The dealership is telling me it was merely a bad battery. But the explanation just doesn't make sense to me.

WHAT HAPPENED: Driving on the freeway at 60 mph. Dash flashes "Pull over immediately and turn off car." Then within a second, the engine shuts off and the car comes to a quick halt. Various electrical things continued to work, including radio, lights, turn signal, and starter. But NOT the emergency flashers! or parking brake. When holding down the brake pedal, every once and a while it would shutter like the anti lock brakes were on.

Tried to start it many many times (like 10). It would turn over and do nothing, or it would actually start very roughly and die.

About an hour later, once the tow truck pulled it off the freeway, it actually started and worked fine.

They took it to the dealer. They spent two weeks with the car and say that it was the battery. I think the head mechanic I'm working with is a great guy, a very smart mechanic and has done everything he can. But I don't think the answer really makes sense.

Here are the things that don't make sense with the explanation:

1. If the battery was the problem, why didn't the battery light ever come on? Jaguar could not answer this. But still insists the problem was the battery.
2. What condition triggers the "pull over immediately" light? Jaguar could not answer this.
3. If the battery was the problem, why did all the other electronic things never stop?
4. No matter what the situation, why the heck didn't the emergency flasher work? Jaguar had no explanation.
5. If the battery was the problem, and was so bad that it caused full shut down of the engine, how could it have "fixed itself"?
6. If the battery had a cell short out that caused the engine to shut down, and it stayed that way until after being towed off, how is it all the other electronics (except the emergency flashers) worked?
7. How do I find out if such a battery problem that shuts down a moving car can really be intermittent?

Thanks for any thoughts.

 

I should add that I have received some comments from folks:

Today's modern cars and their electronics are so sensitive that strange things can happen that can't be 100% explained.
Batteries can have a spike or bad cell that might cause this, and that problem might be temporarily "fixed" after the car is shaken by the tow truck.
The car might have two batteries and only one failed.
The "pull over" warning could be triggered by all sorts of electrical things.

Also, the mechanic said that he checked all battery connections and all grounds and all buses and the continuity of certain wires. All were good.

 

I would say all are valid questions. AFAIK, you car, like mine, has only one battery. And yes, it does sound like it COULD be an intermittent battery thing, but that would sure be unusual. I can beklieve that they would give a "pull over " warning with modern cars since so much in the transmission, stability and steering is electronically controlled. At least out Jaguars do not have electronic brakes. As poor as some of the Jag electronics are, i am glad we can stop them mechanically!
I guess you have it back now. Was it under warranty? If not, how much did they charge you? And it will be interesting to see what happens next.

 

Yeah, I thought that very thing - about future electronic brakes, steering, etc.

I do not have the car back yet. But that's only because I haven't had time to get over there. They want me to pick it up and said there is nothing further they can do.

We bought the car 8 months ago under the Jaguar Select program. I don't know what they think they want to charge us yet. I know that for some warranties, a battery would not be covered. But, they also never actually asked me if I'd agree to pay for a new battery - and since I left it after hours, I never signed a work order.

 

How insanely unsafe.

I'm glad you weren't injured.

These cars are so ridiculously engineered it's comical. Actually, it's negligent.

 

Yeah, no kidding. I am a car guy - I own an old Tiger, 911 and 912. I work on them myself. Up until now, I've always figured if a battery died while driving, it was a non-event because the alternator was running the car. So when the Jaguar service agent first called me to tell me it was the battery, I gave him an ear full! But, it sadly seems that with modern cars this is possible. The problem is that all the details don't seem to fully fit within that explanation - particularly why the battery was so bad that the engine shut down, but then miraculously fixed itself.

Doubly insanely unsafe because it was a dusk on an LA freeway, with the car stuck right in the middle of the lanes, without emergency flashers.

Just not sure whether or not to keep the car.

Jay

 

SON-OF-AAH-BITCH!

 

Well, if you mean whether or not to keep THIS car, or whether or not a Jaguar is in the driveway, that might have different answers. Most any car these days has the same electronics issues. And, at least from my personal experience, and the reports on here, Jaguars are doing pretty good compared to where they were when my old Jags were built. And your problem does not seem to be systemic. On the other hand, it will be a while before you trust that car and the word or the service guy, I bet.

 

Agreed.

Since I have driven old cars as my daily driver for decades, I have no problem that cars break down. But, I've always had comfort that the issue was found and fixed.

Here, I am trying to increase my comfort that this explanation does truly make complete sense - and all the symptoms could likely have been caused by a bad battery - and I don't just have a service department throwing up its hands because it's electrical.

 

I would say that to the service manager and listen carefully to his reply!

 

Picked up the car today. I asked if the battery in the car was the original battery - because I have the printout of all the records and there is no indication of a new battery (unless the owner got a battery from an independent). The service rep said that it did have the original battery. This would mean that the battery went for 4 years and they didn't notice that when they had the car for the Jaguar Select review. He also said that they usually see the batteries fail in about 2.5 years. Is that really all these things last? Then does that mean the battery in the car was some sort of miracle battery?

Still not 100% sure on the fix. I have a 600 mile trip coming up. So we'll see how the car does. Part of me wants something to go wrong.

 

This June, Mine will Be 4 years old...Good feces occurs sometimes

 

. . . you've been warned . . .

 

Well, I'm hoping it starts crapping out soon or before August as that is when the Basic coverage is up.

 

Hmmm. I assumed batteries are never covered in basic warranties. I'll have to look. They did cover the battery. But, I assumed that they knew I'd raise living hell for them not to catch a 4 year old battery in their Jaguar Select program.

Also, the batteries that I've seen online do not appear to be too expensive. Which may be why they don't last all that long. So for safety's sake, you make want to reconsider holding out for this one. Though, I do recognize that they said this is a rare, if not unique, experience.

 

Yup! on my '12, the battery is covered for the first 4 years...And should it **** the bed before 4 years they are replacing them with a kick-*** Interstate battery.


I'll wait till spring, March or April and maybe make a case like, it ain't cranking very fast anymore...etc..

Thanks for sharing your nightmare on the road.

 

Circling back to report that the car has not had this problem again. So it was the battery.

There is a repeating problem with the AC/heater intermittently shutting itself off when driving, or sounding like fans are blowing, but no air flowing. I'm going to search for others that have had it. If I don't find answers, I'll be posting another question!

 

I've had super weird things happen before I replaced my original battery. Threw in a flat panel agm battery and haven't had any issues since. I'll be replacing my battery every 5 years regardless of condition to ensure no f'ery occurs.

 

Doing the same. But shorter than 5 years. Since my daughter is the primary driver, going with 3 years.

Point of clarification, the HVAC issue was happening before the battery went totally bad, and it's still happening now. I searched through the website and found countless issues with the system. I'm going to push the dealership harder on this one.

 

Hi everyone! I have had problems with my XF since buying. While driving down highway car loses all power cause shutdown and no power steering very scary going 70 mph down highway. After car stops still in D I then proceed to put car in P. Turn car off. Go to crank back up and IF it cranks at all it is very rough and I go a few miles then bam!! Same thing happens again. Get to where I'm going park it for a few hours go out to crank XF and everything starts fine I do this 10 times without a problem starting. Then when return to driving it all happens again complete shut down and rough starting. I feel very unsafe driving car anywhere. I recently took car to a foreign/domestic mechanic shop they found that a couple wires have been chewed by rodents due to fact of soy wire casings. Thought that was the fix to my problem. But no not a day later the same incident occurs. Someone please help me figure what this is so I can make suggestions to mechanic for a fix.