this car ('04 X-type 3.0) has been the biggest PoS i've ever owned, and yes it was me that pushed my Wife into liking Jaguars..........so far it has had a tranny replaced, 3 drivelines, 3 sets of struts, 2 wheels, compressor all replaced within the first year that we had it, and that was in 2004.....since then a host of little problems that i don't have space or time to list.

today however was the final straw.
car was working flawlessly for about 3 months now when 1 mile from the house it just died.........of course i'm 3 hours away and had to tell the tow truck driver how to do his job and get the car home.

wife says she made a right turn towards her destination when it made a squelchy sound (for lack of better description) and then went totally dead........no power, no nuttin.
when i got home, first check was the battery voltage (it's 4 months old) and 0.........hooked up the charger at 2 amps and the needle pegged, then the charger kicked off.....disconnected the battery and whala....taking a charge just fine........next test was to connect the charger to the cables and wham!!....the needle pegged, but i now hear a buzzing noise from the main fuse block...........pulled each fuse and the noise is still in there.......please, does anyone have a starting point for me to look into?

thx
mike

 

The buzzing, is it fairly quiet? More like a fan running somewhere? If so that may be normal. Ours does that when you reconnect the battery, or even if you open the door after it has been sitting a while. At any rate, I can hear it, but it is not very loud at all. If it is pretty loud, I don't what that might be. But either way it does sound like you are having electrical problems.

 

I had the exact same problem. I fixed it by cleaning the terminals and the cables, then attaching the cables really tight. My negative wasn't making ground and causing something to buzz.

Hope that helps,

 

Several other Jaguar models have an issue with the crimped ends of the battery terminal cables (circled) either working loose or even beginning to break up.



(click on the image to enlarge it)

This could be the same on your X-Type.

Graham

 

It sounds like bad cables to me. I am sure thermo will chime in soon on this matter.They have been known to have bad cables. I would take off both from the car and make off where each one goes, then go to your local autoparts store and get one the same lengths..
Hope this Helps.

Good Luck,
The Dr!

 

You don't say what mileage, or advise any maintenance history?

Far from being a pos as you say, the X type is actually quite a remarkable car, for what it is.

The tranny's are a weak point, but the AWD is awesome......contrary to popular belief they are not sealed for life and most here do fluid changes.

The guys here will no doubt be more than happy to help but bashing the brand will get you nowehere really fast.

Good luck

 

Moving on..I feel your pain and totally understand your frustrations..But there were good X-types and Bad X-types and some really bad X-types..

But your current problem sounds to me also like bad battery cables..my 03 did the same thing, but it began with a battery light on the dash after 10 minutes of driving...Replaced ALL the cables with OE type so they'd fit proper (had to search around on the internet to get them all rounded up) and all the little weird problems went away..

Maybe one of the kind Jag Techs here will chime in and get you all the Jaguar Part numbers for the various cables.


Like Jimbo said..don't lose faith..it is an awesome little Jaguar when it runs right.



Just an FYI as far as how the Charging system works..

For 10 minutes right after you first start the car..the Alternator will regulate it's output at or about 14.3VDC..this is to quickly recharge the battery from just cranking the engine..Then after about 10 minutes the Alternator will drop off to about 13.2VDC..At the Battery Terminals if all is okay...But these numbers will be less than I stated if the cables are bad..and the Monitoring threshold is right at 12VDC and anything less will set off the Battery light and cause crazy stuff to go on..

 

DPK,

thanks to you and others who took the time to give me some direction.

the car has a 100K on it now.
thing is, with battery cables connected it drains the battery to zero, and i mean like fast, so i will start with the connections and go from there.

 

so where did i bash the brand? (Jaguar)
did you even read what i said?
looks to me like i said "this car".....that means current vehicle concerned, was a POS............looks like i also stated that it was me who pointed the wife to liking the Jags..............i know i do. my '06 S-type has been flawless.
i would expect someone who is an "admin" to be a little more comprehensive and suggest a remedy than to misquote a member.........

 

I know im did not mean it like that summerwind. Most guys see the key bash words and see red without reading the rest. We are all a bunch of great guys here that just take our cars like they are family.

Lets get back to solving your problem.

Good luck,
The Dr!

 

Summerwind - If you read what I say, I'm actually trying to stir up some interest in your plight, and get you the help you need by actually bumping the thread.

Calling a car a POS becuase you've had a few issues?
I'm guessing you haven't owned the car from new, perhaps I'm wrong?

Do you know the full service history? How well has it been maintained previously and since for that matter?

Many have had the tranny issue here and just as many have not, having done regular changes and not going on the sealed for life scenario.

Having checked previous posts, you mention having a mouse problem chewing through wiring etc causing all sorts of problems.

Between this and possible previous maintenance that may / may not have been done, it sounds like it may be difficult to help you solve your problem.

You have made relatively few posts here and then call the X type a POS, so understand mine and perhaps others frustration at this.

Just because I am admin here, it does not mean I don't have an opinion.

It might be an idea to tone it down a bit if you're looking for assistance that of course we want to give as far as possible to help find a resolution.

 

Jim,
then by all means i wish to apologize for my boastful blast at you........i've been on other boards where others start off in a similar manner and then their true goal comes to surface....never pretty.

why i call this car a POS is because it has been a problem car since the day we took delivery.......the first thing that happened was that 2 of the plastice wheel emblems fell off on the first evening.....took car back and the dealer acted like we removed them so we could have spares.......????
finally one of the mechanics removed the other 2 to replace the whole set which was now to be Black instead of the dark Green caps and the 2 remaining caps literally fell out in front of the service manager......the look on his face was priceless, but i certainly wasn't amused............took a letter to the owner of Haron motors here in Fresno to look further into my tranny issue which had a cow bell sound to get it replaced.......since then it has required this that or the other.
so don't get me wrong, i think the X-type is as good looking a car as the day we bought it (new), but it has not been the most reliable car i've ever owned by a long shot.

i'm digging into it tomorrow, so naturally i will report back to what i find if i do find the problem.

 

Well, thats that cleared up then...lol

I apologise for assuming that you bought the car 2nd hand, hence why I asked about the service / maintenance history. That was my mistake but glad we now know.

Please believe me when I say, there is such a wealth of info and some truly great guys here, all willing to throw their hat into the ring, share their knowledge, spending time to dig deep to help.

Unfortunately, I'm not one of them with fairly limited technical knowledge ad just run the board with the help of the mod team,but...

Please, keep us filled in with as much detailed info as you can and I'm sure some of the tech type guru DIY'ers here will help you to get to the bottom of your issues.

Good luck

 

Take that brand new 4 month old battery out, take it back to the seller and have it fully load-tested.

If it has an internal short in it, it could have failed catastrophically and immediately. The sudden failure could have loaded up the alternator so much it caused the belt to start slipping, giving you the "squeal" you described.

Such a failure could be caused by a manufacturing defect, mishandling during shipping or handling (dropping it), or the one you must ALWAYS watch out for: the $7 an hour "service technician" (read: the stupid kid at Walmart) who installed the battery cable ends onto the battery by pounding them on with a hammer.

I just replaced the battery in my '02 X that had such an internal problem. The battery tender had been on it a number of months, but it was still too weak to start the car. When I started to hook up a set on jumper cables from a known good battery, the resulting flash of sparks and arcing made me think I had blown every fuse and computer in the car - but thankfully, all was well when the battery was replaced.

Just make sure whomever installs your new battery doesn't have a name-tag with "Thor" on it. Make 'em use the right tools.

 

Bingo!!.....you called it. after inspecting every conceivable connection and then undoing items of known power load......didn't have to go far. with starter disconnected, and hooking up charger to the + and - cables there was a subtle humm coming from the alternator.
really amps out the charger too.....like as in a huge short.

will do on the battery replacement. i've had issues with cheapo deapo parts stores batteries in the past, so i guess this one is really gonna cost me.
although the battery is taking and holding a charge, i have that bad bad feeling that the alternator is going to have to be replaced............hope that's not a hard job.

 

PepBoys has a Bosch Battery (a little expensive but worth it) That is an Exact fit for the X-type.

And Kudos to Bruce of ND..Good Call buddy!

 

alternator has a hum, and connecting the battery cables results in sparks and instant discharging of the battery.........must mean the alternator is done right?

 

Sounds like it..Disconnect the Red lead from the back of the alternator (you have to do this from underneath and with that front splash panel removed..but it's a tight fit for a fat arm)... and connect battery up again..to see if the alternator was your source of a short circuit.

 

Don't be too quick to think the alternator needs replacement. They are pretty hardy units.

When I jumped mine with the spare battery, the arcing was probably an 800 - plus amp surge, and there were no ill results suffered.