S-Type battery woes - a possible solution

[Raistlin]

I think that it can't be too long before an S-Type owner switches on the ignition and gets the horrific shock of seeing multiple failures all being reported at once.

The problem is that the electronics in our cars is susceptible to firmware corruption at low voltages and as a result the car will try to "fail safe" by shutting down various systems when it detects a low voltage state.

In days gone by, you'd get a warning of impending battery failure because the lights would go dim and the starter motor would make the instantly recognizable churning noise.

Not so with our cars though. The first indication is when you get the heart-stopping song and dance routine on the instrument panel.

Following advice, I adopted the following solution and offer it here as food for thought.

I tend to put my car's battery on trickle charge once a week overnight. Since I started doing so, I've never suffered the failure routine again.

Being of a generally lazy disposition though, it had to be easy

I wanted a trickle charger that would condition the battery and could remain connected without any possibility of damaging the battery or associated electronics in the car.

I chose a CTEK trickle charger following advice and a fair bit of research (I HATE to spend money and not get the best value).

CTEK's web site

Further, I wasn't keen on lifting the boot floor and messing with crocodile clips so I went for their panel socket which is a small panel fitted in the boot lining. It has a three colour flashing LED system to indicate battery condition. I've found this to be somewhat pessimistic but, rather that than the other way round. Here is a

Link

showing what I did with my setup.

I have the luck to be able to use this in a nice warm dry garage but I know of several who just plug the output lead of the CTEK in and close the boot lid outside their house and there seems to be no problem with water getting in to the boot.

No. I don't work for CTEK I'm sure there are some equally good trickle chargers made by other manufacturers but this works for me.

[Old Peter]

I give my car a charge about once a month, just to be certain that it is OK.

There was one new member whose electrics were performing curiously who found that the new battery that the dealer had fitted would not have kept a mini going.  A proper one cured everything instantly.

As Paul says preventing something happening is much better than curing it after it has happened.

Regards,

Peter. 
 

[Stevefoxton]

Strange I should see this post paul.....I've had the gremlins for the past 3 or 4 days. It first manifested with the restricted performance message...which worried me immensely until I realised there was no performance issue other than the warning. That was for 2 days.....now I've got the abs message! I'm pretty sure it's the battery as you say so I will be sorting that very shortly!

Ive got to admit that posts such as this are really informative as, like many, I panicked thinking the worse but having read this article and used a little common sense it suddenly.....well.....made sense.

great post paul. Keep up the educational articles

[Gordy]

Got a sola powered trickle charger for mine just put it on a once a week for 5-6 hours never had a problem

[jaydeeuu]

I have the dreaded battery drain ( 2004 2.7D) and currently keep it under control with connecting a trickle charger - I still get every other day DSC & parking brake issues but now well versed in sorting them, (DSC whilst keeping foot on brake before & during starting) - however reason for the post is whilst "surfing" the forum, I spotted comments re the GCEM, I have noted that some 45/60 mins after locking the car the headlamps will flash - apparently?? this denotes there could be a fault with/to this GCEM (whatever it is) that causes my "battery drain" - can anyone comment - this weekend the car is having a coolant leak attended to and I intend to discuss the battery problem at the same time.

Regards ... John

[Relph1970]

I have also got what i think is a battery issue. Used the car all day today no prob then out of nowhere i turned on ignition and the needles all flew over to other side of dial and car wouldnt start showed NO fault codes etc but the alarm just sounded. Jump started the car and it fired up no prob then took home, turned car off and started again like nothing had happened and a further 2 times after that. Confused and would appreciate any advice.

Oh and i put multimeter on battery while car was running and alt was putting out between 14.7 to 15 volts. Is this within parameters or too high. Battery was not getting hot so dont think its cooked maybe just failed.

Thanks in advance

Malcolm

[JOE-DOT-COM]

hi

Ive seen this before when there been a bad connection on the battery terminals, or even where the negative bolts to the body

if it does it again its worth removing them and make sure there clean and tight

cheers

Joe

[Relph1970]

Thanks joe. Im fitting a new battery tomorrow so i ll be sure to check everythings tight. Hope that will do the trick

[Relph1970]

New battery installed and already i can notice a difference in all the electrics, starter is quick to turn over, windows and mirrors all seem quicker and smoother if that makes sense. Only downside is that i sheared the bolt on the battery retaining bar that goes into the chassis but found a way round that so sits nice and securely. Fingers crossed this was a nice simple fix even if the unexpected 120 quid on a battery was not so timely but it could have been worse and after having my jag for nearly a year i couldnt be without my princess now so she costs what she costs!!

[PeterD]

I have this problem for the second time with my 2003 SType. Last time I called and the AA came and in 10 secs or less the engine started. When I asked he pointed to something, I assume the starter motor and he may have disconnected and reconnected (Magic) I should have taken a quick photo of the spot instead of just asking. Being a mechanical moron I would like to do the same without wasting the AA's time. Any advice would be appreciated. 

[jaydeeuu]

On 04/04/2016 at 7:00 PM, Raistlin said:

I think that it can't be too long before an S-Type owner switches on the ignition and gets the horrific shock of seeing multiple failures all being reported at once.

The problem is that the electronics in our cars is susceptible to firmware corruption at low voltages and as a result the car will try to "fail safe" by shutting down various systems when it detects a low voltage state.

In days gone by, you'd get a warning of impending battery failure because the lights would go dim and the starter motor would make the instantly recognizable churning noise.

Not so with our cars though. The first indication is when you get the heart-stopping song and dance routine on the instrument panel.

Following advice, I adopted the following solution and offer it here as food for thought.

I tend to put my car's battery on trickle charge once a week overnight. Since I started doing so, I've never suffered the failure routine again.

Being of a generally lazy disposition though, it had to be easy

I wanted a trickle charger that would condition the battery and could remain connected without any possibility of damaging the battery or associated electronics in the car.

I chose a CTEK trickle charger following advice and a fair bit of research (I HATE to spend money and not get the best value).

CTEK's web site

Further, I wasn't keen on lifting the boot floor and messing with crocodile clips so I went for their panel socket which is a small panel fitted in the boot lining. It has a three colour flashing LED system to indicate battery condition. I've found this to be somewhat pessimistic but, rather that than the other way round. Here is a

Link

showing what I did with my setup.

I have the luck to be able to use this in a nice warm dry garage but I know of several who just plug the output lead of the CTEK in and close the boot lid outside their house and there seems to be no problem with water getting in to the boot.

No. I don't work for CTEK I'm sure there are some equally good trickle chargers made by other manufacturers but this works for me.

 

On 25/05/2016 at 1:21 PM, jaydeeuu said:

I have the dreaded battery drain ( 2004 2.7D) and currently keep it under control with connecting a trickle charger - I still get every other day DSC & parking brake issues but now well versed in sorting them, (DSC whilst keeping foot on brake before & during starting) - however reason for the post is whilst "surfing" the forum, I spotted comments re the GCEM, I have noted that some 45/60 mins after locking the car the headlamps will flash - apparently?? this denotes there could be a fault with/to this GCEM (whatever it is) that causes my "battery drain" - can anyone comment - this weekend the car is having a coolant leak attended to and I intend to discuss the battery problem at the same time.

Regards ... John

As mentioned in an earlier post, I suffer from battery drain which I keep under control with a trickle charger. Surfing the net with regard to  "headlamp flashing"  leads to comment which apparently relates to a known fault within the loom that can be corrected with a Jaguar "fix it" - the flashing indicates a fault in the wiring in front of the O/S headlight, which causes the battery drain - additional comment implies that the flashing issue would not be apparent to most people, i.e if the car is garaged, or parked out of sight.

I will be having this "fix it" soon, which hopefully will cure my problem.

On a further note, I often leave the car garaged for 4 weeks plus (visiting family in Canada) - would disconnecting the battery for that length of time cause any further problems to the electrical system.

John 19/10/2016

Edited October 19, 2016 by jaydeeuu
no date for the post

[kpt]

I have just replaced my battery and like Relph above I sheared the bolt. The job turned in to a long protracted affair since I struggled to get the old battery past the retaining clamp due to the bolt being sheared and even worse getting the new one in. 

So if anyone is changing their battery then they need to remove the nut from the bottom of the bolt mentioned. This is accessed from underneath the car.

[Tinonline]

I had the dreaded slow drain that drove me nuts.

car does low mileage and short journeys, it was on new battery replaced under warranty - no faults found. Great.

in a conversation with an auto electrician he asked the model of my battery: Lion, from a well known disty. Ah that's the problem, he said, bane of my life.

The disty, fair play, agreed with no quibbles to exchange under warranty and I opted for a premium brand and stumped up the extra £'s.

I can report that irrespective of lack of use, I have no more issues. I know this won't solve all issues...just another consideration.

[Leo]

Hi Simon, and welcome to the Club!

You should still get yourself a CTEK battery conditioner or similar, and use it regularly. Otherwise you are liable to find that your battery is still discharging, albeit not as quickly as before.

[JOE-DOT-COM]

Hi

Found this while looking through JTIS

Its in the Pre Delivery Inspection Here stype_pdi.pdf

but more interesting in the section " effects of battery disconnection " I found this below

So if your car is driving strange after disconnecting the battery and its a auto, it may be worth trying

may be worth adding to the battery reset doc

cheers

Joe

[Raistlin]

Now incorporated into the Battery Reset Document:-

Battery reset.pdf

[piria33]

Good to know thanks. I replaced my battery last week. The only reset I performed was the electronic handbrake calibration.

Didn't know about the kick down reset or windows.

 

I'll have a look at this today.

 

Other issue I had was removing the retaining bolt of course. copious amount of wd40 under the car and an 1/8th of a turn at a time. 1/8 turn and 2 turns back repeated about 100 times!! Finally came loose.

Then after reinstalling I applied lots of lithium grease underneath.

 

[GuydLV]

Hi, I also recently found out about the bolt retaining the battery located below the car. Just about the best place to get rusty and not the best design when there are more user friendly solutions.

Have some of you considered removing the bolt, filling in the hole and holding the battery from within the boot?

[Oldun]

Hello everyone,I hope you all enjoyed the heat , my car did stuck in the garage , I have just not had time to drive it. I have tried to ensure the battery held a decent charge by giving it the occasional run between junctions 3 & 4 M5 . AS the Jeep was having some new brakes fitted I dragged the Jag out of bed,all was well for a mile then ABS warning light came on,shortly followed by everything lighting up including the EML and the radio cut out. Disconnected battery and charged reconnected , all lights out except engine management light. So what have I done wrong?  I have done the throttle pedal reset so anyone any idea what next?   My fault of course ,I was boasting to a Audi owner that the Jag had given me almost no probs in three years. Keep my trap shut in future,

Mike.

[Guest]

Hi Mike,

You have done nothing wrong mate. The EML will typically light up in sympathy with the ABS but will/may not go out after a battery remove/replace/reset. As a rule the light will go out after driving for a mile or so. If it does not, it will have to be re-set with a suitable OBD2 scanner.

Speaking as both a Jag and Audi owner - it never pays to brag to either of me.👊

[Old Peter]

Hi Mike,

Last week I was changing the discs in the CD player, and as you know, you need to switch on the ignition.  I was sidetracked and only remembered  the ignition was still switched on after a couple of hours.  When I tried to start the  engine I had every warning light and noise come on.

Luckily I have an external socket plus a CTEK charger connected to the battery.  Two hours charging and all was well, and I didn't have to do any resetting,

We do daft things occasionally.

Peter. 

[Oldun]

26 minutes ago, cubist said:

Hi Mike,

You have done nothing wrong mate. The EML will typically light up in sympathy with the ABS but will/may not go out after a battery remove/replace/reset. As a rule the light will go out after driving for a mile or so. If it does not, it will have to be re-set with a suitable OBD2 scanner.

Speaking as both a Jag and Audi owner - it never pays to brag to either of me.👊

Should of know better.

[Guest]

Sadly, most of these modern Car Management systems seem to be designed to confuse and confound the driver and contribute loads of dosh to the dealership.

One day I'm sure they will install systems that simply tell us whats wrong and help us to fix the problem rather than just adding fuel to the fire.

Have a good one Mike

 

[Oldun]

 Now I dont think that will ever happen ,the idea these days is to force you to a dealer so that a " technician   "can plug a computer in and tell him whats wrong , electric and hybrids will see the back of greasy mechanics with a lifetimes knowledge ,redundant.

 

Thank you and everyone else for todays tips , all lights out and running as smooth as a babys bum.

[Old Peter]

Just after I bought my s type [2.7D] I had a warning engine light come on.  The car behaved normally but I thought I had better check with the local main dealer what the problem was.   Ten minutes later & £69.50 less in my back pocket I found out it was a sticky EGR valve.

I bought a cheap Code Reader -- basic but works - and joined the JOC.  My car has never been to a main dealer again  --  nothing wrong with main dealers, but everything I needed to know was available from JOC members.

Cheaper, too!

Regards,

Peter.