All,

I am driving home having just bought a 2007 XK Convertible. As some of you may know me from the X100 section, this car is the replacement for our 2003 XKR that was in an accident and ruled a total loss.

I seem to be having a few gremlins that I suspect are battery related:
Windows Don’t Dip
Passenger Seat dead (no lights on switch)

The PPI I had done reported the battery at 11.78 with the car running and lights on and 14.02 at the alternator. I assume that I want that battery to be in the 12.5 zone, and I don’t know it’s age.

My thought is to put an Interstate Mega-Tron plus in the car. Now the real question, will that just solve the problems or do I need to go through reset procedures? I know I’ll need to reset the windows, but what about the seat? Anything I need to do for the top? Since the car is an 07, I don’t think I have a battery monitor to worry about, so this should just be a straight swap?

Thanks! Pics of the car.

 

The top may not work properly unless you reset the windows...so do that first.

You may also be prompted to cycle the parking brake.

Hopefully the seat will come back to life on its own with the new battery. If not could need to be re-calibrated with the Jag SDD system.

The battery is a straight swap, but make sure to connect the vent.

Beautiful car BTW...congrats!

 

Thank you. What am I looking for regarding load test results? What is optimal and what is minimum acceptable?

Thanks!

 

Good looking ride. Enjoy it. Regarding the battery; it needs to read 12.5+ at rest. Also invest in CTek battery minder if you have electrical power near where you are going keep the cat when not driving it. The Ctek and necessary accessories are available on EBay or Amazon for less then $100 all in and it only takes about 15-20 minutes to install it. Then between 15 and 30 seconds to hook it up or unhook it. A real sound investment.
Another great investment is White XKRs Remote top Controller, preferably with the rear window control accessory. For further information go to his website thejaguarwrangler.com. A lot of us have the controller and think it is a necessity.

 

Does 11.78 running with lights seem low then? Trying to gauge what that number should be. Thanks.

 

I think it is low. I use an OBD hooked up to the Torque app on my Android phone and have never seen that low a reading. There are others that are more knowledgeable than I am, perhaps they will chime in.

 

Use a meter. Check at battery then various places around the car. 11.78 would be terrible.

 

yes, 11,78v is way to low!

 

Battery load tests requires a load tester that puts a power load on the battery and based on the recovery will give you battery status. Now normal power under driving is a measurement of the charging system. That being said a reading of 11.7 volts to me says the system is not charging . With your MY 4.2 L engine you should be seeing between 13.8 to 14.2 volts during normal driving and even at idle. Another test is to measure the voltage at the battery after the car has been sitting and a good battery will read 12.5-12.7 volts. If less then that either charge it or replace it. Also you should find out how old the battery is. So start with the battery voltage at rest and then have the alternator out put checked. Go from there.

 

I would start by topping off the battery with whatever flavor charger you have with the battery disconnected. These car's electronics are always looking at the voltage and for some dumb reason once the voltage drops they start doing dumb stuff which uses more amps which is harder on the battery. The car refuses to 'go to sleep' and some functions come on by themselves (lights, wipers etc). Some folks have not been able to charge their batteries while hooked up with no obvious signs of foul play.

Once the battery is up, check it with a meter and then let it sit overnight and check it again. If it drops below 12.5 vdc at either test, replace it.

Have you downloaded the manuals off the sticky at the top of this sub forum? You will need the X150 and electrical manuals. The other are interesting to read.

After replacing the battery you'll need to reset the windows in both the up and down position by moving them to the limit of travel and the holding the button for a couple seconds again in the direction you were going. Instead of switches the factory uses circuit breakers to detect the limits. Which brings us to the no dip problem. When frozen the window motor will overload trying to go down and then reset the 'lower' limit to all the way up and the window won't dip. You need to unhook the battery to reset them. Complete ever loving PITA to deal with because when it's frozen outside the last thing you want to do is crash the glass into hard rubber seals. A 10 mm wrench stays in the trunk of my car for just such emergencies to pop the battery. A couple good raps on the top of the glass after the reset usually get it to lower enough to close

It sounds like your seat is a separate issue. Some modules will reset once the battery is reconnected. I'd concentrate on getting it to charge and the glass to work correctly first. Good luck and keep us informed.

 

I bought the car Thursday and drive it home from ATL to the DC area. I put 4 new tires (Pilot A/S 3) in ATL and knew the brakes were hard yellow rear.

Back home, we replaced rear brakes and rotors (oem) and had the battery inspected. I would have replaced but they didn’t have the one I wanted in stock. They said the battery looked good just needed a charge as it was reporting low.

So, the car is in my garage on my CTEK charging. After it goes green, I’ll disconnect and reconnect battery to do a soft reset. And see how things are. If no improvement, I’ll replace the battery and take it from there.

I’ll keep you all posted and thanks!

 

Quick update. Battery was green on the CTEK this AM. So I pulled the Grnd cable for a 5 count and reconnected.

Reset parking brake and windows. Happy to report, I now have working seats. This was 99% of my concern.

Window dip is a question. My old X100s windo made a very noticeable drop (an inch?) but here it’s almost imperceptible. How far should the windows drop and raise?

I’m still inclined to a new battery but the urgency has slipped.

 

On my coupe, maybe 3/8". Just enough to clear the rubber seal.

Now that the battery is up, drive it at least two days a week and see what works and what doesn't.

 

Buttoned the trunk up after I reseated the Bluetooth module connections.

Now both Bluetooth and seats work :-)

Windows still a bit off, and I can’t drop the top due to the luggage separator. Is there a how to on that? I swear it’s in right but what a PITA that is.

Progress though :-)

 

Is the trunk shut? The top will not operate unless it is.

Also, on the left end of the horizontal rail near the handle on the luggage separator 'shade' there should be a metal clip. Make sure it has not fallen off.

 

Check the left side of the separator in it's seated position. There should be a little metal plate which trips the magnetic switch on the left hand track. Sometimes this falls off and if it did you can't open the top. I think the OM shows where the switch is located.

 

Got it. I had in wrong. Still a PITA :-)

I think the windows are ok, they just dip much less than I am used too.

I was able to pair my phone once the BT module came back.

Now, the only issue (assuming windows are ok) is the steering wheel tilts but dies not telescope. Honestly, I don’t really care as it’s in all the way, which is what I want. My big concern was the passenger seat as we like to drive with the 2 kids so all 4 seats in use.

Still keeping an eye on things. I ordered a CTEK comfort connect panel and will affix in the trunk (cut some of the panel fabric to mount button). This worked well in my X100.