Well I hate to even ask but I know you guys are the best help to be found. You folks have saved me so much money with your answers!
Without myself doing the repairs I would have had to sell her long ago and at a great loss. I thank you all! And with that here we go.....

I had this instrument gauge cluster in the car for 3 days with my brand new 5 year battery that was recommended for the car. On the 4th day the battery was dead.

Car would not start. The door glass would not even go down so that I could open the door.
That was how dead the new battery was. I think that it had read 7.8 volts at the time.
I did a slow charge on it over that weekend and the car was not the same.
The trunk lights did not come on and the doors did not lock when shifted out of park.

It was like this for a week.I jumped it daily when I needed the car.
If I manually pushed the door lock in while driving the passenger side did nothing when it use to copy.
The radio does not shut off with the car off or if it does shut off it will come back on and drain the battery.

The gauge cluster lights come on when the car is started and stay on while running.

Without park lights or head lights on the gauge cluster lights stay on-nice and bright.I had 3 bulbs replaced so I do not know if it is brighter then it should be?
But its bright and they are on when they I thought use to be off.

The clock on the GPS use to be dim with the head lights off and now it is REAL bright with head lights off. I like that but it never did this before and something is killing the battery now almost daily.
The radio will stay on with car shut off and key removed.

I had charged the battery again and was going to do a reset by touching the battery terminals together as you folks suggest quite a bit.
I had unhooked the ground cable but did not see that it was still touching the - post.When I unhooked the + terminal I again touched the + post back with the + cable just by mistake while leaning over"bad back" and it made a ark and the trunk lights came back on.

They had not been coming on when I open the trunk.
So I just put the battery terminals back on the battery and started the car to see what it did.
Both doors now locked when shifted out of park and the radio shut off when the car was turned off so I thought all was ok.
That for what ever reason the battery had not made a good connection the first time??
I drove the car daily for the next 3 days
Each day I drove it for a little over one hour without shutting it off until I got back home."Picking up my daughter from high school".
The 4th day it sat for all that day. Did not need the car that day.

The 5th day I went to start the car and the battery was dead only after sitting for one day.
This was yesterday when I had walked out to start it and the battery was drained to 5.8 volts .
I jumped the battery because I needed the car.
Car still did the bright lights on gps and cluster lights stayed on.

I had left the radio on when I shut the car off yesterday and it had shut off with the car.
That evening my son comes over asking me why the car radio was on?
I go out and sure enough it was on
I did not turn the radio off when I shut the car off just to see if it would turn off with car off and key out and it did.

So at some time it had come back on without me knowing.How soon after I went in the house I do not know.
With car running I had put a volt meter on the battery and I think that it had read 13.7. So it is recharging while running.
Any ideas?

 

I've started a new thread - I know you had a thread going but it was 'Resolved' by getting the instrument cluster fixed and you'll get more help starting again.

Please put some line breaks in your posts - it makes them so much easier to follow.

I know we always say do a hard reset - I suspect the instrument cluster is the culprit but first
Disconnect and charge the battery. Leave it disconnected while charging - this will reset the modules.
You only need to pull the earth lead off.
When you reconnect it be sure to do it cleanly, don't 'dab' at it.
If that doesn't fix it you will probably need to contact the guys who repaired your cluster.

 

You're certainly going though the mill with this.

Sounds like the Instrument Pack repair has been a success and the battery discharge is a new issue?

From your findings so far, this looks to be down to the radio. To verify this, pull the radio fuses #9 and #12 in the RH Fascia Fuse Box.



If this prevents the battery discharge, then the issue is only in the radio feed circuit and you can proceed to determine where and why.

Graham

 

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Thank you both. Grammar was not my favorite subject as noted in my first post.

Just a quick update to what had been going on. I first had CAN issues with the car so the instrument gauge cluster was sent out for repairs. I had thought that all was fixed and then the battery drainage issue started. Then the radio coming back on with car off . When car is started and running the gauge cluster lights come on while headlights are still off and GPS brighter then normal.. Not sure if the green mileage is brighter then normal also? It may be.

So as far as just a radio issue what about my GPS being brighter then normal when the car lights are completely off? And also the instrument gauge cluster lights are on when the lights to the car are still turned off? I do not remember them coming on unless I turned on the park lights/running lights or headlights.

Best way to test battery drainage first I unhook the ground for a volt reading direct from the battery. Then hook ground cable back up and see what readings I get? Take note as to how fast the volts start dropping? Remove the fuses suggest and see if this stops the drainage?

Car had never drained the battery after only sitting 48 hours.

 

Instrument Pack illumination is always ON.

Didn't realise this until I had all 4 bulbs go last Winter and could hardly see the instruments in daylight.

Graham

 

There's nothing at all wrong with your grammar that I can see - and now your posts are easy to follow!
I still have doubts about the cluster.
To measure battery drain put your meter on Current range (amps)
You may need to move the red meter lead to a different socket on the meter to get amps - if so for Gawd's sake put it back in the normal socket as soon as you're done.

Simply disconnect the battery ground lead and connect the meter between the lead and the -ve battery post so all the current has to go through your meter.

Do this with the ignition off and the car double locked (two presses on the lock button).
Please post the reading.

 

Double lock on the key remote? I pushed it twice but had never done that before? Does it do something different then just locking it once?


When I first hooked the meter up it was all over the place. It settled down at 1.34.Then about every 15-20 it would fluctuate up and down 1.29-1.34 and then go up one to 1.35. And it kept doing this.

I have the trunk open so the trunk interior lights are on while doing this test.
On the trunk/deck lid I pushed in what I thought was the trunk switch to make the interior trunk lighting go out? But when I put it in nothing happens. Also the meter does not react when this deck lid switch is pushed in?

Just came in from checking the readings and it is now 1.06.
And the interior trunk lights are now off?

 

Now about 15 minutes after last reading I have .99.
Jumps down as low as .98 and back up to 1.01. Level out at .99. Keeps jumping.

 

You should get a 'squawk' on the second push.
Are you absolutely sure you're measuring amps?
If any doubt check the current through a bulb - watts = volts x amps so a 12 watt12 v bulb across the battery should show 1 amp.
If you're draining 1 amp something is seriously wrong.
Time to start pulling fuses I'm afraid.
Just check the glove compartment light is going off.

 

I pushed in the trunk lock down so it thinks that the trunk/deck lid is closed.
It made it jump right down to .43 and stay steady.

Just came back in from checking it and it reads .25

I have a Actron CP7672 that I am using.
I have the black lead in COM.
Red lead in the (10ADC 10A MAX UNFUSED)
I have the dial on 10A.


Is this correct?

When I had pushed the key remote lock the second time it did not sound any different then the sound that it had made the first time I pushed it?

Boy to own and drive such a pretty car you sure got to learn its evil ways. Kinda cool once you conquer it

 

I never got a squawk? Just the same sounding beep each time that I pressed the red lock symbol on the key remote. Is something not happening that should be?

As far as checking the glove box light I have never even looked at it before. Never even noticed its light location before. I am guessing that when I find it I will find a connection in the harness to it that I will be able to undo and check for any voltage while the glove box is closed?

Ok just ran out to see what the meter is reading and now I have .01

This is with deck lid open and trunk lock depressed. So it thinks that the trunk is closed.


Wow! Did not know that the instrument gauge cluster lights stay on all the time. Had half the bulbs burnt out and replaced when the cluster CAN system was repaired. Now it is nice and bright.

 

Let me start all over. My car battery is about dead and I had the - terminal removed from it and had my jump boxed hooked up in place for power. When I was doing this test the first time the - battery terminal was touching the - post on the dying battery. So I was getting a reading for it as well. Sorry,duh huh.

So I started this all over. I made sure this time that the dead battery was not part of the system.

With my jump box I started the car and ran it for a minute and shut it off. Shut the car off and hit the key remote as you had said to do. In order to double lock the doors. I pressed it twice but it still only makes the one tone each time???

I went to my opened trunk and pressed the deck lid lock. So it thinks that the deck lid is shut. Other than whatever that push button switch is on the deck lid itself? I did not depress it in for this test.
As soon as I had depressed"locked" the trunk lock the trunk interior lights went out and the meter jumped down to .44

Just came back in and the meter reads 0.24 I will check it in another 15 or so minutes and see what it reads. I am guessing that the CAN is turning things off?

What should the meter read and how long should it take to read that?

 

Playing catch up here as I've been out all day whilst you and Steve have been very busy troubleshooting this discharge issue.

The second press deadlocks the vehicle. This provides an additional level of security. In the event a window is broken, the vehicle cannot be opened using the interior door handles when deadlocked.

Graham

 

Do we have this useful feature in the US?
I recall someone saying that US spec S Types did not.

 

Several features can be dealer activated/deactivated (e.g. passive arming) and regulations in some markets prohibit various options, notably for the alarm.

I've compared the US and UK Driver's Handbooks for the XK8. US Handbook makes no mention of deadlocking which suggests it may not be available in this market.

Graham

 

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So I must not have this deadlocking feature here in the US.
Thank you for your time spent checking manuals to figure that out for us all.

I rarely ever use the remote to lock the doors. Never have at home.

Guessing that I have a totally different amp reading with the car not locked by the remote? I will check. Curiosity.

I will get the meter setup again today and check both ways and post my finding. Doors locked by remote and not locked at all.

I went and bought a new meter yesterday so I now have the instructions with it to be sure that I am checking amps "as questioned to start with".

My brother inlaw is a VW tech and had said that after a period of time the car goes to sleep "CAN" and it should have no battery drain at all or very very little.

The people that rebuilt my gauge cluster said that "possible" I may still have a CAN issue that is not allowing the car to sleep?

If it was to be a CAN issue they had said that they will look at the gauge cluster again for free and do any needed repairs. Even refund any shipping cost that I am out. I think they offered a 5 year warranty on the work that they do.
So to offer such a warranty you definitely got to know what you are doing.
Very nice and polite people I might add. The tech had even called and explained what all he had done to the instrument gauge cluster. Over my head...

I did not want to send them the gauge cluster back and it not be the trouble.
I hate to assume anything. Much rather spend my day finding the root of the cause.

I am wondering if I have not been allowing the car to sleep by not locking the doors with the key remote? And by myself not turning the radio off "randomly" before I shut the car off. That the radio has been coming back on "as it did the other night" and that is what drained the battery so quickly? The radios amp would drain the battery rather quickly.

I did not have a clue that the radio could come back on after the car is off and key removed. That was why I was wondering if still a CAN issue?

Be back in a few hours with meter readings.

 

Your meter is correctly setup. Here's a pdf of shutdown current drains.
100 mA = 0.10 Amps

 

+1 This is all correct information. You should return the cluster to the rebuilder.

Some of the other weird behavior may be due to the low battery in combination with the CAN failure.

 

With my meter set to DC10A I have a reading of 2.84. Set to DCMA it was 28.4
So I guess that I need to start removing fuses to see what circuit is draining?
Any idea what fuse box to start with? Drivers side dash? Does not matter just check them all until I find a drop in the reading?

Should I check a fuse before I just remove the gauge cluster and send it off?
I would hate for me to have a short of some type causing CAN trouble that may happen again.

 

You should always remove the key AND set the alarm system when leaving the vehicle parked overnight. This procedure is what puts it into 'sleep' mode.

It sounds as if you have other issues contributing to the battery drain but this cannot be helping.

Graham