Battery drain - dead after 3 days
 

Hi! I have a Jaguar S-Type 2001 with a drain on the battery. We used the voltmeter and after about 20 to 45 minutes there's still a 140 mA drain on the system. After many tests, we removed the F31 fuse in the rear (trunk) and it goes back to normal! But then the car doesn't start anymore and it's not possible to find what other system in the car could be draining the battery. So does anyone else have an idea on what I could try to solve this problem?

Any help will be very appreciated!:)

If there are any non-standard electrical items, suspect them first. I think the car doesn't go to sleep for 20-30mins so make sure you test after (say) 35mins.

Hi! The only 2 things I can think of would be the alarm and the remote starter. If I remember correctly the S-Type, should at sleep, read around 20mA. But, right now, after about 45 minutes we read around 140mA. Is this normal? Or does it have to go even lower with the alarm active?
Thanks again for the help!

Those items would be where to start. 20mA sounds VERY optimistic, I'd guess more like 40. But not 140.

so what about the battery do i have to get it from the deal ship or i can get the battery from every autozone cuz i saw some holses going out from the battery today

What is a "holses"?

If by "some holses" you mean a single hose, many batteries have a provision for attaching the acid+water drain tube. Many but not all aftermarket battery support this feature (the drain port may come in a separate bag). If you feel don't feel comfortable in verfying this, the dealer will be your best bet.

My local alarm/glass place refuses to add a remote starter to any Jag stating the possibility of 'electrical conflicts'.

An interior, boot, door light staying on? That has drained many a battery.

As for the little hose, it is only for some batteries. Mine appeared connected, but when I got a new one one it was actually just pushed into a small recess in the sealed battery to stop it flopping about. My Volvo had the same and I think any car with a battery in the boot has to have such a pipe. It just goes outside the car. Batteries in the engine compartment get more ventilation, so don't need one.

Delta 66's idea of a lamp still on somewhere needs looking into; at 140mA and 12volt there are abt. 1.7watts here. So it would be a tell-tale prob. somewhere. Also check if there is any wiring in a pool of water/wet through anywhere. You are right, 140mA IS a bit much for a continuous drain, I wouldn't want more than about 5mA or so.
Leedsman.

Jaguar say that your quiescent current should be no more than 30mA (without sat nav).

I measured mine recently due to problems with the battery after 5 days and I measured it at 50mA.

And that is with very good reason. These cars are a nightmare for aftermarket installers. Besides, you'd have to leave a key hanging in the ignition cylinder for it to start.

The car not only checks for the transponder BUT the enabling for the transponder check is when the key is inserted. You could of course wire the car up with a relay to simulate key in, then hide the key pretty close to the ign cylinder and see if that will do it, but its a mess, and its easy to damage something if you don't know what you're doing.

George

I had the same problem on my 2000 S-type v6, intermittent battery drain, so I had a battery booster pack with me in the trunk at all times so I could start her up in the morning!
Eventually I got round to hooking up a digital multimeter between the battery and the ground cable, then measured the drop in amps after pulling each fuse and relay one by one.
There were so many circuits on that should have been off with the key removed, even the radio, basically it looked like the car did not believe that the key had been removed from the ignition. Upon closer inspection of the ignition switch, it was apparent that there was no "click" sound when the key was turned from position 1 to position 2, position 3 which starts the engine works fine.
I decided that this was not an electrical problem after all, but a mechanical switch problem due to the age of the vehicle. With the help of the electrical diagrams from JTIS CD, I discovered that there were 2 wires bringing power into the circuit. I cut each of them in turn to measure the drop in amps. Sure enough, the power consumption with key out fell dramatically back into specs. Now with the installation of a simple dipswitch I can simulate position 2 of the key.
My startup procedure is 1: key in. 2: dipswitch on. 3: key to position 3 , which starts engine. Problem solved! no more battery drain.

Dijmand

LOL that's one way to go about repairing a bad ignition switch...

You can always call it your "security" system, as someone needs to know the secret combination to start your car!

Take care,

George

Yes all I need now is to figure out a way to have the switch also send a signal to play a wav or mp3 audio of a sexy lady saying "standby for ignition" !

LOL We could do that for you.... All it would need is a digital voice recorder, with a relay to trigger the "play" button.

Take care,

George

Well done Dijmand, an example of logical fault-finding technique. Also illustrates the fact that most faults are pretty simple when they are eventually discovered. And the mechanical factor -- that switch had probably just worn. Oh, and a cheap fix, no expensive part from the dealer.
Leedsman.

Just do two things and ur problem will be solve..when ever u park ur car for a long time i mean for over a night.. Just off ur climate control.. I mean off the main ac switch and audio switch.. U will see ur problem will be solve ...

What makes you think that will make any difference?

Yea, really... The faulty ignition is the problem.... Not letting the car go to "sleep"... so even turning everything off...the modules would still have power and kill the battery.... Uggggg......