Hi all,

Week two with the new F type, I initially discovered I have the dreaded fuel fill issue, well at least at certain gas stations it just keeps clicking off so you have to barely dribble in the gas. Next fill up, different station and it's fine. OK, schedule service visit for repair...

Fill up, wash car, cover and park on Sunday since it's raining all week and this is just my fun weekend car. Go out today (Saturday, 6 days later) uncover and she is dead as a door nail, no life what so ever. Resort to emergency key entry and attempt to jump start with my portable power pack, not enough juice. Get another car and do the traditional jumper cables, not enough juice. Sit for 5 minutes at 3000 rpm and finally she fires up. All is forgotten, top down and a drive along the beach to recharge the battery. After returning home she starts right up, no low battery warning.

During the call to service department, the guy on the phone tried to tell me all the computers really drain the battery, probably should get a battery tender if I'm going to leave sitting for a week. OK I know service guys on the phone are not the end all, but seriously?! This cannot be the real deal there has to be some kind of drain going on. I am double locking the car, my smartkey is over 100 yards and 2 flights of stairs away. I'm pretty sure I'm turning everything off correctly, am I missing some secret shutdown ritual?

I live in a condo, shared underground parking, no power outlets so a battery tender is not an option. What kind of run down time do you guys experience?

 

Mine can sit for weeks and no problem with battery... a couple of years ago when I picked it up (fresh from factory) the master mechanic told me they had some battery problems with cars that sat on the lot for a few months and the batteries would not hold a charge for long after they had sold them. I'm not sure if this could be a cause for the problem that you are having? I don't even lock it sometimes for a few days and no problems.

On a different issue, I needed to change out the key fob batteries after about 18 months.

I only use a tender over the winter and as I connect it up once in Nov. and take it off in Apr., I just use the under hood charge location, as per the master mechanics advise.... works great.
Lawrence

 

There are several old threads about this; I was one of those who tried to find some answers from JUSA. No joy. It seems clear that the Jaguar charging system never fully charges the battery unless you do a lot of highway driving. As stated above, you also have to consider the condition of the battery when the car was delivered.
While many have no problems, there are still plenty of people who have had battery problems. If the battery is not fully charged, sitting for a week could easily result in a dead battery on this car. Each time the battery gets that low, its capacity is significantly reduced, forever.
Also some have seen the low battery because their charging module needed to be reset by lifting the cable off the battery for a few seconds and reconnecting it.
First thing you need to do is get the battery fully charged and see how it behaves. Try the reset if your hazard triangle light is staying on more than a few minutes after you lock the car. Your car is new so if those things don't work, take it to a dealer for service and maybe a new battery.
Finally, since a tender is not an option for you, maybe a solar charger will work. I keep one on my truck which is parked outside. A little solar charge does a nice job of keeping the battery topped up.
Larry

 

The car is brand-new. They probably tapped into the OBDII in order to prepare the car. On some cars that will confound the battery control module. Reset the battery control module by disconnecting the negative lead for 10 seconds. That will resolve the charging issues. Because of this procedure you will probably need to reprogram your auto up windows.

 

I have a 2000 Jaguar XK8 and if it sat for a week the battery would be to low to start the car. I sent my instrument gauge cluster off to this place and they did a repair that I needed done and also they do some repair that STOPS the dead battery issues. At the time I had it done it was only $100.00. 98 99 00 JAGUAR XK8 XJ8 XJR Instrument Cluster REBUILD REPAIR | eBay

 

Thank you all for the replies! I did search and find all the old threads on the same issue, I'm going to try the battery reset trick today and see how this week goes.

 

Thanks to Unhingd! Did the battery trick on Sunday, car started right up this morning (Wednesday) no annoying "low battery" warning or anything. Jolly good! No annoying trip to the dealer for the moment which is always a good thing...