Jaguar friends,

I need your assistance. I am moving to Leavenworth Kansas and I will have to be in an apartment where access to trickle charging will be tough. I will be driving daily but only a short 2 miles to and from work daily. It is also likely that I will fly home to North Carolina and will leave the car at the airport for 4 days at a time.

I am very concerned about the battery issues and it is severely damaging my confidence in the car. I have owned Jags, Lotus, Porsche and Triumphs and the battery issue on the 2010 XK is stunning failure for Jaguar and very irritating. My current lead acid battery is fairly new, is almost always on a trickle charger BUT God forgive you if you forget to hook it up to the charger and go the beach - 3 days later you ARE SCREWED.

My question is simple - is there a definitive solution to this problem??

If there is not a permanent fix what is the best course of action?

AGM Battery and solar trickle charger?

Any advice is greatly appreciated - I still have to reset my convertible roof after the last battery drain event.

Thanks for you help,

Ash Worboys
(336)501-0173

 

Just find out what is causing the drain and/or get the battery tested. My daily commute is 4.5 miles and both my '07 and '10 XKRs have coped with that over the last 11 or so years (the 4.2 after I changed the battery).

I recently came back from an extended trip away so hadn't used the XKR for around 4 weeks and it started right up, as expected. I even used the accelerator to the floor technique first to inhibit start to get the oil circulating.

The battery is around 6 years old as a new one was fitted when I bought the car and I only use a maintainer to give it a boost if I have been doing work on or spring cleaning the car.

 

Only 3 days? Ouch. I don't know what your current commute (or general use) is but short trips are really hard on the battery and will quickly reduce its lifespan. It takes lots of energy to start the car then the battery doesn't get enough time to fully recharge. Cold weather is going to make it worse. When you start doing the short commutes, suggest having the battery load tested on a regular basis and plan on replacing as needed. A higher quality battery w/ a warranty would help offset some of the cost. Also driving longer distances means the battery gets fully recharged on a regular basis.

My 07 XKR is a recent purchase. If battery is good and there's no abnormal drain, how long can these cars sit and not have start/drive problems? My other car (an 06 XK8) had problems if it sat 2-3 weeks in storage. Trickle not an option. Bought an AGM (900 CCV) and do a manual disconnect. Car always starts.

 

Until you can get the drain issue resolved, maybe, as mentioned above, add a manual shutoff switch. Mount it in the trunk.
1. Drive to destination
2. Shut off car, get out and lock it
3. Open trunk, flip switch to disconnect battery
4. Close trunk and go
5. On return, open trunk with key blade
6. Flip switch to reconnect battery
7. Close trunk, unlock car, start and drive

Something like this might do you:

 

The battery issues most experience are due to aging or neglected batteries which usually show up as electrical glitches. But as mentioned daily 2 mile commutes are NOT long enough to engage the charging system which means the car’s running off of battery power at all times and never charging which will quickly kill any battery with just about any marque, not exclusive to Jaguar. I think it takes a minimum drive cycle
to start the charging process, 15-20 minutes?

 

Only problem is the window isn't going to remember to go down slightly to avoid damaging the convertible top seal. If I can't solve the drain problem on my XKR (Ajax?), I could do the disconnect and leave the window down slightly because I park at home and cover the car. OP parks in public places and the airport so not really an option. I like the remote disconnect idea. Cleaner install. If I can get anything close to 3-4 weeks then it's not a problem. I drive more often than that. Right now, I'm getting a week. Have been locking but not alarming. Does that make any difference?

 

I think it’s more of an issue when closing, rather than when opening the door, so you could lower the window after opening the door (and before closing it), then do the window reset procedure (on both windows) before you take off. Just a thought.

 

Uusal culprit here is the alarm sounder, it has a Nicad battery which gets wet and drains the main external battery, it's located under the airbag unit that pops the bonnet up, lock your car and listen for the chirp... that's it. a replacement is easily sourced and not an expensive aftermarket part.

I've had a 2010 xk and now a 2012 xkr and could happily leave it for a month or two without driving, have never put a trickle charger near it, and have no battery issues as do many others.

you could do a parasitic draw test also to source the culprit, however worth checking the alarm sounder first. looks like this - https://www.prestigecarpartsuk.com/p...31372208177267

 

There are a number of causes of rapid battery drain, one of which is excessive ("parasitic") draw when the car should be full asleep.

But, first thing you should do is test for a parasitic draw when the car completes its shutdown sequence. In the X150, it's a 3 minute cycle that should drop to around 35 milliamps when fully asleep. You can do it with a typical DVM's ammeter setting. If that's OK, you have other issues with the battery/alternator system.

I tested for mine, and my learning thread is at https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...rience-241252/. There's a lot of other stuff mixed in, in that thread.

The most useful post in that thread is at https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...2/#post2335204.

If you check your car's sleep cycle, and it settles at significantly more than ~35 ma, say 250 mA, you have a draw and need to examine it. When the ammeter is hooked in series with the negative cable, you should start at 9A draw, then drop to 35Ma in 3-5 minutes. I solved my excessive draw by manually shutting off climate whenever I parked and double locking the doors. BTW, never press the start button when the meter in hooked in series. You'll blow the ammeter's fuse, usually a 10A.

NOTE: I tested this on my '07 4.2. The 5.0 has a Battery Management System (BMS), and should drop to the same (or similar) low milliamp sleep draw, but I didn't test a 5.0.

Panthera

 

Makes sense. I slowly opened the drivers door with window fully up after the battery reconnect. No obvious problem. Did the window reset. Just have to remember to drop the window slightly before any future battery disconnects. Battery is at 12.88 today.

 

Glad to hear you were able to solve the drain problem. On mine, charging system always in the 14's so that's good. Disconnected battery ( high quality 1 yr old lead acid) and fully charged it. Started at 13.3 then dropped to 12.86 in less than 2 days. Next is parasitic drain measure. Thanks for all the detailed information.

 

I fitted a DIY Solar Battery charger with a new standard battery. It completely solved my problems which were very similar to yours.

I did write and send a post on it, but I don't think many people looked at it. I will see if I can find it, although I don't have much joy with searching for things on this Forum. When I succeed in finding things, they are usually most helpful.

Good Luck
JT

 

Found it! Easier for me to find, because its in My Posts, which contains about 20!

Look at
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...0/#post2589237
JT

 

[QUOTE=jahummer;2649796]The battery issues most experience are due to aging or neglected batteries which usually show up as electrical glitches. But as mentioned daily 2 mile commutes are NOT long enough to engage the charging system which means the car’s running off of battery power at all times and never charging which will quickly kill any battery with just about any marque, not exclusive to Jaguar. I think it takes a minimum drive cycle
to start the charging process, 15-20 minutes?[/QUOTE
This made sense to me. Storage shed for my car is 1/2 mile away. Wondered about drain so tested. Using a high end multimeter, same voltage at start and finish. Looks like the occasional start to move the car or drive very short distances is ok. The problem is driving repeatedly driving short distances. Far enough to drain the battery a little each time but not far enough to fully recharge.

 

I lock the doors. No chirp. I set the alarm. Get a chirp. That means new alarm battery time?

 

I lock the doors. No chirp. I set the alarm. Get a chirp. That means new alarm battery time?

 

Should chirp on the second press of the lock button

 

No. You're in the USA, so when you lock the doors the alarm sets automatically. When you press the lock button a second time "to set the alarm" that chirp from the sounder is an error message teling you that the car is already locked.

You quoted Kyle_rs, who is in N. Ireland, where X150 models are equipped with "double locking". The first press of the lock button locks the car so it can't be opened from the outside. The second push "double locks" it so it can't be opened from the inside. Double-locking prevents a thief who slashes your convertible top from opening the door from the inside. The second chirp confirms that it's double-locked.

Problem is that double-locking also prevents a child or other passenger from opening a door from the inside to escape a hot car. That's why NHTSA prohibited double-locking.
https://www.nhtsa.gov/interpretation...jan-09-rewrite

 

Thanks everyone for feedback to date. My infotainment screen (under vehicle section I think) shows alarm set to unlock in 2 stages. It can be changed to 1 stage. Still a newbie here but could this somehow affect the number of door clicks to turn the alarm on/off?

Battery charged to 13.1 two days ago. Now at 12.44 One year old, high quality (previous owner deep pockets).

Did the parasitic drain test. Started w/ 8.89A. Over the next 30 min, dropped in stages down to 860 mA. In an hour, virtually nothing, 5 mA. Clicked on door lock. Immediate increase to 640 mA so I need to look into this. Note: short meter leads so trunk was open, lights on. Tried to fool car w/ latch mechanism close. No. Unplugged trunk lights. Info screen off. Stereo off. Headlights at off select.

Now the doors won't lock! Do hear clicks. Both doors fully shut (lights out) and trunk closed. Windows reset and work correctly. ICarsoft says ECU communications error. Door module says voltage. Suggestions appreciated!

 

You don't have anything plugged into the OBD port full time do you?