Hey guys,

Recently I had a problem with my interior lights *the ones on the radio and window controls* not coming on all the time. Now I have another problem.

Those lights and only those lights stay on after I turn off the car. Killed the battery last night, and I have no idea what to do. In the meantime should I disconnect the negative battery overnight or is it a fuse problem? The dash lights don't stay on and every switch is turned off. The heater also stopped blowing warm.

I can't have my battery die every day! Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

I've been leaving the negative cable disconnected with good results so far, but I really don't want to have to do that every single time I turn the car off.

I'll give a little more background:

I've been having the problem with the interior lights quite often, and I had loaned the car to a friend for a date (which went really well - she loved the car!) the day before - he had no problems with it, and says he didn't touch any switches or anything. On my way driving the car back home, the interior lights in question weren't working at all. I was driving down the highway when I went over a nice little hill in the ground, not a pothole or anything, it was quite smooth, and the lights suddenly turned on again. When I parked the car at home, I noticed they stayed on and thought to myself, how ironic is that? The next day when I went to start the jag, the battery was almost completely drained. Luckily my friend came to the rescue, and the old girl started up with ease after just a minute- I love having the battery in the trunk, by the way, it makes jumping so much easier. Later that day, we went for dinner on me (for helping me out) and couldn't have been more than 2 and a half hours- the car hiccuped when I went to crank it, but it did start up. The volt meter read 9 at that time when it's always at 11-12 when I turn the car on. From then on until now when I parked it for the day I've been disconnecting the battery and it's working, but it's not sustainable.

I've come up with a few ideas - I searched through the forum and no one seemed to have this exact problem, though one person said they disconnected the fuse for the rear fog lights (driver's side back seat box, fuse 1) and it solved their similar problem.

The dash lights are on as well upon further inspection, but they are incredibly faint whereas the rest of the lights on the radio, garage opener and window controls seem to be as bright as they would be if I had the lights on. If it's the light control module bugging out (the switch to the left of the steering wheel) I don't see why it would only put those lights on, and won't chime when I open the door, but I suppose it's possible.

I'm also wondering whether it could be the ground, as neither of the lighters seem to be working. I've heard it would be located in the cluster under the arm rest...? The heater definitely isn't working, and it was working just two nights ago. It blows air but it's room temperature - I understand this could be a different problem like low coolant.

If it's a fuse blown, how do I check that? Is it OK to remove them when the car is on or should I do it with the battery disconnected? What would the prime suspects be in this case?

Thanks so much everyone, tomorrow will be my grease monkey day and I really want to get this sorted out while I do my other tasks!

 

That sounds strange. The interior lights not switching off. Can you clarify which lights are staying switched on after stopping the car and removing the ignition key? secondly an other cause of battery drain can be from the raditator fans not switching off. They remain running. They are designed to continue to run for some time after stopping the car and then stop.Keep us posted.

 

Sorry, thought I had been clear enough but I realize it's all hidden in a wall of text!

The dash light BARELY illuminates, I'm talking less than you could do intentionally with the control. The lights on the radio, garage opener and sunroof control, and ALL the window controls, front and back are on. The LCD on the climate control and radio is NOT illuminated, only the backlights for all the buttons. Basically, anything that has a green backlight and is not an LCD. None of the other interior lights are on.

The radiator fans are not running, I believe, as I would be able to hear them.

It's all very confusing, isn't it? Thanks for your reply!

 

The Radio LCD back light is famous for failing....... Mine has not worked for years. As for the Dash Lights...... The problem may be in the control on the side of the steering colunm. Are you still experiencing Battery Drain? Just to clear things up, do you mean when you say " The lights on the radio, garage opener and sunroof control, and ALL the window controls, front and back are on" That they remain in after switching of the ignition and removing the key?

I'm going to check what happens with mine right now and let you know. I will be here all day.......

 

Yep, those lights all remain on after the car is off and locked up. The radio LCD works fine normally, I was only talking about when the car is off and there should be zero lights left!

The control on the steering column works fine and is adjustable, and only works when the lights are set to "on" as it should. The battery drain is pretty bad, I would guess that the battery would be dead within 4-5 hours if I hadn't disconnected it!

Thanks!

 

I just checked . The interior lights remain on for about 2 mins after closing the doors. Have you checked that?

 

Yep, I parked the car for 2 and a half hours to go for dinner and when I returned the lights were still on (and the car was harder to start). Thanks for checking BigBoss!

I'm very stumped - the only thing I can think of is whatever was keeping the lights off before, is now keeping them on.

 

Now you have identified the cause of the problem (The interior lights failing to turn off when you close the door after the specified period of time as designed) which ten causes the battery to drain. So I suggest you make a new post posing the question
"What would cause the interior lights to fail to turn off after the specified period of time after closing the doors?"

You may want to check each door carefully to ensure the each is closed correctly that would cause the lights to remain on.
I hope this helps.

 

The doors are all closed for sure, as I would hear the chirp from the antitheft if they weren't. And the problem with phrasing the question that way is that the lights that would stay on if a door were open are different to the lights that are on in my situation.

Thanks for your help and for checking, hopefully someone who has had this problem before could chime in or perhaps someone who has a lot of experience with the electrical system in this car.

 

So exactly which lights are remaining on after you close the doors when you get out and lock the doors via the FOB?l

Here is a simple test for you to do. Get in to the car, start up the engine, turn on the lights full as if driving at night. Then turn off the lights and turn off the ignition, open and close the door while you remain seated in the drivers seat. Then lock the car via the FOB engaging the antitheft alarm. Now observe which if any of the interior lights remain on?

 

My fob does not work, but that's another problem for another day.

I thought I was pretty clear, it's only the backlights for the buttons on the stereo, window controls, garage opener, and dash (very very very faintly).

Every light in these pictures, except the LCDs which I have blacked out, stay on after the car is off and locked, and remain on until the battery is dead.

 

I have no idea what might be at work to keep those on. I can explain one possible fault that causes them all to stay off or flicker while driving: see post #5:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...witches-53109/

Grounding post on the back of radio head unit

 

Wow thanks, I'll check it out. That sounds like it might be the problem... my lights were flickering before, and sometimes wouldn't come on! I'm praying this works. Thanks aholbro

Still open to suggestions. I checked two fuses I thought would be the problem, but they were both fine. Maybe I'm checking the wrong ones - I checked two 10 amp fuses, located in the left and right heel boards in the back seat.

 

The common factor in this is likely to be the dimmer module. That's where I would start.

You must have some kind of short to the feed for these lights. Unplug the dimmer module and see if the lights go out - if so then the short is probably in the module rather than somewhere down the circuit.

In this kind of issue (not specifically yours) I've had good success in the past with liberal dose of Contact Cleaner sprayed in circuit board and in any holes/gaps you can find in the module, followed 10 mins later by compressed air in the same places to thoroughly dry.

 

Thanks - I'll make sure to do then when I take out the console and check the grounds!

Thanks for your help everyone. What could cause things like this to stay on when the car is off, anyway?

 

wow that is certainly a curious and unusual problem. Do keep us posted. There has got to be a solution somewhere. You mentioned your FOB was not working, you should check this link from the "How To" section.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/y6...ity+System.zip

Good luck

 

If that's the procedure for setting up the fob, I know how to do that... I believe it's a matter of the wires in my boot are 100% frayed and it can't detect that the boot is open. I really should fix that...

I smell a slight burning plastic smell when the battery is connected and the car is running, so I'm assuming a small short or the ground is loose/disconnected... I hope it's that simple, anyway! This is kinda stressing me out at this point. I have no idea if it's bad to constantly connect and disconnect the negative battery terminal. I sense that it might be.

 

Sorry I cant help more. You may want to take a look here a Jim Butterworth' s Page on the Boot Lid Lock and wiring. Here is the link

Just scrool down the page and you will see pictures & instructions

Jaguar XJ6; Miscellaneous notes

 

I don't think there is a risk in constantly disconnecting the battery. If you smell hot insulation you should be able to narrow the location and possibly feel the heat in the wiring or a relay. It's more likely a short to ground rather than a poor ground and it has to be before any circuit fuses.

How about pulling the relays in groups from the boxes?

I think sparkenzap must be busy or he would be here, but I will get the wiring diagram and see if I can help.