One of those days need help



I have been chasing a P170 bank 1 code for a while and as I have been replacing gas cap, oxygen sensors etc. part of the process has been to clear the code and disconnect the battery. So today when disconnecting and reconnecting the battery I believe I touched the wrench on something because the car went dark. Tried disconnecting and reconnecting the battery to no avail. Just drove the car home from work and tested the battery and all is good

If I did blow something, what do you guys recommend. Do we have a fusible link? If so, where is it located. I also checked the fuse box diagrams but nothing stood out. I would think we would have some type of block fuse to protect the overall system. Thanks

 

Not sure how the coupe is laid out, but on my early convertible, I think the big fuses and links are under the trunk floor, where many of us connected our battery maintainers.

Here’s a picture, from an early car…
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/f...2/#post1299286

 

If the car went "dark" how did you start it to get home?

 

happened after i got home

 

Have you looked under the trunk floor?



Torque:
M5 Fuses nuts 5 Nm
M6 nut 9 Nm
M8 Fuse nuts 13 Nm

 

DJS,
Thanks for the reply, i have looked but not sure there would be anything to see. There are no obvious signs such as coating degradation or discolored metal. the strange thing is only the negative was disconnected and as you are aware the ground cable is pretty tight allowing a slight clearance over the battery. When the ground cable was loosened and slid over towards the passenger side i felt a low voltage shock (hand prickle). Thats when the car went dark. Like an idiot I did not set the socket wrench down and i believe the car became the ground when moving the cable. I did order all the fuses shown in the diagram you provided so i will start by replacing those.

on another note, i have a jump box that with the battery reinstalled and the jump box hooked up in the engine compartment the car lights up, door locking, consol power, closing trunk etc work fine

 

DJS,
This is my first Jaguar but in many of the other cars i have had the engine bay will usually contain a block type fuze that can be visually inspected with damage clearly visible due to the single copper connection within the fuse being separated. I was hoping we had something similar. Thanks again

 

In the picture shown, those are big fuses between the bolts and the bus bar. I’ll see if I can dig up the schematic.

In that drawing, it looks faintly like the underside of the cover may have a legend showing the size of the various fuses.

 

DJS,
The fuses are marked not by equipment operated but by power. One fuse is 400 at one end of the bar and the other at the opposite end is a 250. I imagine one of them has got to be overcurrent protection. The fuses should arrive next week so i will update the post for others that may find themselves in this situation. Thanks again

 

If you have a voltmeter, should be pretty easy to see which (if any) isn’t conducting. But sounds like you have a plan.

 

Yes before replacing anything just use a meter to check the fuses. Quick and cheap.
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All,

Wanted to thank everyone that reached out. After some inspiring words quote “If you have a voltmeter, should be pretty easy to see which (if any) isn’t conducting”, and "before replacing anything just use a meter to check the fuses. Quick and cheap".

Significant research was conducted and with some added bravery, a volt meter was purchased. I have always enjoyed working on cars with the exception of electrical. One has to admit that a high-end digital Fluke multimeter can be very intimidating. Anyway, I did learn how to use the contraption and ran continuity checks on everything in the trunk to no avail.

Would you believe that by the ground cable / wrench touching the car completely dissipated the battery? When I first conducted a volt check on the battery it read 24v but after doing some homework it was discovered that a battery can show a false reading that some refer to “static voltage”. A second and third test was conducted showing 6v and lastly 4v.

Keep in mind this is an Anti-Gravity battery less than a year old so the battery being dead wasn’t considered. I had also just drove the car home from work (30 min interstate).

After a 24-hour trickle charger session everything is good to go.

The positive in all of this: I learned how to run some electrical checks, have a spare set of fuses to add to the jag parts bin, and reenforced perception of the importance of the forum.

For anyone with the same issue or experience don’t assume the battery is good.

Thanks

 

Glad you sorted it out. A Fluke is certainly overkill, but they’re great meters. Like everything, knowing how to use it (and its limitations) is important. I used Flukes for 35 years at work, but wasn’t willing to pay for one at home.

 

When anyone comes here asking for help the first piece of advice is always - make sure the battery is fully charged before you start diagnosing. You'd be surprised at how many people say "it's a new battery so it can't be that", overlooking the fact that a battery off the shelf doesn't usually have a full charge by the time it's sold.

 

If you ever need help using your new meter hit me up. I work in the test equipment world and can fill anything you may be questioning.

 

If you have an AntiGravity battery you should have tried to use the remote push button to use the reserve battery capacity, to see if that would have started your car? It's built into the battery, like a built in jump start.Then the rest of us that have an AntiGravity battery would know that it works when needed.
You may have tripped something in the batteries built in BMS system when you shorted it?
Glad you got it sorted out though.
I hope you are using the proper LithiumIon charger for your battery and not any of the other usual chargers? https://antigravitybatteries.com/pro...tery/chargers/

 

DJS,

I agree with a slight overkill but then again if you can’t trust test equipment being used that’s a problem. The meter is only for the Jag as a means to keep the car in top condition.

I also have a terrible habit/thought process of going all in with purchases for example when a leaf blower was needed for my half an acre yard a backpack STHIL blower was acquired providing the ability to almost stand at one corner of the yard and clear the leaves off the property.

 

WayneB,

I should have tried the emergency stop but at that point the battery wasn’t even a thought especially since the car had just been driven home. The assumption was a fuse must have been blown and only after continuity checked out on all the inline fuses in the trunk did the battery come into question.

The first test on the Anti-gravity battery provided a reading of 24v. It was only after testing the fuses that a second test on the battery was conducted showing 6v. At that point I was confused at what had happened, so I installed the OE battery, and the car came to life.

Knowing it was the battery I hooked up the Anti-gravity to the charger. The charger showed one bar and that’s when I knew the battery had dissipated. I could have put the battery back in the car and used the emergency start but then you have to drive the car a min of 30 minutes.

I do a have a lithium charger that is safe for the battery (Nico brand). Both the charger and battery in my opinion are a great investment for a Jaguar owner as it has saved me several times from having to jump the car due to fault code readings and forgetting to disconnect the battery, Also the weight of the OEM is ridicules.

 

Thanks for the offer and definitely will.