S-Type battery woes - a possible solution

[The Central Scrutiniser]

@jaydeeuu I really like the setup in your boot and have just ordered a CTEK Comfort Indicator Panel. Do you have a link or brand/model for the neat 20Amp auxiliary socket too? Thank you.

[Old Peter]

Hi John,

I connect my  CTEK directly to the battery, and unfortunately I do not have a link or brand model to the auxiliary socket as it is fitted on the wall and the brand is on the back.

Peter.

 

[michael white]

My jag s type has a flat battery, can i recharge this in the boot whilst it is still connected please?

[Raistlin]

Yes

[michael white]

Many thanks for the confirmation.

Michael

[Pommy Pete]

G,day everyone,

Thanks for all your valuable comments, got a small (I hope) problem with my 2004 S type in that DSC lite came up, then ALL lites came up and  went into limp mode (the jag, not me), charged up the battery and all ok, till 2 days later, battery showed "needs charging," although stars and runs fine ???? I put the car on a Solar charger (about 5watts) when coming to Pommy land each year and all ok. Great forum and advice..... Pommy Pete (Expat from Didcot)

[JOE-DOT-COM]

hi

possible tired battery or alternator not charging

have you checked battery voltage when stood and running

when stood , should never go below 12volts, if it does battery duff, when running should be around 14v plus,any less alternator duff

cheers

Joe

[JustBadly]

Recently I solved a water leak from the pipe union between the expansion tank and water hose. This was dropping coolant and in turn causing the alternator to become soaked. If the windings are wet then sparking will occur and the charge output will drop. Now the engine bay is dry again I noticed the battery charge has improved and I can put off buying a new battery for the time being. 

I really think s-type owners should check around the top of the radiator and the fan housing for any sign of water and if found deal with it, this is particularly relevant to charging issues.

[hawkaye]

On 1/23/2018 at 12:17 PM, piria33 said:

...

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.

When I took on my S-Type there was no sign of the long bolt which holds the battery in, just a rusty stub sticking out underneath and a Halfords receipt for a new battery with the documents. The battery was 'held' in place by a daisy chain of cable-ties. This looked like a potential MoT fail to me.

Not having seen the system as it should be, I drilled and tapped the remains of the captive bolt in the boot floor and put a new 1.5" long bolt in from underneath. Now the plastic battery retaining block is held by a nylok nut and the threads are inside the boot. So the bolt head can rust all it likes under the boot floor, I won't be touching it again for the life of the car.

[mrmike]

My 2005 2.7D had various probs with the electronic brake and the odd ABS warning and a couple of others too. Finally flat battery after leaving the car sitting for 4/5 days.

Bought a new battery, no starting probs  but a weekly parking brake block, flash of ABS too. I removed the short - battery lead, cleaned the connections to the battery and body. Soldered the cable to the terminal at each end and refitted the cable. after 6 months I have had no more parking brake problems or any flashes at all on the screen when starting. The quality of the battery connections cannot be over emphasised on these cars.

[sz6nt0]

Hello All,

My first post. Just to set expectations, my mechanical experience is limited to referencing Haynes manuals some 40 years ago.  It was always cold and wet and I always lost skin on my knuckles.

I registered on this site some months back when I invested in a 2007 2.7d s type as a bit of a project car to work on in retirement.    I experienced many of the issues flagged in this topic, such as the EML and EPB warning.   Had Halfords fit a new battery and everything seemed fine.  Bought the trickle charger (as recommended here) and kept the battery topped up continuously as I hardly use the car.   A month or two later it came time for the MOT and it needed new sills (of course).  The garage kept the car for 3-4 days and it transpired they also had to charge me for a new battery - it had gone dead whilst they had the car. 

So I assumed I had some kind of drain.  Bought a multi-meter and tested with the ignition off, doors and boot closed, and there is a 0.8 amp to 1 amp drain.  

This afternoon I have been through all the blade fuses, one by one,  in all three fuse boxes.  I can't seem to be able to isolate the potential culprit.

My question is,  was it a waste of time going through the fuses?   Is it 'normal' for an s type to drain like this ?  Maybe it is the passive security. Judging by the comments virtually everyone recommends a trickle charger.  I was going to use the Jag for a road trip to the Highlands but I'm worried the battery will go flat if I don't keep it on charge for more than a day or two.  I suppose I could just disconnect the battery every night but surely there is a better solution ?

Thanks,

Nick

 

[JOE-DOT-COM]

hi

did you wait 40 minutes so the car goes asleep

you have to put tape over the boot switch, so it thinks its locked, or as soon as you open the boot or doors the car will wake up and you got wait 40 minutes again

if you want workshop manual look here http://www.jagrepair.com/

also have a read here http://www.jagrepair.com/images/TSB/TSB2/S-Type/414Charging/S414-01am Quiescent Drain Current.pdf

cheers

Joe

[sz6nt0]

Hi Joe 

Thanks for the info. The links were useful. I didn't wait the 40 mins. I'll try another test and wait the specified time to see if the amps drop as documented!

[sz6nt0]

Update:  I waited 40 mins and the drain reduced to 0.02a so I'm at a loss why the car had a dead battery after 3 days at the garage.

I may just leave the Jag off the trickle charge for a week and see if it starts. 

[JOE-DOT-COM]

Hi

20mA is ideal, either you battery is on its way, or more favorable the garage left the ignition on and flattened it

They never admit to any !Removed! ups, I dont use garages, try do all my own work, garages are not like they use to be.

cheers

Joe

[Borg Warner]

Got the dreaded warning lights for the second time in two weeks.  The scenario for both tines was the same, running for a few minutes/ short journey had the demist screen on/AC/rear screen/lights so a fair amount of load.  After the first time I managed to reset it and checked the battery voltage when running and it was around 15.6v, seems a little high?  Had it autumn time last year and replaced the battery so it's relatively new, plus it's on trickle charge as not used a great deal.  I've had it checked at a local specialist and the list of faults was long and painful, apart from it was saying CanBus error?  Garage reckons it could either be a "glitch" or a problem with the wiring somewhere????  It now will not even turn over, I've disconnected the battery for around an hour but still no joy.  It's booked into the specialist for Wednesday, providing the AA will pop round and get it there.  

Now, before I spend a small fortune on it chasing none existing electrical gremlins, is it worth replacing said nearly new battery and keeping it on trickle charge?

 

Once I get it moving of course.

 

Oh the joys

 

 

[Jimbov8]

By all means have the battery tested though I would also be having the alternator looked at.

[Borg Warner]

14 hours ago, Jimbov8 said:

By all means have the battery tested though I would also be having the alternator looked at.

 

Thanks for the reply Jim, I'll see what the garage have to say.

[mrmike]

On 5/5/2021 at 12:21 AM, mrmike said:

My 2005 2.7D had various probs with the electronic brake and the odd ABS warning and a couple of others too. Finally flat battery after leaving the car sitting for 4/5 days.

Bought a new battery, no starting probs  but a weekly parking brake block, flash of ABS too. I removed the short - battery lead, cleaned the connections to the battery and body. Soldered the cable to the terminal at each end and refitted the cable. after 6 months I have had no more parking brake problems or any flashes at all on the screen when starting. The quality of the battery connections cannot be over emphasised on these cars.

Still Perfect, My car sometimes is not used for a week or slightly more like now, Just got over Covid!

The car is outside and I do not have a charger etc, true it is rare that the temperature goes below 0C but it regularly goes over 37C in the summer. I cannot stress enough the importance of very good battery connections for reliable starting and lack of ominous messages.

[DanB]

Granted this is a fairly old topic, but I've just joined and thought I would make my contribution for anyone still unsure how to solve the "battery draining while parked" problem.

I bought my 2007 reg. S-Type back in August 2011 (1 previous owner, very low mileage, excellent condition etc). I drove it that summer and put it away in the garage for the winter (as I continue to do every winter). Took it out of hibernation in the following May and after driving for a short time found that the electronic parking brake wouldn't come on. I took it back in high dudgeon to the local main dealer from where I'd bought it, and the service manager was kind enough to give me about an hour of his time. He explained all about the constant drainage of the battery by the "mini-brains" of the many clever electronic units (such as the parking brake) even when the car is parked. And he added that the car's electrics are designed such that once the battery has been drained down by the various mini-brains to 12.5 volts (as far as my aged brain remembers), the system starts shutting down said electronic units in order to save the battery. Seems crazy, since a new battery is a sight cheaper than having a garage supply and fit a new parking brake (which they said was required). (And my old Saab happily cranked and fired right down as far as 7.5 volts on the battery, but it had little in the way of electronic gizmos). Anyway, the service manager helpfully suggested I buy a CTEK battery conditioner (which, he said, they give away with every new Aston Martin - 'cos most are left in the garage for many months over the winter in the UK). So I did, off Amazon. I think it's an MXS 5.0 model. (Plus, of course, I had also to buy a new battery).

The CTEK unit has 3 leads: 2 of these are permanently attached to the unit - one being a mains lead and the other, a thinner cable, being the charging lead; the third lead is separate and is a flying lead for connection to the battery. In operation the unit charging lead is plugged into the battery flying lead, and the unit is plugged into the mains. To set up the CTEK system in the car, I permanently connected the separate flying lead to the car battery terminals, and routed the lead so that it pokes out from the side panel inside the boot by the battery and lies permanently on the carpet on the floor of the boot. And I fitted a 13-amp mains socket to the inside of my pull-down garage door. Every time I park the car inside the garage I connect the charging lead that's attached to the CTEK to the flying lead that sits in the boot (from the battery), and connect the CTEK mains lead to the mains plug on the inside of the garage door. Then I carefully drape the charging lead from the CTEK unit over the lip of the boot such that the CTEK hangs down a little below the rear bumper, then close the boot lid so trapping said lead under the boot lid seal. Finally I check that there are at least a couple of appropriate charging lights shining on the CTEK unit (as a check that everything's connected up OK), and close the garage door. When I want to drive the car out of the garage, I obviously just reverse the procedure. And I have been doing this since the summer of 2012, and so far the battery has remained fully OK, and so have all the little electronic brains in the car, and also the boot lid seal.

My further point is, for anyone worrying whether it is safe to leave a CTEK conditioner unit connected for long periods, that whereas one would never have left an old-fashioned (i.e. 1970's style) Halfords-type battery trickle charger hooked up to the car battery for a long time, since it would have seriously overheated, clearly the CTEK is different and doesn't. As I sometimes say to friends who have brand new EVs, I have had a plug-in Jaguar for years now.

[mrmike]

I had all these probs with my 2005 Diesel after about a year, Bought a new battery and Soldered the wires onto the all connectors, cleaned the battery terminals (New Battery) and cleaned the now soldered connector to the bodywork and the body work itself. No Probs at all after 3 years. I did measure the current drawn from the battery when everything is off but I don't remember what it was. I rember thinking though that after a couple of weeks of non use there could be a problem. I never leave the car for more than a week without driving at least 30Kms. I remember my 200Kompressor took about 100mA for the first half hour after everything was off and then about 50mA thereafter. A quick calc with a NEW 100AH battery means half discharged after  3 to 4 weeks.

M