Well as I had mentioned a few post back I was concerned about my alternator output or my battery. Not using the car in the winter unless the roads were clear I would have it on the smart charger. With the weather being pretty much snow free here in NY this year I have been able to put some winter miles on the car. So i would plug in the Torque Pro and just read WT and Volts. I have been getting reading of under 13V during normal driving so I decided to take it to the dealer. Alternator won't put out so I suspected it or the pulley to be bad. So yesterday I put an additional battery with jumper cables in the trunk and drove the 1 1/2 hour ride to my dealer in Albany.Battery read 12.3-12.4 V all the way up so considering it read 13.6V after I took it off the charger it was a risky drive. Showed the service tech my voltages and they took the car. Also had them check the water pump , fix the glove box damper and do an oil change along with checking over the total car. The gave me a new Land rover as a loaner car. I got a call today and the alternator was toast with 15,200 miles on it. Water pump was dry and damper is on back order. New alternator will be done tomorrow and I have to drive it back after a snow fall (1-2") and will **** me off because of the roads but that's life. My factory warranty runs out in July and my CPO goes for 2 more years so I wanted everything taken care of prior to July. Unfortunately the oil change is on me so they got me for $175 but they throw in the NYS inspection . The battery was replaced just before I bought the car 2 years ago but asked them to do a load test to make sure it is still up to par while it can be replaced under warranty. So the net is the same gripe we have expressed and that would be having a temp and volt gauge. So for those who don't check I would suggest you do with the the various means suggested on this form.

 

Even if htere wasn't gauges, I would think the car could monitor these things and alert you to "low alternator voltage" on the dash, or at least trigger a CEL prior to it becoming an issue.

I've been thinking about one of these, just to plug in and leave it, then bring up the info on my phone periodically: Lemur Monitors - BlueDriver - OBD2 Bluetooth Scan Tool for Apple and Android Smartphones and Tablets

 

That's the problem you will not get any dash indicators or MIL's triggered because of a poor alternator until it starts to shut down some of the car functions. There is a control module on the neg. battery cable that starts to shut down non-essential electrical functions but other then things not working there is no formal warning. So unless you periodically check running voltage and even resting battery voltage you don't know if a failure is happening. Similar to the water temperature where your only warning is a high temp dash warning but buy then you are almost toast. No low coolant monitor. As for your BlueDriver it sounds similar to the Torque Pro that I and some others use. Pretty cool function. So I would use something and get into some good habits like checking coolant level prior to a drive and checking oil level at the end of a ride. If you drive the car every day then you don't need a smart charger but if it sits for 4 or 4 or 30 days then you should have one.

 

I don't think I saw that you closed your other post on buying the car. I assume you did. How do you like it.

 

That's what I mean, it blows my mind that things like coolant level, battery voltage, etc aren't actively monitored. Just monitoring the temperature doesn't do you any good except if you happen to notice it the second it goes up. Some vehicles have alternator voltage monitoring on the dash, but if you take these things away, why not have an alert in the advanced dash warning system? It tells me when my tires are low, why can't it tell me when alternator output is low? Or coolant level, engine temp, transmission temp, or even windshield washer fluid level?

I haven't pulled the trigger on the blue driver yet, just debating it. I have an actual computer, but an iphone one seems like it would be convenient.

 

It is the best thing I've ever driven. Period. It's extremely comfortable in town, and on the highway it's a bottle of whiskey and an 8ball in a hotel on a friday night in vegas.

 

A few years ago Ford had a major class-action lawsuit as a result of low tire pressures, I can't think of a single headline regarding alternator failures. Low tire pressures can easily cause deaths, low alternators can cause dead batteries which are only a nuisance. The other items you mentioned are not usual items that the demographic of Jag owners would naturally care about. Should there be at least warning lights when they reach a certain level (engine temp exceeded, water coolant level too low, etc), yup

 

Wow, $99 for that thing??? Buy one of these, they do exactly the same thing for $10. The software (Torque) is included and works perfectly. It shows realtime information for probably 100+ parameters and also has Telemetry for pretty much whatever you want to track.
Super Mini OBD2 OBDII ELM327 V1 5 Android Bluetooth Adapter Auto Scanner Torque | eBay

 

I can't help but notice in the ad this section:
Do you know of an alternative that works with iphone?

 

Same thing, but WiFi version only will work with iPhone:
Mini WiFi ELM327 OBD2 OBD Car Diagnostic Code Scanner Scan Tool for iOS Android | eBay

Apple uses a specially licensed Bluetooth, so it is not universally compatible.

 

Why would "Can not work with iPhone/iPad" matter?
Don't tell me you actually HAVE an iphone......
Condolences, my man.

 

When your requirements from a phone are calls, emails, and texts, and your wife/kids have them, it makes life easier.

Not to mention, my XKR has a built in connection for my wife's old ipod!

 

While my car is getting the alternator replaced I have a 2016 Land Rover Discovery as a loaner. Something I wouldn't buy but an OK little loaner car. What is interesting is here is a snap shot of the instrument cluster. Water temperature gauge anyone. This is what should have been on the XK.

 

I'm still in shock, for the finesse and performance these cars have, there are no gauges.
I too use the Helmand and have an iPhone. Love my iPhone. I have a Galaxy S4, I can use with an alternative ODB reader.