Hello all!
I wanted to take the Lady (the one with 4 wheels) for a ride and ,oops,battery depleted!The car is reasonably new (October 2014) and despite i left the car (under a cover) in the garage for 4 weeks without driving her,I didn't expect this.
Jaguar assistance came,charged the bat and established there was no electrical leak.
I thought I would share with you the conclusion :not to leave the car unlocked thinking it would save the battery!I was told that by doing this the unlocked car keeps searching for your fob (if it makes sense) defying the purpose.
Conclusion for me:lock your car (one click) and don't connect the alarm (don't double click).
That said,can I ask if anyone think it is worthwhile to purchase a battery charger and if the answer is positive,how often you would use it.
Thank you for your comments,all welcome!!

Phil

 

It's clear that you don't visit this forum often or you'd have read post after post of members who have their cars hooked up to a charger every night. If the car isn't your daily driver it's almost mandatory procedure. And always lock the car as there are power drains galore when the car is left unlocked.

 

See the next thread, Touchscreen won't periodically turn on, and read the last couple of posts regarding charging.

 

In my experience, even if it is your daily drive, lock it and plug it in every night.

 

Hello Jpav27!
Thank you for your useful comment!After i read the threads about the same subject and had the dealer on the phone yesterday to tell me that the problem was kind of common with the XKs,i would like to understand how a car locked and left untouched can drain its battery.If its advisable that you are better plugging in even if you regularly use the car,i can only think that there is a serious flaw in the design of the car!Any idea someone about the culprit(s)?

 

Buy the CTEK MUS 4.3...8 Step ...Smartcharger from Amazon.



I own 3 of these and keep all of my premium sports cars connected to the CTEK daily. I have never had a battery problem.

 

In my experience if your battery is playing up just change it!

My 07 is a fair weather daily driver but I only work 4 miles from home so it doesn't exactly get a work out most of the time (it averaged 9 miles a day the first year I had it). Now I have a spare car the XKR can sit in the garage for 4 or 5 days so it only averaged just over 7 miles a day last year.

I had lots of problems in the first year or so even when I used a CTEK. After changing the battery to an AGM one 1.5 years ago the issues stopped, I don't lock the car overnight and I have had no need to use the CTEK.

If your car is regularly left for days or weeks on end without being used then it might make sense to plug it in but otherwise just sort out the underlying issue.

 

I view it as you do have a battery problem if you need a charger on it all the time. Sure the battery charger will keep your battery charged, but I want to know what is draining the battery so much that it needs the charger. The blanket statement "there are lots of components on these cars that drain the battery" isn't providing enough detail. Maybe your battery needs to be replaced?


I do not dispute that a charger will keep the battery at its max output which is good for the car, rather I am puzzled as to why the previous owner of my car did not ever have a need for a charger, also, none of my friends who also have modern Jags use a charger. I can see if you are not going to drive your car for weeks at a time to need the charger...but if you drive it at least twice a week it should be good.


Not debating the value of the charger - just thinking out loud.

 

Well thought it was time to chime in. I have now joined the group frustrated by power/battery issues. Have owned 2011 XK since June and last week experienced second total power failure.
First dead battery occurred in August. Car wouldn't start. Dealer picked up car charged battery and told me everything was working fine.
Thanks to Forum advice I made sure I locked car overnight. Over winter car has been driven less with battery holding up well. Car went as many as 8 days without use and started without issue.
A week ago had car out on Friday and Saturday for routine drives (10 miles each way parkway driving). On the following Monday car wouldn't open as battery was completely drained.
Jag service could find nothing. Said battery was fine and alternator was fine and all connections were fine.
Needless to say this did not make me happy. Struggling with the idea as well as to how the company can accept this issue as a whole. After reading extensively on this forum I see where owners are coming from.
For me I made the decision that I would rather take back and drive the car with the potential risk than to leave it with Jag techs indefinitely while they try to recreate an issue that happened without warning after 6 months!
While I understand why others readily accept using a battery tender regularly just for peace of mind I am struggling to join that group.
This is by far the best and most enjoyable car I have owned with the exception of this issue. Had a '69 Camaro that I loved at the time but had to part with because of water leaks inside the car. This issue is more palatable than that. At the same time I would argue that Jaguar's brand and reputation should be important enough for them and not us to find the solution.

 

↑ Just curious if you ever replaced it with a brand new battery? Although your current battery seems fine...I would replace it anyway just to see if it improves things.

 

I can't help but think people are looking at the wrong things. This is a GT car, designed for driving long distances at speed, in comfort. It was not built for popping down the shops every other week. I'm not disputing you shouldn't be able to do this, but if you're never stretching it's legs and putting in any distance driving then what do you expect to happen?
I have never charged my battery, do not have it hooked up to a tender and have left it up to 8 weeks without starting up, yet it starts every time without problem. However, when I do use it I go for a long drive, most commonly I do my commute which is 35 miles each way, I like to think that this allows the battery to get fully charged and prevent any issues, or maybe I'm just lucky...............

 

Have not replaced with brand new battery. Before my purchase battery had been replaced on two separate occasions making me a bit suspicious that that was Jags answer to problem.
As far as Jockster suggesting Grand Touring car was "built" for long drives that argument doesn't hold any water in my books. Jaguar doesn't claim to know what is wrong with the car they designed and manufactured but the claim is that they "built" it for a particular driving style?
I'm assuming that all of those owners without battery issues are just more fortunate than the ones that do.
I have reached out to Jaguar USA in hopes that they will take some interest in this matter. Car is under warranty, has CPO as well as another 4 years coverage that I purchased. Not thrilled to have this much coverage only to get "can't find anything wrong" reply from service reps.

 

JaysXK, just so it's clear, your dealer fully charged the battery and gave the system the OK in August, since then you've started and driven it at least every 8 days. Were these all 'routine drives' like you say of around 10 miles or have you been on longer drives? If not then it's like only charging your phone for 5 minutes every other day and still expecting it to be fine.

 

Although I haven't had a battery failure the 2012 that I purchased 2 years ago had a battery replacement in 2014. The service report was the battery was dead and after recharge and test it failed so it was replaced. I agree that any car should not have to go on a charger every night and I would bet if I used my car as a DD it would be OK. I just had my alternator replaced because I was not satisfied with the output and after the dealer tested it they thought the same and replaced it under warranty after only 15K miles. They also did a battery test and determined it to be OK . I have been reading and now have an understanding of the 2010-2015 charging system and it is unlike the earlier cars. Basically it is controlled by the ECU.I think the bigger question that I don't believe we or the dealer knows is what is the parasitic drain on the battery over a 24 hr time frame with a locked car at lets say room temperature. We assume that everything is not shut down so how much drain is there and how does it affect the battery and charging system. My car is on a Ctek now and has been for the last 2 weeks since I drove it and it is sitting on float (step 7) at 13.7V. If the weather hold I'll be out in the next week or so and will be tracking how well the charging system is functioning. Having had other toys that were part time drivers I have always had to have a smart charger on them due to lack of use. I haven't looked over to the other Jaguar forms but do the XJ and XF cars have the same issue or are they more of a DD and don't have this concern.

 

I had a dead battery the second day, embarrasingly enough. I went out and turned convenience mode on, so that the sirius xm could get the signal to activate, turned it off, and went back inside. 6 hours later, I went to get in and it was dead.

That being said, dead is only 7v, at that point the voltage is not enough to excite teh primary power relay, and it will discontinue battery drain, but nothing will work. Fortunately this saves you from really killing your battery to the point of possibly needing a replacement, and can be brought back to full voltage in only a short time.

 

Jockster,

The car had been a daily driver. Only once in last six months has it been idle for eight days.
Your 5 minute phone charge analogy is not correct. If that were to be the true cause of this issue car would have been dead quite often during same period of time.
Despite my lack of regular long trips battery expired after repeated usage not after periods of down time.
No car should die without warning under these conditions.
Love the name, style and substance of the Jaguar XK but refuse to accept blame for its failures.
As a side when I called Jaguar USA about this issue they asked me whether dealer had recommended battery tender?
Members of the Forum have recommended it but I was a bit surprised the Company would do the same.

 

You might be surprised as I was to see how many upscale cars recommend and sell smart chargers for their cars. In fact they usually have their car logo on the charger so they can inflate the price.

 

Hello all!Well i can see that XK battery is...a hot topic!
I certainly can appreciate that:1/leaving your car unlocked drains the battery instead of sparing it-i learn that lesson and 2/a short run would do the same:draining instead of charging andif you combine the two...
To answer your question,my car has been registered in October 2014 which makes her battery pretty new enough to me-i can't discard the possibility of a fault though.
Jag assistance came that day i was stranded and the (nice) chap said the voltage was back after charge and he verified there wasn't any drain from the battery at rest.
I intend to buy a charger to stay out of trouble but also more to keep an eye on the battery itself.
I also intens to have a chat with whom-who-knows there in case there is something to learn-and to share with you if anything comes up.
Cheers!

 

Jagtoes,

I do understand the premise of expensive cars sitting for long periods of time having battery issues. I'm sure in those situations this recommendation is completely justified.
At the same time when dealer (in my case) is asking about my driving habits I suppose in researching the issue further, it gives off vibe that manufacturer is less responsible for its product.
The "you don't know how to use it properly" defense rubs me the wrong way.
Now I may be completely wrong about the attitude of the dealership and the company. They would both make me feel a whole lot better if they could resolve these issues and not pass them on to the consumer.

 

Here is my take on the matter:

1. There is a known excessive drain problem on some of the 5.0 models. It is here: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...at-battery.pdf
Everyone with a vehicle in this VIN range with a battery drain problem should have this update to the infotainment system addressed.

2. The electronic systems in Jaguars (and many other modern cars) are intolerant of weak batteries. The problem is usually a result of the voltage provided to the computer modules dips too low during the high current demands of starting, causing the computer module internal power supplies to be unable to regulate thieir internal voltages. This ends up causing strange glitches because the computer modules 'crash'.

3. XKs can draw a few amps for a few minutes before they automatically go to sleep. Once asleep, they draw about 30 ma continuously. This is pretty typical behavior for modern luxury cars.

4. Wet lead acid batteries also self-discharge at around 20 ma per hour at room temperature.

5. For a typical 100 A/hr battery in an XK, this combined 50mA/hr drain means a battery will lose 70% of its charge in about 60 days. For practical purposes most batteries are not in 100% new condition, so the 70% charge can be considered full capacity. So I would say sitting 60 days would be about the best one could expect. For an older battery, 30 days might be a better estimate.

6. XK's are the kind of vehicle that often sits in storage for significant periods.

7. Wet cell lead acid batteries have GREATLY shortened lives when spending extended period in a partially discharged state.



So what does this all mean?
1. If you use the car regularly (at least twice a week), your standard battery should be fine and give at least a 4-5 year life.

2. If you use the car regularly, and the car dies after just a short storage period, you probably need a new battery. If you bought the car used, who knows what the history of usage was ?

3. If you do not use the car at least a couple of times a week, get an AGM battery. This type of battery tolerates a partial discharge state much better than a wet cell type. A battery maintainer would extend the life even further.

4. If you do not use the car at least a couple of times a month, a battery maintainer is highly advised.