When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
So I went into the garage today and saw my tail lights on! They were not on yesterday. I get in and the car is dead except for the interior lights and daytime running lights. nothing when pressing the start button. I open the trunk with the manual key as the button doesn't work and hook up a charger, but with the lights on I'm not sure the 2amp charger will be able to bring it back to life. Tried locking with the key fob and nothing happens. Seems odd if the battery was dying that the car would turn on its lights. Seems counter intuitive. :-). Anyone else experienced this? Just checked and the lights are slowly turning on and off.
The indication THAT the battery is dead IS the lights. You must disconnect the battery cable(s) before you can attempt to recharge the battery. IF the battery comes back, it won't last a year more anyway. Course, a year is a year...
Thanks for that Cee Jay! I have removed the cables from the battery. Interestingly, the charger is showing that the battery is fully charged. Since there is no indication of when the battery was installed, I will get a new one as soon as I can. I had had it checked a couple months ago and it was testing fine though.
Maybe your charger is having a problem? Chargers tend to say "Full" when the voltage is where it should be, but they usually don't account for amperage.
Take your battery to pretty much any Auto Parts Store, they usually will charge AND load-test batteries for free.
An idea is to leave the small charger on when the battery is out being charged. The computers have been known to react poorly to the absence of voltage.
After a little bit, the charger showed that it was charging correctly. at 2amps it will likely take till the morning before it is charged fully. I don't need it 100%, just enough to start the car and I will go and get a new battery tomorrow. Hopeful silver lining is that a brand new battery may cure my TPMS issue as well. We will see.
So I went into the garage today and saw my tail lights on! They were not on yesterday. I get in and the car is dead except for the interior lights and daytime running lights. nothing when pressing the start button. I open the trunk with the manual key as the button doesn't work and hook up a charger, but with the lights on I'm not sure the 2amp charger will be able to bring it back to life. Tried locking with the key fob and nothing happens. Seems odd if the battery was dying that the car would turn on its lights. Seems counter intuitive. :-). Anyone else experienced this? Just checked and the lights are slowly turning on and off.
confused
I am confused also.
Was your car double locked prior to this event? I am trying to wrap my head around, how the lights could have come on in the first place.
I am confused also.
Was your car double locked prior to this event? I am trying to wrap my head around, how the lights could have come on in the first place.
That's what they do. No mystery. With a very low battery, the lights come on. Is it a programmed thing TO happen? I don't know. It just does.
Yep. It just does. Same thing happened to me a while back. Odd behavior indeed.
@KJsJag Just get a new battery, like you said you were going to do... I tried charging mine and it worked for a few days then I got stuck. Not worth the bother trying to get a few more days/months/ etc out of it.
Yep, trickle charged till this morning, then she fired up. Went strait to the parts store and now have a new Battery. Sadly, it did not cure my TPMS issue, but I'm taking it into the dealer on Wednesday to have them do the Tech service bulletin for the TPMS. Hope that works.
I agree however, Having the lights come on as the battery dies is perhaps the dumbest thing I have heard yet. Chock it up to Jaguar Charm. :-)
Please be aware that "new" batteries are rarely (if ever) fully charged. The BEST way to remedy this is to immediately charge it, with an actual charger. Not a maintainer and not a trickle charger.
You may never have a problem, but some people do.
I ALWAYS charge new batteries, and it usually takes over four hours to complete.
Yep. It just does. Same thing happened to me a while back. Odd behavior indeed.
@KJsJag Just get a new battery, like you said you were going to do... I tried charging mine and it worked for a few days then I got stuck. Not worth the bother trying to get a few more days/months/ etc out of it.
Shemp,
Which battery did you get from the parts store? I notice that not all auto parts stores carry the large battery.
John
Please be aware that "new" batteries are rarely (if ever) fully charged. The BEST way to remedy this is to immediately charge it, with an actual charger. Not a maintainer and not a trickle charger.
You may never have a problem, but some people do.
I ALWAYS charge new batteries, and it usually takes over four hours to complete.
It will work fine as a maintainer and will supply 10 A in supply mode as a charger - my battery was low last week, I put my charger (not a ctek) on 10A auto mode, unit shutdown in around 5 hours with a "FULL" reading.
The little two, three and even five amp little units don't actually put out much energy at all. Those ten amp ones should do fine, like McJag says. I have a 2-200 amp Schumacher I use. I guess that's overkill, but I do a lot of things with it.
Battery dead, but daytime running lights on
