Hello Everyone,
We have a 2014 XK with less than 40k miles. Great car and trouble free, until the other day. My wife pulled in the garage with the top down several days ago and had accidentally turned the headlights on which killed the battery (battery was replaced in January 2021 with Champion AGM Battery, Group Size H8).

Offering as much detail as possible: Thinking I needed to get to the battery to start the car, I released the retractable separator and removed the two screw in tie-downs. That won't move with the top stowed so then I did what I should have done first and open the manual. I would have never thought that was a way to jump start the car, lesson learned.

I used a Noko jumper following the owners manual method and the car started right away. Knowing I wanted to drive the car on the highway for a few exits to charge the battery I put the separator back where it's supposed to be. Top would not close with the car running at that time. Drove around for about 15 minutes with the top down, turned the car off when I got home and it wouldn't start. Jumped again and this time connected the battery maintainer we use in the winter, and ran it overnight. Car had a rough time starting in the morning- battery was still drained. This time connected a battery charger (same areas where I jumped with the Noko) and ran a repair cycle for several hours. Disconnected the charger and the car started right away, but the top still won't budge.

With help, I closed the top manually. (For anyone who encounters the same situation have someone put their weight on the tonneau cover while you pull the release cable.)

I've tried many things that I've read here and elsewhere including window resets. As of now top is closed, rear windows are down. Battery is 100% charged. Car starts as usual without hesitation. I was hoping that somebody could shed light on this before going through the hassle and expense of finding a repair shop. Thanks!

 

Lets start with, with the car not running nor connected to any charging device for a minimum of 6 hours, what is the voltage on the battery?

 

Using the same contact points as I jump started the car, I am getting 12.5 volts on a quality multimeter.

 

is that reading after a 6 hour rest? If so, a system reset will most probably fix your issues… unless of course there are conflicting error codes.

 

Reset the Front Window travel using the info in the owner's manual!
It's called something stupid like 'anti-trap' or similar.
Of course, that'd be AFTER you replace the now near-useless battery and CHARGE it overnight with an actual charger. If not, it'll keep dying and the cycle will repeat.

 

Hi Guy, Ran a"Blue Driver" code reader and no error codes but I cleared it anyway, twice. Reset the windows again. Still no change. Thanks, Jerry

 

I will look into that. Battery is fully charged and the car starts as usual. Thanks!

 

Sorry, I missed the part where you already reset the windows. My bad.

 

no sweat. I appreciate all the input. I'm lost with this thing.

 

Top up, all four windows down, battery fully charged (although once a battery gets that flat it will need to be replaced regardless) ...
Steve (resident top guru) would undoubtedly say to hold the control button to LOWER for a full minute.
Also, when you replaced the luggage separator, was the metal clip still on the slidey part on the left hinge part so it contacts the sensor?

 

Hi Cee Jay,
I checked and the left side does have a metal clip in tact. I don't see a contact point on the receiving notch. Is there supposed to be something there?

Since the top is up I removed the covering to the battery compartment and will disconnect the negative cable and run a "battery repair" conditioner cycle from a charger I have. It's saved batteries in the past. Maybe disconnecting power, then reconnecting with essentially a fresh battery will make something good happen. Can't hurt at this point. The cycle takes a long time so I assume it won't be done until tonight. I'll disconnect and let it sit overnight and try again tomorrow. Will report back either way tomorrow. I really appreciate you guys helping me.

Take care,
Jerry

 

It's a magnetic proximity sensor, nothing to see.
Good luck with the battery recon, I've had it work a couple times. They didn't last but maybe a year at the most afterwards, but can get you going.

 

Update: Saturday 10-26-24 @ 9:15am
- Accessed battery, disconnected negative cable, ran a battery conditioner repair cycle successfully Friday afternoon
- Let the car sit for about 6 hours, then reconnected the negative cable, let the car sit with battery and battery tender connected for another 6+/- hours
- Put the covering and separator back. Started the car and did a window reset
- Info center showed "hood not latched" in red (I never opened the hood since this happened)
- Opened and closed hood several times, prompt still showing
- Tried to open the convertible top, first with windows up, then with windows down (both times holding the button for an extended period of time) - no movement and no sound
- Retracted separator to see if I'd get a prompt telling me on the dashboard, nothing.

I think for whatever reason the car is not recognizing the separator at all. At a loss. Thinking of opening the roof manually and changing fuses. Found online there are 4 fuses related to the top. F8 (5a) Power roof logic, F30 (40a) Roof rear quarters, F31 (30a) Power Amp Supply & F32 (40a) Power Amp Supply.

Any input welcome.
Thanks,
Jerry

 

When you did the manual raise of the roof, did you also use the hex key to secure the locking pawl in the top of the windscreen rail behind the small plastic cover? That's where the HOOD NOT LATCHED warning comes from. Most of the time it's best to end a manual top reset in the open/stowed position rather than the closed/up position for that reason.

 

If your battery voltage first thing in the morning, before you try to start the car, is less than 12.6v, you need a new battery.

Your alternator, by itself, will not fully charge an AGM battery because it requires a higher charge than the alternator (which is matched to the OEM wet cell a.k.a. flooded battery) can provide. You need to keep your AGM battery connected to a battery maintainer with an AGM setting that will fully charge it.

 

Yeah, as CeeJay said, the term HOOD refers to your convertible top. The BONNET is what we call the engine hood, and don’t forget the BOOT, the name for your trunk. Gotta love the Brits.

 

Thanks guys. I never thought the roof was the hood. I will stow it back when my son gets home and hope for the best (again :-)

Battery was at 12.7 this morning before re-connecting the cable and putting everything back.

 

IT WORKS!!!!!!!!!! Thank you everyone. We unlatched the hood "roof" and went through the process to manually stow the top. First try produced movement and the top came within about 3 inches of closing. I cycled open and again and this time it closed all the way with windows going up. No bell but I'm not greedy. If comes back or never comes back so be it. You guys are great. I'll try to help the next person this happens to. Thank you all again!