My car is parked far away from any power source so I cannot have a battery tender. However, last year I got an AGM battery (I think in February or Aprilm too lazy to look it up). This seemed to help with most of my electrical gremlins. And if I drive the car frequently, I have no electrical gremlins.


Winter seems to bring the worst of the gremlins, and since winter is upon us in the Northern Hemisphere, I thought I'd try to make a list of strange things that can happen with slightly lower than needed battery voltage. This is a compilation of things I have personally experienced, and things that I have read. Feel free to add or correct things:

1. LCD between speedo and tach won't turn on.
2. Touchscreen slow to turn on.
3. Touchscreen stuck on logo screen (leaper)--may not shut off after turning off vehicle.
4. Transmission paddle shifting lazy (no blipping downshifts).
5. LCD screens contrast not adjustable with brightness knob to left of steering wheel--brightness stuck on max.
6. LCD screens seem to go bright and dark rapidly on its own--inconsistent brightness.
7. Seat memory positions not functioning.
8. Power windows intermittently inoperative.
9. Power windows one-touch feature inoperative. (Thanks JeremyB)
10. Warning message: "CHECK PEDESTRIAN SYSTEM"
11. USB media drive not recognized.
12. Passenger airbag off warning.
13. Difficulty starting car. Continued cranking over and finally starting, but running rough.
14. Infotainment screen going blank driving down the road.
15. Volume indication appears and blinks for minutes at a time.
16. ABS and Stability lights come on.
17. Power reduced to limp mode.
18. Rear park assist beeping with nothing there.
19. Doors do not dip upon pulling door handle (to facilitate opening of door).

Am I missing anything? Does anything seem incorrect?

 

How far is far away?

Is it parked outside or inside?

If inside, you could still use a heavy duty 12 or 14 gauge extension cord (25 ft 3 prong plug) connected to a CTEK 3300 which already comes with a heavy duty cord and plug.

If outside, well your probably screwed on this idea.

 

Thanks for your input. I want to try to keep this thread on track. I'm trying to catalog all the possible symptoms of a low battery voltage, not discuss preventing low battery voltage in the first place (via a battery tender, etc.), although for anyone with these issues it would be a smart first step!

 

I've experienced:
9. The 'one touch' up/down feature of the power windows doesn't work.

And I suppose its a little obvious to mention:
A sickly 'thunk', and nothing else, when you press the Start button...

 

Updated, thanks.

 

I have had the warning message "CHECK PEDESTRIAN SYSTEM" three times in 12 months and have assumed that is voltage related as well as I have experienced most of the other symptoms listed.

 

Interesting, what is the pedestrian system? The hood airbags??

 

Yup - it's the pyros that shove the hood up when you hit something.

 

How about a small solar panel wired to the closest window?

 

I have one of those which sits on the luggage cover - works quite well to keep the battery from going flat over at least a month. Whether it would keep it sufficiently charged over a longer period, I'm not sure.

 

Interesting. Which ones in particular, so I can just sort of confirm that all the issues listed are actually low battery voltage symptoms?

 

'Most' wasn't totally accurate because I don't use all the features e.g. I don't need to use the seat memory functions so don't experience that and I haven't adjusted the brightness knob but I have had #1 a couple of times, #2 most of the time but it comes on instantly now I have started using a battery conditioner, #3 about 8 times in 12 months, #4 quite often but it is hard to know whether that is just what the car does or whether it is battery related and #10 3 times.

 

I have dad issues 1-4 and all were corrected with a full charged battery.

 

It is very good to know that #4 is something others are experiencing and that it does appear to be battery related!

 

I had the touchscreen freeze on the Jaguar logo once shortly after I bought it, but it resolved itself after a couple of restarts and hasn't done it since. I drive it at least weekly, sometimes daily. Perhaps the previous owner drove it less. I believe the battery is original.

 

I should have clarified. I mostly notice this if I'm just starting the car after sitting over a week on a cool/cold night. The brightness for both screens is set to max, which is usually way too bright for nighttime. Normally the knob on the left will adjust these screens in tandem with the rest of the instruments and controls.

Restarting after a few minutes of driving fixes the issue, so I can only assume it is battery-related.

 

This is what it looks like when I start the car on a cold morning after not having driven the car for about a week. According to my OBDII scanner, I believe the car is reading a battery voltage of about 11.3-11.5V before starting the engine (accessories on), which may be too low.

Notice how the screen in the middle is dimming and brightening on its own, with no relation to the dimmer switch. However, I did notice that during normal operation, the dimmer switch only works on the LCD screens in low light conditions (i.e., nighttime). I suppose they figure you want it on max brightness during the daytime.

 

I have also noticed a dimmed screen on startup when the car hasn't been used for over a week. Fortunately I have the benefit of a plug in my garage so I now have a CTEK 3300 plugged in maintaining the battery over the winter. However I was thinking that if your car is stored but does not have access to a plug, could you possibly hook up a CTEK 3300 to a portable battery unit such as the one below... You could pull out the portable battery every few weeks to recharge and then let it feed the CTEK battery tender for two weeks... I'm no electrician is this totally Crazy?!

Eliminator 600A/400W Power Box | Canadian Tire

 

You may want to consider getting rid of your car (selling it, as you have over 60,000 miles) and getting a better, newer model or moving to another apartment or house that has an electrical outlet so you can spend $70.00 for the CTEK 3300 Smart battery charger that will provide consistent voltage to the electrical system of the car.

These are simple solutions to your nightmares.

Are you sure your video camera was working properly?

 

Not sure if the video camera was working 100% properly, but the screens do brighten and dim themselves. I have found someone with a 2011+ XJ that has the same "problem" with the screens flickering/dimming, so it probably has nothing to do with a "better newer" model.

We are trying to buy a house ASAP but the market is extremely competitive here and there is no inventory on the market! Was in a bidding war on the last house and after we were $10k over list we gave up!

The point of this thread was just to document all the battery-related issues, such that someone could have an electrical problem, see it on this list, and immediately realize that a new battery and using a battery maintainer would solve the problem!