This morning my 08 XK (after sitting about 36 hours) felt sluggish turing over, I noticed the LCD screen hung on the Jaguar logo for a few minutes before the audio system appeared. I also noticed the tach made a few erratic movements not related to the RPM's. I ran my errands, but on a subsequent restart all those things occurred in addition to a new symptom, now the power steering feels VERY HEAVY. The car is drivable, but it feels like I lost at least half of power assist.

Since I live in a rural area in southern Illinois finding a battery is going to be a bit more complicated, I called Sears and a local Firestone dealer and both say they can get a battery sometime next week.

Are these classic telltale indicators of a failing battery in a Jaguar XK?

Thanks

Tom

 

Tom

Besides the sluggish turning over, I'd say that the battery should not be implicated, particularly not when the car is already running. Not sure if the Jag has a belt driven power steering or an electric one?

Some quick checks you can make with a cheap DC voltmeter is to check the battery voltage when the car is parked for more than a few hours. It should be in the mid 12V regions. You could also check the V meter while the motor is being cranked and it should not drop below 9V, or so. One more check is with the motor running and it should be 13+VDC, closer to 14VDC. That would indicate that the charging system is working.

A voltage level below 12V on a parked car indicated loss of charge or a bad battery. Same if the voltage drops below 9V on cranking. If the voltage does not rise above 13V when the car is running, the charging system is suspect.

Good luck in the hunt,

Albert

 

Just returned from Sears. The OEM battery was shot. It averaged between high 10's and low 11's on their voltage test meter, and even more important amps were below 100 on a 800 CCA battery.

Car now operates normally, all I lost in the deal was my Trip A/B data and the windows had to be re-indexed.

With military discount I was OTD for $165.

Tom

 

Interesting, as I would not expect a battery to be that bad in a 2008 car. I better keep an eye on mine. I would guess a badly shorted battery cell that sucked down the voltage even when the car was running and the charging system was going full tilt.

Glad it is solved, that was easy.

Albert

 

I'm on my second battery in my '08 (it was warrantied). I get the impression that most of us are. The electronics in these cars seem very sensitive to battery health.

I'm glad to hear that you found a reasonably priced solution.

(kudos to Sears for the discount, too!)

 

I just checked my battery in my '08XK and the water levels were way low. I got the car as a Select Edition in March and since I had two trips to the dealer. Each time they did their multi-points checks and the battery water was still far too low.

Given the restricted access to the battery that may result in infrequent checkings. Perhaps, that could be the reason for those early failures. We'll see on mine going forward.

Albert

 

Funny you should mention that just now. I've just clued on to the fact that my 2010 XKR has the same type of issue.

I'd been gradually finding more and more that the touchscreen would freeze on the "R" symbol on start up and I basically lost all functionality on the screen , air con and steering wheel controls etc................it was only recently that I put two and two together and realised that when I started driving the car more regularly that the problem became far less frequent and eventually (over the Xmas break) with even more driving has gone away altogether.

The Jag technicians never suggested it - they gave me software upgrades etc... that never made a difference . It all came down to not driving the car enough (>once a week required to get rid of the issue)

 

Yes, I think your experience is common. If you search the forum for threads related to batteries, adaptive cruise, freezing leapers, tire pressure sensors, etc, you'll find a common thread. The battery.

I don't profess to know the why, especially how it affects things while the engine is running, but it sure seems to fix a lot of problems when the battery gets replaced.

I guess that there are differing opinions on so-called "trickle chargers" (the quality & technology probably varies), but you'll find that many of us use them. I bought this one from Amazon after my battery was replaced under warranty (which fixed my gremlins, by the way). I'm hoping that keeping it topped off will make it last longer.

If you notice from the pictures below, the $130 Porsche "Charge-o-mat" that I saw in my dealer's display case looks remarkably similar to my $56 CTEK.

 

I just treated myself to a C TEk battery charger as my 1996 XK8 sits outside (under a car cover) and has restricted use in the winter. I also bought the Comfort Indicator which you permanently attach to the battery and then just have to "plug in" the battery charger. Looked good value compared to the hassles associated with failing batteries

 

Forgot to say a good tip from a friend who has C Tek charger is to place a reminder on your drivers seat that the C Tek is connected as he has driven off with it connected more than once

 

I'm on my second batt for an 08 XKR. I ahde the same electrical issues, and when the dealer replaced the batt it hasn't happened since. I have used the ctek charger for anytime where my cat sits more that a week. Sofar so good.

 

Same here./ I went through three batteries in the first few months I owned my XK. Since then, I leave the battery on a tender any time I let the car sit for more than a few days...

BTW, always, and I mean ALWAYS lock the car when you leave it. This has nothing to do with security, Locking the car (using the electronic lock) puts the car's electrical system fully "to sleep". If you leave the car unlocked, all the electronic gizmos keep running for 25+ minutes before the battery saver circuit finally shuts everyhing down. This draws SIGNIFICANT power from your battery.

Lock the doors!

 

I've had my cat for 2.5 years last summer the battery started to fail.
I replaced it with one from cragens now reilley's? so anyway a a couple of months later it started to faail so i got a trickle on it.
I talked to my service writer at th local dealer whom i have befriended.
He said do you lock the car at night?
I said no it's in my garage.
He said lock it. if you don't lock the car it stays awake expecting you to return in 45 mins and drive it again.
he said and keep the key 35-40 feet away from it after you lock it.
same reason the electronics knows that key is near and stays awake also even if it's locked. i valet it right in front at my sports club and the key is 25 feet away it all adds up!
since he told me that i lock it at night and keep the key in my living room..
LOL and even thought i go to the club 4 days a week that has not been a factor in the battery draw down. problem has vanished
Great car! I would buy another as needed LOve this XK!

 

All,

Please listen to what SO OC and I are saying. I went through almost a year of hell involving multiple trips to the dealer who for whatever reason did not know the obvious and me, endlessly trying to figure out why I could not keep even a brand new battery from failing. If I knew then what I know now, I would have saved the cost of two UNNESSESSARY batteries and a mountain of aggravation....

Whenever you walk away from your XK..

Lock the doors, lock the doors, LOCK THE DAMN DOORS!!!!

nuf said...

 

Thanks Stillwater; such a simple idea too...............however, I do use a cheap 1 amp charger (Harbor Freight) have a connector in the trunk; have same thing for my Motor Home, except use the cigaret lighter socket....................does not seem to boil off the water even after many years full time usage...............

Thanks again for great idea.

 

I wonder why Jaguar USA doesn't inform their dealer ships/service managers of this? My 08 visited two different dealerships in two states (Mo and Il) during a 4 month period. The last time was on a flatbed to Jaguar of Peoria


Total down time to me was over 6 days. I finally replaced the battery that both Jag dealers claimed was "OK" in addition to the alternator and even hooking up my car to something listed as IDS on my repair order to update all the software. And still my 08 would act up. Some of the symptoms were:

1. LCD screen locking on the Jaguar logo
2. IC LCD screen (clock etc) would disappear or be upside down
3. The windows would lose their indexing for no reason
4. Dimming headlights when any electrical load was added i.e. turning on seat heaters

So now I have a brand new battery and I will lock my car EVERY time I get out of it and hope that's the end of my electrical gremlins.

Guess I'll take the time and contact Jaguar USA and point them to this thread for comment.

Cheers

Tom

 

I would love to hear Jaguar's response. I know there is no mention of this in the ownership materials and the service people at my local Jaguar dealership obviously had no clue.....

 

And don't forget, if you do not drive the car for a week or more, you should really consider leaving the car on a battery maintainer (tender). They automatically charge and desulfate the battery w/o over charging, and can be had for less than $50.00

 

Once upon a time battery manufacturers used to give a 100% replacement guarantee for the 1st 12 months, and pro rata up to 4 years after that. Then full polycarbonate tops started to appear, and the pro rata warranty disappeared. (I recall getting fuel from a service station in Parnell, Auckland, and hearing a smart alec attendant telling a woman that 'the difference between using tap water & distilled water to top up the battery was that one would last 48 months & the other would last 4 years. I doubt that the lady ever went back there either after I straightened him out!)

Batteries rarely make four years these days. My experience is that you are lucky to get more than 3. All the points above are excellent, particularly the locking of the car (particularly if you have one you only drive randomly). Overnight or a day or two I would be very sus of a battery that didn't hold enough charge to start the car easily. To my mind, that indicates that the battery is beginning to sulfate (they build up a sulfate sludge on the bottom, and this gradually causes 'leakage' across the plates within a cell). Eventually this creates an electrical 'short' across the cell of sufficient magnitude to prevent the battery from being fully charged or able to hold the charge, and this can happen gradually or it can happen suddenly. Even when you are driving the car it can drop enough sulfate off the plates in a cell to cause the battery to 'boil' while you are driving (the indication can be an unpleasant burning smell wafting through the car). Because the alternator is what runs the electrics on your car whilst the engine is running, you can stop & park, come back a minute later & the car won't even turn the starter over.

Other than 'deep cycle' batteries which are designed to take heavy discharge/recharge cycling, most car batteries cannot handle more than about 3 discharges below about 80 to 85% of their capacity without 'causing cancer'. So if you know that your battery has been 'flattened' 2 or 3 times to the point that it wouldn't turn the engine over, stand by to replace it at the next hint of trouble. You won't regret it.

Cheers,

Languid

So, if you have more than two or three

 

The longest my car ever sat was for about 60 hours, else it's driven every day. For folks that own garage queens this is good advice, but as a DD I still got hit with the dreaded "ghosts of Mr Lucas" syndrome.

Cheers

Tom