HELP... I've cleaned my seats this afternoon and when I tried to start the car to put it back in the garage, it refused to start! There was a quick beep, intermittently, and the windshield wipers would start for a little time from time to time. I inserted my fob in the hole in the middle storage compartment, hoping it'd solve something, but now it's stuck there and the car won't react at all!!

At some point it told me there was a fault with the pedestrian detector, but now it's all gone.

I've noticed the position lights are still on even despite the switch being on 'off'...so is the lighting of the license plate. I don't think the battery is low cuz I've driven it quite a bit these past few days and it's had its share of ctek charger lately...but it'll eventually run out if it stays like that! The trunk can't be opened either... So I'm stuck and don't know what to do...plz help me out!

Can it be that moving the seats forward and backward messed up something?

 

Since the headlights may have been on for an unknown period, get her on a charger. See what happens after that’s been on for a while.

 

The trunk can't be opened either...
And the headlights could have been on for just a few hours, the time I spent cleaning the whole interior. Given the situation (battery frequently recharged, recent driving), it seems unlikely it went low in such a little time...

 

Most probably simply a low battery.
Use the connectors under the hood to recharge it, see manual.

 

Under the front hood?

 

If you cleaned your seats with the door or doors open and didn't have the battery charger on you drained the battery. Open the trunk with the key and charge the battery.

 

How is it possible it can be drained so fast? I mean, it's been regularly on the ctek and I've driven it quite a bit in the past few days...

Is it possible to start the engine with the charger hooked to the car?

Anyway, I've done just what you suggested and hooked up my ctek charger to the car a while ago. I've just checked and the position lights are now off. Looks like it's getting back in order...hopefully. I just hope I won't have a bunch of stuff to reset / reprogram when the battery is back up...

 

Ctek are lousy , use a 8 or 10 amp battery charger if you have one , leave it on for a couple of hrs bet the car starts , use points under the hood engine compartment as said before consult your hand book

 

The CTEK units are not by any means "lousy". They are first quality, well engineered battery MAINTAINERS. While they will charge a discharged battery, they will do so very slowly (on purpose).
In the case in question the battery has been significantly depleted either because of the use pattern OR because it is nearing the end of its useful life. The CTEK unit can extend the life of an ageing battery but if the battery is then subjected to "open door" use (such as a lengthy cleaning if the interior) the result will be as described by the OP.

 

So do you think what I'm experiencing is due to an ageing battery or is it expected regardless of the age/condition of the battery?

 

A Ctek maintainer/ charger is a slow low amp charger and float maintainer. It only charges at a 3.5amps so it will take hours . I suggested a battery charger (min 10 amp) . I have a 100 amp unit that I use. It is a PITA to get the battery tested as the best way is a load test performed at a dealer or auto parts store. The other question would be how old is the battery. if it is 5-6 years old then I would suggest you replace it.
Oh if you charge the battery and it reads 12.6 to 13Volts when you remove the charger. Wait an hour and measure the voltage again. If it is less then 12.6V replace it.

 

Mine grabs hold of the key as well. Push it in further and the car will release it so you can remove it.

 

If you regularly maintain with the CTEK and you had a quick flat of the battery like this I would definitely lean towards a bad battery, perhaps have it load tested. Just moving the car out of the garage and adjusting the seats back and forth wouldn't drain a good battery that has been maintained with the CTEK.

Some mention that the cars fitted with an AGM have that nature of failure, very rapidly when it does go. My vehicle has a lead acid and when it has died was a slow demise that gave me plenty of warning.

 

It's the battery sir. You can unlock the boot with the key. I believe the key hole is behind the rear license plate on Euro cars. Alternatively see your manual. Underneath the boot there is a positive post. Then everything Jagtoes said in post 11.

 

The battery access points are UNDER THE VEHICLE, AFT OF THE LEFT-REAR TIRE.
I'm sure George MEANT to say 'CTEKs are lousy for charging a drained battery, and a higher-amp regular battery CHARGER should be used, for probably 24 hours'.

 

will take a ctek a week to fully charge a battery , this is what most don't know , way better to hook up a 10amp Proper charger to your batter once a week instead of this over rated brand

 

spot on

 

Update...

After about an hour with my ctek (it's all I have to charge anyway...), I could finally get the key fob back (as a reply to a previous reply: I tried all I could, pushing, pulling...no way it would give it back!), the normal way. I could also lock/unlock the car and open the trunk with the fob. The position lights have turned off by themselves.

I tried to start it with the ctek on: nope, still not enough juice, looks like. So far the ctek is still on the first 2 LEDs, whereas if would reach the 3rd one almost immediately the other times I hooked it up.

So we're not quite there, but things are looking up. I've left my XK to charge for the night. Hopefully after about 12-13 hours of charge it should start tomorrow... I just hope I won't have a bunch of stuff to reset/reprogram/configure when starting it tomorrow... And I hope I won't have to change the battery either, as that means going through all this stuff for sure...

Anyway, many thanks for your quick help guys! This indeed was the battery and I could access the trunk manually with your tips. Again, thx a ton!

 

First 2 LEDs is not enough to turn it over, going to take at least 4-6 hours to start and at least a good 24 hours to bring it to full charge. Don't know if you mentioned the age of the battery, but as other said, do a load test to see if it can hold proper voltage.

 

With slow charging battery maintainer time is your friend. When my battery is a bit low and I hook up my maintainer I leave it overnight and wake up to a nice green indicator that it is fully charged. I don't know how many hours it took other than knowing that when I have taken a glance at the status after 4 or 6 hours it isn't there yet. Overnight, well that is the magic.