HELP! Car found Dead this morning...could really use advice
#21
05-28-2024, 03:10 PM
2007 XKR, 42k milies, owned since Jan 2014.
I've read a lot about the electrical gremlins that can be symptomatic of a dying battery, but RARELY experienced any in the last 8 month. I've never changed or charged the battery, car has always started well every morning b/c it's my daily driver. Had a couple screen freezes here and there, and had to do a couple hard battery resets in the past, but 98% of the time there are no issues.
Used the car at midnight Saturday night. Everything normal, shut it down, and locked as always. Headlights off and no interior lights left on.
Sat all day Sunday unused. Monday morning the car was completely dead. No alarm light, no interior lights, car would not unlock. Had to use physical key. Dead. Roadside assist jumped it in 5 seconds, started right up and I drove immediately to get a new battery (die-hard AGM). Previous battery was AC Delco profesional, non AGM. Don't know how old. Everything is now just as it was, but I am worried now.
What in gods name would cause a complete depletion of the battery essentially overnight??
Not looking for recos on battery chargers, etc. as I live in a building and park in a parking garage. Really hoping somebody has experienced this before and was alerted to some weird gremlin that could hog all the juice from a battery. Have read a couple horror stories already about malfunctioning seat sensors hogging power overnight??
Recently the car sat for a week at the airport (garage) and started up fine when I got back. Going for days without use has NEVER been an issue before since I've owned it.
Any thoughts from you veterans would be greatly appreciated!
I've read a lot about the electrical gremlins that can be symptomatic of a dying battery, but RARELY experienced any in the last 8 month. I've never changed or charged the battery, car has always started well every morning b/c it's my daily driver. Had a couple screen freezes here and there, and had to do a couple hard battery resets in the past, but 98% of the time there are no issues.
Used the car at midnight Saturday night. Everything normal, shut it down, and locked as always. Headlights off and no interior lights left on.
Sat all day Sunday unused. Monday morning the car was completely dead. No alarm light, no interior lights, car would not unlock. Had to use physical key. Dead. Roadside assist jumped it in 5 seconds, started right up and I drove immediately to get a new battery (die-hard AGM). Previous battery was AC Delco profesional, non AGM. Don't know how old. Everything is now just as it was, but I am worried now.
What in gods name would cause a complete depletion of the battery essentially overnight??
Not looking for recos on battery chargers, etc. as I live in a building and park in a parking garage. Really hoping somebody has experienced this before and was alerted to some weird gremlin that could hog all the juice from a battery. Have read a couple horror stories already about malfunctioning seat sensors hogging power overnight??
Recently the car sat for a week at the airport (garage) and started up fine when I got back. Going for days without use has NEVER been an issue before since I've owned it.
Any thoughts from you veterans would be greatly appreciated!
With all the Dead Battery posts it is apparent that we have 'sticky relays' in our Jags. It's a fairly common problem when the builder goes nuts with the electrical circuits on any make or model of car. The more complex, the more 'Bells and Whistles' the more relays to stick and cause God Knows what kind of problem. If relay contacts get used a lot or have slightly excess current through them, they will tend to 'fuse; together and won't open when the power is removed from the 'pickup' coil. The only way to 'fix' the problem is to install a better quality relay, IF you can find one that matches the pin-out of the defective POS unit.
We are probably going to have to build a 'Relay Logic' diagram/chart for our rides to use as a troubleshooting guide for future problems. I will get started on this problem, but if anyone has already begun this task, I could use any help you can provide.
As they say, LUCAS is their primary electrical supplier, also known as "The Lord of Darkness".
#22
05-28-2024, 06:11 PM
Veteran Member
Well, first of all, Lucas is not Jaguar’s electrical supplier - that honour goes to several European and far eastern suppliers. More importantly, the symptoms listed suggest nothing more than a battery that has reached the end of its useful life. Modern batteries tend to die quite suddenly, “overnight” being a typical scenario, although often there are signs of failure: random warning lights, modules not functioning properly, the touch screen freezing or not illuminating…and the death throes are counter-intuitive: the horn sounding, lights flashing…
The fact that the engine starts is often used to protest against the battery as culprit, as well as the fact that, once started, the odd symptoms often retreat - but that is nothing more than the alternator taking over. It is almost always the battery, insufficiently charged or at the end of its useful life and failing under load (the demand from the starter motor).
The fact that the engine starts is often used to protest against the battery as culprit, as well as the fact that, once started, the odd symptoms often retreat - but that is nothing more than the alternator taking over. It is almost always the battery, insufficiently charged or at the end of its useful life and failing under load (the demand from the starter motor).
Last edited by sov211; 05-28-2024 at 06:16 PM.
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#23
05-28-2024, 08:07 PM
Well, first of all, Lucas is not Jaguar’s electrical supplier - that honour goes to several European and far eastern suppliers. More importantly, the symptoms listed suggest nothing more than a battery that has reached the end of its useful life. Modern batteries tend to die quite suddenly, “overnight” being a typical scenario, although often there are signs of failure: random warning lights, modules not functioning properly, the touch screen freezing or not illuminating…and the death throes are counter-intuitive: the horn sounding, lights flashing…
The fact that the engine starts is often used to protest against the battery as culprit, as well as the fact that, once started, the odd symptoms often retreat - but that is nothing more than the alternator taking over. It is almost always the battery, insufficiently charged or at the end of its useful life and failing under load (the demand from the starter motor).
The fact that the engine starts is often used to protest against the battery as culprit, as well as the fact that, once started, the odd symptoms often retreat - but that is nothing more than the alternator taking over. It is almost always the battery, insufficiently charged or at the end of its useful life and failing under load (the demand from the starter motor).
wj
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