Hi all,

I am using the xk (2000 convertible) only in weekends and nice weather.
Therefor I was confronted with a almost empty battery last winter after 4 weeks of cold weather, and had to use an external starter battery to get going again.
Since then the 2 year old battery has lost capacity.
In fact I should get a new one.
So besides from decoupling the battery, what could help to avoid or lower the draining?

Something else; when going on damaged roads I get sometimes hefty vibrations in the steering wheel. Something in the front suspension probably. What can i do to fix this?

Thanks on beforehand.
Luc

 

1. get a battery tender (see this link https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/g...battery+tender)

2. check front dampers / wishbone bushes

Graham

 

Are you locking the car when you leave it.
The car may not fully go to sleep if it is not locked.

 

Also never leave the key in the ignition lock; that will also prevent the car from going to sleep.

 

To: GGG

The car has to undergo a yearly roadsafety inspection; 2 years ago had to replace both of the rear shocks, not that it was failing but the damping difference between left and right was to big.
So I recon the dampers are ok, but any bushes in perticular that I should have a closer look at?

To Nori: I always lock the car, was even thinking to leave the car unlocked to avoid the usage of the alarm.

Regards,
Luc

 

Luc,

If only the rear shocks were replaced, it's time to check the fronts. The shocks themselves may be OK but the top mounts (item 7) and bottom bushes (item 5) do wear:



With the wishbones, it's the upper bushes (item 2) that wear the fastest:



The options here are stick with Jaguar OE or go aftermarket Polybush.

Graham

 

Check the metal 'window' inside of the ignition keyhole and make sure it closes when the key is removed. Occasionally they stick open, prevent the car from sleeping and causing battery drain.

 

You might want to measure current drain (ignition off) if you have a meter.
Don't turn the ignition on with the meter connected.

 

I've had "insidious battery drain" problems on other cars and twice it came down to either the trunk light or the glove compartment light, or both.

You can do a load test on the respective fuses, but the easiest way to confirm if the lights go out is to position a digital camera in the trunk or glove box, set it for a timed-delay shoot (with the flash disabled) and then close the compartment. Wait 15 seconds and see what comes out.

In the two cases I previously mentioned (on a really cool BMW 633), the switches were a bit worn and didn't open properly. A little shim on the opposing surface solved the problem.

At first glance, I don't see what operates our (XK8/R) trunk lights, but the glove box is straight forward.

Good luck! And if you do leave the car unused regularly, I too can not underscore the value of a Battery Tender. The damn thing works beyond anything I could have imagined!

 

[Check the metal 'window' inside of the ignition keyhole and make sure it closes when the key is removed. Occasionally they stick open, prevent the car from sleeping and causing battery drain.[/QUOTE]

Could that be why my steering wheel doesn't retract occasionally? If I reinsert the key most of the time it will work correctly...

 

Thanks for all the answers.

For the polybushes: If I check the site they seems to exist only in bright collors. Do they exist in black also?