Has me baffled, don't know if anyone else has experienced this. The little light under the exterior door handle is not going off when the passenger door is closed just on that one side even when locked. I have tried everything I can think of to try and trick it into turning it off but no luck. Biggest problem is that it is draining the battery, hasn't actually let me down yet but I a, getting low battery warning in the mornings. Worried that I am goung away for a few days and the battery will be completely flat when I get back.

Any ideas for an easy solution?

 

I'd let the dealer fix it rather than finding a work-around. Short term, there may be a fuse you could pull.

 

Yes will take to dealer but won't have time before I head away was hoping maybe someone might have a genius short term solution. I did consider pulling a fuse but not sure what else it might take out, but I will probably need to do that in the end.

Had a quick look at the fuse box map. There doesn't appear to be one for the specific light which is not surprising. There is one marked left side door module which would probably do it. Don't know what that would mean for door locking though as I wouldn't want to leave the door unlocked. Might have to try that one and see.

 

is this a recent problem? is it always on, or just on for a long time? I know that there's some option as to how long the exterior lights remain on, maybe you just have it set for a very long time?

 

A Battery Tender (or equivalent) could probably keep up with the current drain.

 

I think it's recent, I have only just noticed it. Inthink it is always on while it is dark. I think the light delay option is just for the follow me home headlights and not the door lights which I think should go off when you close the handle.

 

yea, I was just throwing out some ideas....to see if it was just some configuration thing....

 

isn't that an LED? shouldn't put much of a drain there must be something else on the same circuit that's "on". Ghost of Lucas

 

Yes, the LED should not drain the battery, but the light being on is probably indicative of another fault in the system. Most likely, the car's keyless entry / start system is thinking that the car is not locked due to the door state being incorrectly reported (thus leaving the light on). When we first got our XF, I came out to the car a couple mornings to discover a deeply drained battery. There were no interior lights on, so I thought the battery was just on it's last legs. I brought it back to the dealer since it was a certified used model, and the battery was one of the things they were supposed to have checked. The service manager told me it was a new battery, then started asking questions about the car's lock status and key fob proximity to my garage. Turns out, when you do not lock these cars, and you leave the key fob reasonably close by, the keyless system stays in hyper vigilant mode, draining the battery. Once we figured that out, we got in the habit of locking the car all the time, and haven't had any trouble since.

So with that, I would recommend that if you can't get to the dealer, you should try to get a battery tender. Just removing the door fuse may not fix the fault in the keyless system, and the battery may still drain significantly.

 

Or you could just disconnect the battery.

 

Yes. There's always that option as well.

A battery tender is not a bad idea for this type of car anyway, as they have a tendency to sit around for a while in inclement weather. I know many here treat their F-types as weekend / fair weather only cars. Even mine which strives to be a daily driver spends some extended time in the garage during the New England winters. When it does, I hook it up to a tender.

 

Agreed. AGM batteries particularly need to be kept properly charged.

 

Lead acid batteries also last a lot longer if kept "topped-up." Keeping a battery "maintainer" connected, like the Battery Tender, is a good preventive maintenance practice, even if it isn't required for a vehicle not driven for a month or two.

 

Foosh, is your battery a standard flooded lead-acid battery or an AGM lead-acid.

 

AGM

 

Hi Foosh, where did you get your AGM maintainer. I need to do this as it sits a while when on the road, and don't want the battery to get damaged over time? Please advise what you use. Thanks

 

I use a "Battery Tender Plus" available at most auto parts stores for about $50. They are also available all over the internet.

 

I can vouch for that model as well. I have the same one, it works well. I have used it on several different vehicles.

Apparently I misplaced my hardwire mounting kit though.

 

I have the Battery Tender Jr. and it's been used for winter storage the past two winters with no issues.

 

Hi AnD3rew or anyone else involved in this thread.

Did you ever get a response from anyone offering a solution to this problem. I have had exactly the same issue since 2017 without realising it and my F-Type is now without warranty. I have tried to follow the thread but it looks as though its gone a bit off subject and is now discussing battery chargers. I would appreciate it if you could send me a response, especially if the dealers of auto electrician managed to cure it. I am about to invest in a door harness and exterior handle from a breakers yard to see if that solves it, but I am a little worried the problem might be more central to the cars control or security system.

Thanks.