Purchased my 08 Convertible June 2015. it had the original battery (that died). I installed an Interstate battery. Used the car a week ago. Yesterday went into garage to find a dead battery. Put my trickle on it - headlights and tail lights kept flashing dimly. Called a mechanic that said I must have left the lights on - or a light on, door open etc. Charged all day - dead - got it jumped by AAA and as soon as it got that many, started right up. Confirmed at that point that I had left nothing on... nothing came on at start (lights, radio etc).
The AAA guy said sometimes a new battery has to be programmed at the dealership after replacement or the battery can get toasted - called Jag dealer today and they said not true on this car.
Let the car run for 1/2 hour, its been back on the trickle now for about 18 hours and still not show a full charge.
Any ideas what this may be or are they any self diagnosis I can do before bringing it to someone? Should I keep the trickle on it any longer? Could it have been a fluke? (I doubt it) Thanks all

 

You need more then a trickle charger if the battery is dead. See if you can get at least a 10 amp charger or better. Take the car back to where you got the battery and have them load test it to see if it was a bad battery.

 

JagToes is right about a trickle charger not being antiquate, also keep in mind that if that battery was brought too far down, likely the case if you left the headlights on or other lights for an extended period of time, that the battery may have reversed a cell therefore it is toast. Remember that these cars are VERY sensitive to battery voltage.

The first step here would be to have the battery checked out - Autozone or many other places can put a load tester on it to check it to see if it is salvageable. There shouldn't be any need for a dealership or mechanic at this point it is highly unlikely there's any sort of issue other than the battery itself getting sorted out. Report back to us. "If" you get a new battery it is important that you put that on a good quality charger to bring it up to full capacity - new batteries need to to maximize voltage/life not just thrown into cars and driven. Lastly, for the future you may want to check to see if your headlight switch is on Auto so to keep you from doing the same mistake in the future of leaving them on. Make sure that when you exit your vehicle that you lock it.. even when it is in your garage to to shut down all the electronics.

Good luck let us know how it goes.

 

Thanks, maybe I wasn't clear - the lights WERE NOT left on. They were set to auto. When the car was charged and I got in the car - nothing was on (interior lights, headlights, etc)

 

Batteries seldom come from the store fully charged. Evidently yours was sufficiently low where the electronics from the car depleted the already depleted battery well past the Too Depleted tolerance.
What jagtoes said above;
Two complete days on a 10 amp or greater charger is recommended for a new battery before first use.

 

Do you have any clue as to what may have brought it down? I depleted my other cars battery at the airport by not turning off my interior light for 12 days - OOPS! Sometimes it's not actually the battery being low but rather the connections not being either secure or having some corrosion from the previous battery so you may want to make sure teh battery terminals are clean and the bolts are pretty tight (careful not to over-tighten as I busted one off they are soft metal not hardened steel)

OK, still need to have that particular battery checked out with a load tester. If it was drained too deeply for whatever reason its toast and charging it won't bring it back. Wherever you got it should have tester (just had mine tested at O'Reilly's). IF you get a new one as a replacement be sure to bring it all the way up via a good quality charger/maintainer (Ctek is the most recommended here though I use a Deltrans battery tender plus and like it for no other reason that it works for me on all my vehicles)