2013 XKR-S

Been a while since I’ve been on the boards but nonetheless I still have my Jags.

So when changing my oil a few weeks ago I went to reset my service light warning and got all sorts of wild faults coming up after the 3rd try without starting the car:

headlight system warning ⚠️, e-diff and dsc not available, adaptive dynamics warning/fault. The battery was old and while I don’t have any battery testers everyone I talked with said it had to be the battery - So I went and installed a new battery. Immediately the faults resolved upon driving and I went to the dealership to set up the battery. Since that time I noticed:

When starting the car up for a split second the gauges quiver and do not respond then go up and function normally. So I bought a car code reader to see if anything was coming up:

1- intermittent : lost comm with instrument control panel module
2- intermittent: lost comm with body control module
3- intermittent: lost comm with information center A

the car only throws these codes at startup, otherwise once the car is started and the instrument panel does it’s giggle the car functions normally and doesn’t throw codes again. I cleared them and then kept retesting on driving and never came up again. No issues with components apart from that initial cluster issue.

to me it felt like maybe it was a voltage issue at startup and the voltage can drop during startup but how low is normal?

Live data I obtained from the car shows 12.1-12.5V at any given time sitting there off with volts being more 12.1 overnight. At startup a drop consistently to 8.7-8.8V followed by an immediate rise to 13.6V when the alternator kicks in. The battery and alternator were testing by advance auto parts - passed.

dealership then did a battery test which passed, along with checking any drops at terminals which did not happen…. Everything ok in the trunk they said.

I asked them about parasitic draw and they said they were doing an overnight parasitic draw test(??). How does that work?

anybody got any clue? More importantly myself and the dealership felt the drop at startup to 8.7/8.8V was a lot…. Is it? Anyone else got a XKR with real-time voltage data? Anyone know if their voltage dropped that low ie 8.7/8.8V? Would love to know!!!!🙏🏻

Loth

 

Loth,

Your 2013 XKR-S came from the factory with a Battery Monitoring System module attached to the negative (black) terminal of your battery. If a battery charger or battery maintainer was ever directly attached to that negative battery terminal, your BMS Module could be damaged. Also, damage to that BMS Module may have occured if you ever hooked up jumper cables to that negative battery terminal.

A bad BMS Module could be the cause of your problems.

5.0L owners should always use a chassis ground instead of the negative battery terminal.

Stuart

 

I certainly did have a tender hooked up to the negative terminal and I did know better but never had any issues. Never did a jump on the car. Has anyone seen a bad BMS cause a voltage drop at startup? Or a parasitic draw?

I really wonder if the voltage drop is causing the modules to fault. But with the alternator and battery testing ok we don’t know a source. Unless it’s this…

dealership is doing a “parasitic draw test overnight”. Didn’t know they had machines to do this I thought one had to check specific areas individually/manually? Anybody know?

 

IF they're a competent main dealer, they should be able to do the proper pinpoint tests to determine the precise fault. Otherwise it's either the battery (test whilst disconnected from the vehicle after sitting overnight it should be 12.6V or higher otherwise the battery's done), the BMS as Stuart noted or parasitic draw.

 

Parasitic draw pays for your Dealer's chalet in Aspen.

 

701dollars later I have no specific answers apart from we can’t code instrument panels anymore let it ride and concern for coolant leak as well. Battery test cost me 260?!?…. Said it’s all good. Coolant leak pressure test 130? Good news they said the best looking XK ever seen. And they celebrated that by scratching up my new ceramic coating I just put on at the left reach haunch. 260 as we for rear diff fluid change.

anyone know a Jag Dealer or indie who can still code 12-15 instrument clusters?! You can still buy them I guess but nobody can code them?!? Really??

 

@Lothar52 Have they gone Pathfinder exclusive, or have JLR ceased providing engineering codes for main dealers? I find it difficult to believe. Either way if they’re no longer able to offer full support for 2015 and older vehicles they’ve no business accepting your business.

Sounds like they took your money and provided you with no answers.

Make certain they’re held accountable for the scratch and now go test your battery with a VOM. After sitting overnight disconnected from the car it should be 12.6 volts or higher. I’m going with battery as it’s the most commonly overlooked cause for the issues you’ve described.

 

From what I was told we can no longer program 2015 and older cars without serious issues. “Leave it as it is” is what I got. Meanwhile clusters new from jag dealerships are about 1200-1500 am I wrong? He said the software was “obsolete” to reprogram the instrument clusters… and that your constantly getting patch bits of code which leads to errors.

Honestly they felt my cluster issue was an annoying problem but functionally it is doing its job - leave it as is. Some times in start up the gauges flicker 1-1.5 seconds and then work fine. Other times it doesn’t do it at all. Some capacitor maybe died in the cluster maybe??? I’m no electrician and hated circuits in physics class 🤣. For me I am concerned it will eventually die/get worse/cause some other issue elsewhere if there is a larger root cause.

i strongly suggest everyone call every jag dealership in their area and ask if XK clusters can be reprogrammed without concern at their dealership and post HERE.

we need to know who we can turn to locally when these parts finally do die.

Loth

 

Lothar, 12.1 overnight is low from what I've read. I would replace the battery regardless of what the testing indicated. And it is true, dealers don't want to do any software checks or updates to these cars. I took my new to me 09 SV8 to the dealer and asked them if they would check that the software was up to date. He told me, "I wouldn't do it." So, we are on our own. But, as you are a veteran member, I'm guessing you know more about these cars than I do.

 

When I bought my 08 XK a little over 5 years ago I called the dealer to have the transmission adaptations reset, they told me they didn't want to do it for fear of bricking the car.

 

To reset the tranny adaptations, just do a Hard Reset. Dealers always have to do things the long way to justify the huge charges to do anything.

 

No "hard" reset available for the TCM, only done via SDD, which's been obsolete for a number of years now and why most main dealers will have nothing to do with anything older than 5 years or out of warranty. Too much liability and lawyers now I'm told. If something breaks in warranty, the manufacturer pays, if something breaks out of warranty, a dispute arises as to who's going to pay the bill.

 

??? Are you sure? I always thought a hard reset lost all the adaptive driving configuration.
If true, would this work??

1) Press Start button but don't turn on the engine.
2) Press the Accelerator down to the floor for about 15 seconds.
3) Hit the start button again to turn off the power.
4) Remove foot from Accelerator
5) Wait for 2 Mins.
6) Start the engine and Drive.

 

Yeah I got the same thing about the SDD. It’s obsolete and you may brick the car. I don’t understand. I got a 1997 mac and yes it’s obsolete but the computer as is, without updates, functions and still use its peripherals….. so why wouldn’t they be able to use old SDD to program new old stock to work in old cars?!? Did they yank them out and throw them away?

 

I have never heard of that one. Maybe that's for ECU adaptations? A TCM reset via SDD requires a very detailed list of steps to follow with regards to relearning the transmission's shifting such as driving specific speeds for specific periods of time, etc.

 

Actually many dealers have indeed binned their SDD carts and are Pathfinder exclusive. It's not that SDD can brick anything, it's they've not been trained on how to use it or they don't want the liability. Same for Land Rover too sadly.

 

Old Jag in AUS can probably do it.. How was it working with them? Loth

 

Just got a message from Old Jag. They do not think they could tackle the reprogramming of a new cluster from abroad. Wow we truly are doomed if the clusters go awry

Loth

 

We are close enough that if your cluster really goes awry I'm optimistic we can fix it together

 

how so? You own a Indy shop or?