So I'm having a fight with my X-type's battery light.

WHAT I'VE DONE: I've cleaned the terminals really well, and the light went a way for almost a week. Now it's back on daily.

WHAT I THINK MAY BE THE CAUSE: The negative terminal was fairly corroded so I was thinking the wire could be corroded underneath the plastic. I was toying with the idea about only replacing that, but I must not rule out the worst case scenario of it being my alternator.

WHICH ALTERNATOR: If the diagnostics come back that it is indeed the alternator, I'm stuck between deciding on an aftermarket alternator with a price tag of around $200-$300 bucks or biting the bullet and shelling out $600-$700 for the Jaguar part. I've heard that some people still had problems with the light coming on after replacing the alternator with an aftermarket one.

Any suggestions on which one I should choose?

 

Have you considered that it just might be the battery? Our cars are very sensitive when it comes to that? If you do a search on here about that there is a ton of info. I'm certainly not one of the mechanically savy members on here, but maybe start there as it's simple and inexpensive.

 

how sure are you that its the alternator? and what is happening?

big known issue is bad wires positive and negative. had a battery light issue and it turned out to be the positive wire from the battery to the main fuse box. got a generic wire and bent the end to fit..cost $12 or so. jag wanted 90.
if you are changing all the wires i would raise the gauge a little.

 

I've had the battery tested at Auto Zone, and they stated it was fine.

 

I'm not very sure it is the alternator. Thing is, a tech from Auto Zone (not that I trust them too much) did a test and said the alternator was bad. I'm taking it to have diagnostics on it done tomorrow morning at a fairly reputable auto shop whose opinion I would trust more. I'm not much for technical stuff when it comes to vehicles, but it would surprise me if they say it is the alternator since my 03 xtype only has 67K miles.

As far as what it's doing: The light is coming on intermittently. I'll drive the car on a 50 mile trip sometimes with A/C, radio, cigarette lighter navigation, and everything on and the battery light surprisingly stays off. But then sometimes I'll hop in just to take it to the gas station and it'll come on less than 2 minutes after cranking. I can't seem to find any similarities to when it's coming on or staying off (such as RPM, electrical load, etc.)

The tech at the auto shop that is checking it out tomorrow is supposed to specialize in European cars. I'll make sure and mention that he makes certain it's not the wire harnesses.

 

sounds like wiring. if you said the battery wasnt charging properly and it had trouble starting it would sound more like a alternator issue.

 

Nope, never had any problems starting it. And the battery light came on for the first time on May 7th. So it's been over a week. Shouldn't it have already died if the alternator was going?

Weird thing is, it came on about 4 to 5 times last Friday and Saturday, but today it hasn't come on at all. And I drove it 3 times today.

What you said makes since. I'll definitely sound smarter when I'm talking with the tech tomorrow. Thanks for the advice. Hopefully this turns out to be something easier on the wallet.

 

do your battery posts get hot after its running for a while.

 

I'm not certain if they get hot or not. Somewhere in this forum I read about pouring water on them after it's been running a while to see if it sizzles. It's at the shop now. After they finish the diagnostics, I'm bringing it home and try it out then. Do you pour the water on just the terminals?

 

Actually, I just got off the phone with the tech. They said it was the alternator.

WHAT THEY TOLD ME ON THE PHONE: According to them the alternator is (at times) failing to charge the battery (but not consistently), and that's why the battery light is popping on and off sporadically.

WHAT THE SAME GUY TOLD MY WIFE: He told my wife there may be a short in the wire going to the battery light as to why it's coming on and going off.

Seems to me they don't know wtf it is and are guessing it's probably the alternator.

They said they could put an aftermarket alternator (OE, Not sure what that means yet) for $842 since they have to take the air compressor off to get to it and have to recharge the A/C when they finish.

I'm still a little weirded out by that though. Every alternator I've ever had to go out on me consistently got worse, not sometimes worked and sometimes didn't. (And I don't believe the suggestion there is a short in the battery light.)

I'm going to test the water thing later this afternoon. I'm still not convinced that the 67K alternator is shot.

 

Meaning the alternator is going bad but not showing up constantly b/c the battery light is faulty.

 

If you do declare the alternator bad, do yourself a favor and find an old-school copper-n-iron electric shop to rebuild it. (Wish I still had my "core" surrendered to AutoZone for alternator that keeps battery light lit permanently )

 

I've heard of some people having the light come on even after replacing the alternator with an aftermarket one due the the aftermarket alternator sending improper codes or something. Is that what you're talking about? Keeping the same alternator so there are no erroneous error codes being sent?

 

Ive said this many times here, ive seen lots of idiots put in alternators and wonder why it didnt fix the problem..........cause its the cables its a known big issue on xtype. Dont worry about putting water on the terminals touch em. Or just replace them, the negative is easy after you pull the battery and and the pos is alot more work since you need to remove the airfilter box and the cable run from the bat, to the alternator to the starter. A tow or no start car is alot more $$$ or hassle than the price of a new set of properly fit cables

 

fyi, alternators don't send "codes" of any kind, not even on a Jaguar.

 

Thanks! I didn't know that. I may just get smart hanging around this forum.

 

The negative post does not. The positive one does.

I drove it around this afternoon for about 30 minutes, parked it, and popped the hood. I felt the negative wire, and it was cool. The positive wire, however, was hot to the touch. I went and grabbed a cup of cold water and poured it over the positive terminal. It sizzled. I poured water over it 3 times, and it sizzled every time.

This means the positive wire is bad right?

 

Yup, it's a bit of work but not all that hard to replace the wire. Just take out the battery and the airbox and you can see where the terminal runs, take it off, go to a Auto store and buy one that is maybe 1 guage bigger and the same length and replace it. Might cost 20.00 all in plus an hour of your time.

 

Will any battery cable pos/neg work? I'm kind of ignorant in that I don't know if it has special connections at specific intervals to connect to the alternator and starter.

I've got a mechanic (not the shop that said it was the alternator) that I know that'll put it on for me real cheap.

I can't even find the jaguar cables online!

 

make sure its the ain power cable from alternator to battery, or main power from battery to alternator.
any cable will work that is the right length and that will bolt on your battery...look at the shape of the terminals and go from there.