Hi there,

I purchased my 2009 XKR back in 2010 and his has been great. I am having issues starting the thing thought at the moment. Please see my link and click my channel to video other evidence of the fault.

Foot on brake, push start button, lights flashing on dash and side lights seem to flash in pattern. Main dealer has given up on diagnosis, any have any ideas, battery brand new and checked for condition which is good. Clicking noise from battery housing but when battery is disconnected, most of the time disappear then re appear.

You Tube

You Tube

You Tube

Thanks \
Louis

 

Louis

It seems to me as though some sort of main power relay is cycling rather than latching and allowing the start sequence to continue for some reason, a poor coil inside the relay perhaps or poor grounding or a combination of both. Not sure how the exterior lights factor into this but grounding can cause a whole host of maladies.

 

Despite what you say about the condition of the battery I can tell you from my experience that the flashing lights and others symptoms are definitely an indication of a failing battery. In addition, batteries can test as being at full charge but fail utterly when put under load.
Your problem (and it is a problem) will likely be caused by a failing or undercharged battery or the battery connections. Before you get into any deeper investigation, look at the battery as the likely suspect.

 

+1 on Gregory's comments. Check the battery voltage in the morning before you start the car. It should be a minimum of 12.6 volts resting. Anything less, it's a bad battery. Please check the voltage and let us know what your reading is. If you've had it at the dealer, it may be that they checked it - trust but verify. Also check tightness on the terminals and ground points.

 

The flashing lights makes me think either loose/corroded ground points or loose/corroded battery connections. Course as mentioned the faulty main relays could also be a part of that scenario.

 

thanks for your comment, would the ticking be the main power relay?

I'm on the second battery as it was faulty but inchcape preston confirmed that the battery was in good health last week.

I will check tomorrow and report back on the voltage.

 

The non start issue is intermittent, i took the car into inchcape preston, they changed the fuse board and 2 two earth lugs which cost me £800 but stopped diagnosis there, it came back and the issue still there. i gave the car back and it started everyday for inchcape, day after they gave me it back and wouldn't start, the issues are back unfortunately. it eventually started after disconnecting the battery for a hour but really annoying fault as everything works when the fault doesn't show.

 

I can only repeat that the flashing exterior lights are the very, very last gasps from a failing battery. I say this from direct observation of a friend's 2007 XK convertible on a trip away from home and after a highway run of several hours. The XK not only failed to start again, but the windows would not drop to allow the doors to be opened, and the top would not latch. So the car was left to sit overnight....that is, until 11pm when those lights were observed to be flashing in the hotel parking lot. The next morning a new, FULLY CHARGED (and that part is important) battery was installed. Every symptom disappeared instantly and did not return.
Until the battery is definitively ruled out as the cuprit, deeper investigation is unwarranted (as you have found after spending £800). Our history on this forum tells us that the vast majority of electronic module-related issues (on these cars, anything: top latching, warning lights, window operation, touchscreen issues, seats, random warning lights...anything) can be and usually are caused by low battery voltage no matter how unlikely that may seem. The application of Occam's Razor (in short: the simplest explanation being the most likely) has proved useful in these cases.

 

to misquote an old adage "A word from the wise"!!! Listen well.

 

Nearly everyone in this forum will yell "It's The Battery!!!" every time.
For good reason.

 

Louis, it would help if you included

1) Your location in your signature strip (it's really easy to do) I now know that your in the UK from your later post but it would make things easier in the future
2) The brand and specs of the battery fitted, they are usually type 017 but I upgraded to an 019 with a higher output, if it was done by Inchcape am guessing they went cheap
3) How many miles you are covering each week and what type of journeys?
4) Do you use a battery charger maintainer on the battery? I plug mine into a CTEK overnight (every 2 weeks in the winter* and every month in the summer)

*purely as will use heated screens, wheel, seats only when it's colder

 

The battery is a Lucas Supreme LS019 checked voltage at 12.56 before startup, 14.4 volts running, I have attached a ctek charger and will see how I get on the next few days, generally 2000 miles a year usage.

 

Battery voltage seems a bit low, 14.4 volts running is the alternator, not the battery. But again, voltage is NOT a good indicator of battery health, you need to perform a load test. With an extra set of hands and a VOM, measure the battery voltage while pressing the brake, accelerator and start button simultaneously and holding, not releasing. Note the battery voltage and post up here.

 

Thank Lous, that's too low. You can certainly perform the load test and share your readings following the directions jahummer provided. If you don't have an extra set of hands to help, almost every auto parts store will load test the battery @ no cost.
Assuming the load test fails (I do), you'll want to have the auto parts store fully charge a new battery overnight before they install it, as they've been sitting on a shelf for who knows how long so they need to be topped up. You have a bad battery imo, but jahummers approach is free and harmless to try.

 

Vehicle has gone back to inchcape this morning so didn't get a chance to check the load on battery, they are on there third attempt to fix otherwise I have demanded my money back after charging £800 for a fuse board which has remedied anything. When they have a performed a load test, I will share. They have agreed to take the vehicle back in and have a jaguar technician spend a few days using/monitoring it. I will update you when they have found anything, thanks for your help guys.

 

Maybe he started with a good battery, but the charging system on the car isn't quite what it should be, and that's killed the battery? That might explain why its intermittent?

 

Get another battery , that you know is good and just connect it with cables to your battery in car and try , that should eliminate battery.

 

Except the tests required to determine whether a battery is good are the same as testing if it’s bad....

 

If you hook up a good battery in parallel, jumper csbles, and lights stop flashing and things go back yo normsl u know new battery is no good

 

Always a good idea to check grounds, too. G22 is for the transit relay which has something to do with the start control unit:



Why do I mention this specific ground? Because mine looked like this when I was looking in there:



Completely rusted out. I was able to clean it up nice before I had any issues. This may not be your issue, but like I said, always a good idea to check other relevant grounds.