Hello,

I have a 2002 Jaguar X-Type 3.0 Liter V6 with Manual Transmission and 150,000+ miles. The car has been pretty dependable, but on 3/8/2018 after I arrived at work, the car battery drained very low over a 10 hour period.

When I got the car battery charged and got the car started, the alternator seemed to work with no problem. But then it died over night again. Since then I have replaced the battery, checked the alternator at a local auto parts store for creating proper current and all seems to be just fine. I am afraid that there may be some other electrical problem. It seems that there is some constant drain because the new battery has been fully depleted over night after barely driving it anywhere.

Does anyone have any specific suggestions on how I should try to fix this? I don't have, or know now to use, a volt meter. I am somewhat knowledgeable about car maintenance, but mostly the major common stuff. Any help of what I may encounter would be nice.

 

You're going to need to be quite good with a meter or find someone who is.

Drains can be hard to find even for those who are good with a meter.

A big drain is normally MUCH easier to find. (E.g. you may find a relay is warm to the touch when it should be cold.)

 

Bruce, it sounds like you have a fairly significant problem. I can probably step you through what you will need to do.

What you will first want to do is spend like $20 or so on a cheap volt meter. Once you get the volt meter, disconnect the battery from the car and charge it up to 100%. Now, only connect the positive battery cable.

At this point, you will need the multimeter. You will see on the front where there will be 3 or 4 holes that you can plug in the leads that come with it. You want to put the black lead into the "COM" port/hole and the read lead into the "A" port (your multimeter may have a "mA" port, you don't want this one). You will then set the dial on the multimeter to "A". With it disconnected, you should see the multimeter reading 0.00. Now, connect the red lead to the battery wire (can normally tighten the point of the lead into the battery lead clamp itself) and rest this on say some cardboard or something (anything that is not conductive so the battery cable does not touch the battery terminal/post). Take the black lead and tape it to the negative battery post/terminal. Odds are, you will see the multimeter jump up to some reading. The actual value is not important, just the number is. It is best if you write it down so you don't have to mention it (on the cardboard next to the red lead is always a good spot).

Now, you are going to access both fuse boxes of the car (one at a time) and start pulling the relays, one at a time, to see which one causes the multimeter to change its indication (ie, drop from the value you wrote down to most likely to something in the "0.02" range). You are going to pull a relay, see if the indication changed and if it didn't, reinstall the relay and move on to the next relay to remove and ...... You want to first start with all the relays of both fuse boxes to see where you see a significant change in the value. If you find a relay that causes a significant change, leave it out. Only stop when you see the multimeter reading drop to something less than 0.02. Just because you found one relay that drops the reading (but still reading more than 0.02), keep going.

Once you have gone through all the relays, you are going to go through the fuses one at a time, doing the same thing. Pull a fuse, see if the value changes, and if it doesn't, reinstall the fuse. Go through both fuse boxes.

As you are pulling the fuses/relays, if you find one that causes the significant change, note where it came from and post that information here. With this, I can tell you more specifically what to look at to resolve your battery issue.

Not to ask a silly question, but have you recently added something to the car like a radio amplifier or a cell phone charger? If so, you are going to want to disconnect that first to see if your problem is caused by that.

 

obviously I'm going to have to have professionals look at this. I know what fuses are, but I don't know what relays are. It's a bit out of my wheelhouse. I figured it was a really big issue and not something I could just fix myself. But it never hurts to ask.

 

I like to start with the simple things first. Do you have a cell phone that has video mode. If so open the trunk, do the lights come on? If they do put the phone in the trunk with video running and see if the light shuts off. Do the same with the glove box. If the lights go out they aren't the problem If they don't get back us. Mine has an under hood light , if yours does check it too with the cell phone video.

 

Like Thermo asked, did this condition come out of the blue or have you recently had any work done to the car or have you added some electrical compnents to the car like a new apliphier or somethning along those lines?

 

Well, we found out the fan in the automatic control A/C was running constantly. The shop said they needed to replace the fan I think maybe it's the controller and not the fan. Has anyone else had this issue, or have expertise in this area? The fan seems to be unavailable to the shop. I am currently driving the car with no air, heat, or defrost. The battery drain is gone.

 

Do a search for member Dr Dome. He always has a half dozen or so he is parting out and can provide what you need.

 

How did you turn the fan off

 

Ronnie, it is becoming a common thing for the A/C controller to go bad, resulting in the fan running continuously. Normally this is an issue with the radio setup that have the A/C controls separate from the radio (ie, not the NAV system). You will need to find a replacement panel that goes above the radio and install that. Before you do that, I would swap the fan relay with an identical relay and see if your problem goes away. It is possible to have a stuck relay and that would apply power to the car all the time.

 

I have a 02 stype the battery was ok until turned the ac on im not sure what it can be

 

@ Ronnie = S type? Wrong forum....

 

Ronnie, just because it worked one time and then the next time it doesn't will not really change the fault. I say to continue with what was said and go from there. As was pointed out, are you driving an S-Type or and X-Type? 2 different cars and while there are common parts, there are lots of differences too. This can change things slightly.

 

Do what Thermo said with fuses only. You have to at least try.
If you bring it to a mechanic, get ready to pay a lot.
I was teaching my dad to do the same (he is 700 miles away), he is definitely smart enough, just lazy.

 

Hi

Did you have any luck getting go the end of your A/C Fan issue I’m getting the same problem

my A/C Fans come on after the ignition is turned off

thanks

 

Hi did you have any luck solving this issue I have the same - it would be a big help

 

It was just simply a matter of replacing the A/C blower motor relay switch which was inside the car on the fuse and relay panel under the left door dash. It only cost $7 for the part, the electricians and auto shops were useless. I researched the relay electrical system and replaced it myself, problem solved. The reason a blower runs after the car is off is that the relay switch has gone bad and is opening a circuit, remove the relay and replace it, the circuit will close and the blower will never run again until you replace it with a new one.

My car is gone, but I became an expert on relays doing this research. LOL

 

Look up your vehicle's fuse box diagrams and find the one for the Blower motor and replace it. It literally took me 10 minutes to do the job and I had AC and heat again.

 

Testing in the process. Microprocessor that will control 4 power relay shutdown itself. We are tuning the inputs that will control reverse and correct switching on.