Harry its well documented here that your MY is prone to have ignition switch problems. I hate to type it but, do an advanced search on "ignition switch" in the S Type subdirectory.

 

Chances are it's the ignition flap / switch not quite working right.

 

It's very easy to see if that's where the fault lies.

When you remove the ignition key from the lock, if it's working correctly the handbrake light on the dash will illuminate.


If it doesn't, it's faulty.

 

Maybe. In terms of a flat battery I'm doubtful - but worth checking in case that's true even for a failure like this.

 

Hello Grant,

Interesting read, glad to hear you have apparently sorted this one out. A couple of quick thoughts for anybody else facing a similar issue:

1) To read the amperage draw at the battery to make sure the car goes into sleep mode, I liked your jumper cable set-up so you could close the trunk. However, you could also mechanically rig the "trunk open" switch to the closed position (on the trunk lid, next to the latch) and then leave the trunk open. This would allow full access to the battery and any electrical components in that area. The only difference is you wouldn't be testing the trunk open switch, so you'd need to test that separately.

2) To test the key shutter switch, watch what happens when you remove the key. When the key is removed, the steering wheel retracts forward and the driver's seat drives full aft (if not already there) to give you extra room to get out of the seat. If the wheel and seat don't move, that would indicate the key shutter switch still thinks the key is present.

 

All good for a long time. Usage pattern unchanged.

Battery finally did die, they do that, so a new N88 sits in the boot.

The flap thing has gotten hissy sometimes, and we are both aware of its female attitude, and simply refit the key and remove again, always "clicks", so we know all is well.

The "new to me" other S Type is all sweet. Did my little test on it 7 days ago when we got home with it, and the same time frame of sleep mode as the Silver beast. Based on that info I think sleep is a slow thing for these cars, and the battery really has to be up to snuff to cope with the drain until sleep arrives.

Simply re-affirms the saying that is soooooo common on here, and not many take notice of, "these are juice hungry cars, and the battery integrity is critical".

 

Forgot, I do that now.

I dont leave the boot open at night, coz the cats get in the car and pee, and then when I shoot them, the pellets mess with the leather.

Got 5 this year, down a tad on last year.

 

Should this also happen with a 2003 S-type 4.2L?. Mine does not do this, however, as mentioned above, my parking brake light does come on when key is pulled out. Trying to find a possible battery drain issue.

 

Only if you have the feature, I think it was an option, and have enabled it. I have it but don't like it so don't have it on. So, none of those things happen.

 

Had battery checked at autozone all cells are good. Battery still losing charge 12.14v this morning. Relays in boot #2 #5 and #11 feel warm to touch. These are switched system power relays 1,2 and 4. Does anyone here know what those are for, and how to go about troubleshooting them? Thanks.

 

With battery fully charged, I disconnected the -ve terminal of battery. Upon removing I heard relays in the boot click, measured for drain and did not see any on meter. When connecting battery back up heard relays click again then appear to warm after some hours. Feeling which relays were clicking I believe the suspected #2 #5 and #11 "switched system relay" 1-2 and 4 were clicking and possibly closing or completing the circuit which may be leading to the drain of my battery when car is off. Are these possibly faulty relays? Is this normal? Checked all fuses, no draw on any of the cars fuses. Battery charged seemed to hold charged when completely disconnected from terminals, also was checked at auto store and confirmed good. Would anyone know what steps I should take at this point? Thank You much.

 

.....Swapped like relays that were cool to touch with the ones that were warm. After about an hour, the swapped relays seem to be getting warm as well. So I'm guessing the relays are good, and the problem may be further back in the electrical chain???

 

Found this: The script says "4 relays are energized when the ignition is on by the RECM or the GECM and remain energized till SCP messages remain on the network".
SCP = Standard Corporate Protocol Network

SCP NOTE: The switched system power relays are activated by the GECM or the RECM
whenever messages are present on the SCP network. After the ignition is switched off,
the relays remain activated until all SCP messages are removed.

More Questions:

How would one know if they have SCP messages?
How would you go about removing them?
Could I also have a faulty REMC?

 

You have to connect meter on current scale then wait 30-45mins to see if it drops to under 50mA. You want to have a continuous connection as you change meter scale because every time you disconnect power that 30-45 mins starts again from 0.

Maybe get an auto electrician to do it.

 

Bumping this thread again as I am back trying to locate my battery drain. In the meantime, I've bought a quick connect on the battery which I disconnect every time I park for more than an hour.

I am curious to see if others have experienced this. When I reconnect the battery the AM radio goes on, however no lights on the radio. Can anyone try this out? Disconnect your battery, I had the radio turned off before disconnecting the radio and everything seems to be shut down properly as all lights even the cigarette lighter where I plug my phone adapter LED light is off. Then reconnect and does your AM radio go on (without any LED display going on). I've been told that it may be the amp which is draining the system, but I've replaced that before and even with the amp unplugged, it still drained the car. What is causing the radio to go on if you reconnect the electricity? Is the radio bad? Relay bad? Any ideas?

 

Hello Harry,

Both my S Types are as sweet as ever after the sorting of the Silver beast.

Now bear in mind that US of A cars and Australian cars are different, and not just the driving position.

Just did the battery OFF and back ON as you asked on the Silver car, and the radio stayed OFF, as expected.

The lighter socket on BOTH mine are DEAD when the ign switch is in the OFF position, and that is how most of Jags have been. It comes "alive" when position 1 is selected.

Based on that, I reckon you got an ignition switch electrical section that is simply not switching OFF, and the X200 cars are apparently known for this event, and age is now creeping up on these cars.

I found out at work last week that the OZ Ford Territory have a similar switch set up as the X200, and they have SERIOUS issues with that switch not switching off, sound familiar??. The guys spray them with Contact Electrical Cleaner, and a dose of Silicone Spray, and most come back to life.

 

I disconnected the battery today while taking care of a bad coil. I forgot to shut off the radio, as you had requested, so my results were slightly different. When I reconnected the battery, the radio started playing on the AM band, which I never use. The LED lights on the radio display were on, too, but that may have been because I did not shut off the radio when I had last shut off the engine before disconnecting the battery.

All of my radio presets and seat memory settings were still there. The only thing I had to do was switch the radio to the FM band. The climate control panel was off, too. I had to switch that back on, too.