Weak battery after 8 days parked. Battery is 2 years 10 months old. Thoughts?

 

Quiescent drain most likely but also, batteries are only warranted for 3 years. If you can get it charged, take the car to a local auto parts store and have the battery load tested. If you can't get it charged, remove it from the car and take it to an auto parts store for a load test.
I'd start there, then once assured you have a FULLY charged battery, we can help you address how to check for the drain.

 

. What Sean said, plus ...

You didn't give us enough information to make an accurate assessment. Below are just a few of my thoughts ...

Was the battery too weak to start your car? Did you recharge it and did it hold the charge? Is there sufficient electrolyte in each cell? Where was it parked and did you leave the Smartkey in the car or a short distance from the car? Did you lock the car when you parked it? Did you buy that battery new and how long was the warranty? Is it your daily driver? If so, how far do you drive it every day? (Short drives might not be enough to fully charge the battery ). Do you use a battery maintainer? Is it kept outside or in a heated garage? Did you turn everything off before you parked it? Is your alternator working properly? Have you had the battery and charging system checked? I could go on and on ... and I'm not a mechanic.

You're in Maine, where winters are deadly for batteries. You got almost 3 years out of it, so it's probably time for a new one.

Using a battery maintainer will extend the life of your battery, especially if it's not driven daily.

You've been a Forum member since 2013, so I presume that you know how to use the Advanced Search function or Google to find the answers to your questions. Since you're a retired US Army aviator and restorer of WWII Jeeps and other antique cars, I'm sure that I didn't mention anything that you didn't already know.

 

For Stuart and Sean, Thanks for the input. The Jag gets put away every winter and is on a battery maintainer. It's a daily driver Spring ,Summer and Fall. This recent issue was when I parked the car for 8 days while i was out of town. What I'm curious about is how much parasitic drain is normal? I'll be charging it today and get a load test after. Note; the car was not locked during this time.

 

If you lock your car, you immediately shut down Convenience Mode, which keeps the radio, cigarette lighter, power windows and??? alive. Otherwise, it takes around 20 minutes to automatically shut down. There have been reports of CM never shutting down with the car unlocked and windows open. Not sure why, but maybe the Smartkey was nearby.


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DELETE

 

I've had this issue since I purchased my 2010 two years ago. When I bought mine I had a new battery installed and everything checked out.
Then, during the summer of last year I did the same thing as you did, leave it unused for a week while out of town. Got home and the new battery was dead.
Read a lot of posts here and decided to buy a CTek battery attender and permanently install it in the trunk.
Now if I know I'm not going to use the Jag for a few days I just plug it in, since then I've had no issues. Use the CTek all winter while it's in storage, (usually about 5 months), has worked well doing this also.

 

normal draw is 35mA for the X150

 

 

Done. Thanks

 

Use the backspace key to erase what you wrote, then add Deleted or whatever explanation you want to add.

 

Either you've a draw somewhere or the battery's done. Even daily drivers and CTEK's can't save all batteries. If it was a premium one, perhaps it still has warranty for a replacement.

 

Rumor has it, that if you double lock your car, "wait for the beep", it shuts down almost every module. My Xk is used almost exclusively as an airport car....so it sits for a few weeks at a time. I have a NOCO boost pack in the trunk but havent used it. Plus, I bought a cigarette phone charger that shows the voltage. Similar to below. That way I can kinda of keep an eye on things.


Our cars get driven year round and dont have to deal with cold weather.....so there is that.

 

I’ve posted on this topic many times before. Here’s one of them:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...0/#post2523576

I don’t lock the car as it is secured in the garage. That alone ensures a reduced quiescent drain as there is no power supplied to the alarm system.

 

I had a 2 year old battery die on me. I think it was damaged from the day I purchased it. I got an AGM battery :
https://www.autozone.com/batteries-s...cca/319459_0_0

No issues, and I have much more confidence that it will last. I still keep it on a ctek since my car is mostly a weekender,

 

Double locking is not available on North American market models because NHTSA deemed it to be unsafe. Double locking is popular in Europe because it makes cars more difficult to steal. However, because the doors cannot be opened from the inside when double-locked, a small child or other passenger can be trapped inside and die from extreme heat.

When you double-lock your car, the beep-beep is an error message to tell you that your car is not double-locked.

 

It's a Bosch battery. I'm checking on its birth month... Thanks .

 

I did not know that. Lear something new every day. Double lock bad...its for the children.

 

If you want to know more about NHTSA's decision, see:
NHTSA January 2009 Double Locking

 

I've had a Bosch AGM battery in my XJ since January 2019 with no problems. I keep it on a CTEK maintainer. See:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...attery-212478/