So I recently bought an 1983 XJ6 and am in the process of doing cleanup and restoration. Last night I got to replacing the standard 5" headlights with the 7" H4 lights. To get the wires out of the old housing, i had to cut the wires and then splice them back together once in the new housing. Everything installed fine and both of the headlights we beaming beautifully. I even took the car down a dark road to enjoy the luminance. After the test drive, I parked the car for the night and went to bed. This morning when I tried to start up the car, the battery was dead. I tried jumping it for about 20 mins, but it wasn't enough time apparently. I'm assuming the battery is really really drained and needs more time to charge. I will try charging it for a longer period once I get back from work. Also, the battery was replaced about 3 weeks ago.

Any thoughts on what would of caused the battery to die this severely and quickly? Could it be because I snipped the wires and then spliced them back together and there is a loose connection somewhere? I'm thinking a poor connection shouldn't drain a battery, but I could be wrong. Any help or thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

The only thing that comes to mind right away is maybe the headlamp relay got hung up with the extra amperage, did the lights turn off last night? are you getting big sparks when hooking up jumper cables?

 

The lights turned on and off fine last night. I didn't notice any major sparks when hooking up the jumper cable. What would of the sparks indicated?

 

lots of sparking would indicate a full 12 volt draw meaning something was turned on

 

A favorite for these cars is the trunk light not turning off after you close it due to bent/distorted bracket. Worth a check maybe.

 

Fraser.. you are absolutely correct. It took me a couple of days but found the trunk to be the culprit!