more resilient and accept deeper discharges that are so detrimental to baatery life

 

Plus 3 on the battery as a possible cause, our cars are so so sensitive to weak / failing batteries and cause all sorts or weird / random issues.


I've had batteries last in cars easily for 4 or 5 years, but it seems that todays more modern cars are much heavier on them. This combined with severe cold weather, lots of stop / start short trips and yes, 2 years is good.


I've probably went through around 3 -4 batteries on my 9 year old Audi A6 and its a whopper at 110AH and 850 CCA, recently upgraded to 110AH and 920 CCA.
I'd say look at replacing your battery and see how you go...