Hello hopefully some one can help me. I would really appreciate it.
I left my 99 XK8 parked in the garage too long and the battery went down.
The car was running fine, and only had enough juice to click but not start.
I had Autozone recharge the battery, but now I have put the battery back in the car still acts dead. Not a light flicker, beep or click.
I have checked all fuses and even swapped around a couple of the relays in the fuse box.
I did attach a battery jump box to the grommet by the fuse box and frame ground, to try and jump the car.
I may have heard a slight pop under the hood when starting buy am not sure.
Can anyone help me out with an idea? Why is my car dead? If this has already been answered, I would also appreciate being directed to the post.

Thanks in advance,

Sean

 

Sean,
Welcome, please pop into
New Member Area - Intro a MUST - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum
and introduce yourself.
I've moved your post to a new thread.

 

Hi.

I assume your battery is fully charged.

As soon as you connect your battery your trunk light lights up.
When you turn on ignition, any dash lights? Do your windows work? In this case you of course have electrical power.

There are two thick short cables going from the battery to the main fuses in the trunk. These cables are known to work loose from their connections to the fuses. Also the crimped on connections are known to detoriate over time. Any problems here may make starting impossible caused by the large current draw, despite have lights in the car.

Next step is to give the starter a light knock with a rubber mallet.

 

Do you mean you put a battery on the terminal at the fusebox in the
engine compartment and tried to start the car?

If so, in all liklihood you blew one or both of the large primary
fuses in the boot when you attempted to start the car. They are
located at the back of the boot near the spare tire. Check them out
for continuity.

 

Thanks for the suggestions, but I've check the fuses already. Ran through all of the ones under the hood and in the trunk. Everything looks good. Pecked the starter just for kicks but I've never had problems with that. I've double checked cables. Battery still shows a good charge. Any next suggestions?

 

Most people are not aware of the two primary fuses in the BACK of the trunk, not in the fusebox itself...did you check those also?

 

Sorry for the extended absence, I've away on vacation and for work. So where exactly are the primary fuses in the trunk near the fuse box? I would like to check this.

 

Do you have a different battery to try? That's one item that is easy to eliminate.. Especially since the car was running fine before it ran down. Perhaps the battery has enough juice to light everything up, but not enough to crank.

 

Sean, trace the + cable from the battery. It goes down to a black box just in front of the spare tire. There are two 80 Amp primary fuses in there, and the odds of blowing one of them is high if you attempt to jump the car from the terminals at the engine compartment fuse box. That is what whitexkr has been trying to get you to look at.

 

Thanks Guys! I really appreciate everyone's help here. I see what you mean now. I actually figured it out over the weekend. I had a one year old battery from Autozone that died. I had had it recharged once and they told me that it was good to go. So I trusted them. Number one, their batteries don't seem to be good, and number 2, they didnt bother to double check their work. My mistake for just trusting them. But anyway, I took the battery back again for a charge and they found it completely dead. So they replaced it and my car is starting fine. I just went through a bunch of trouble because I didnt bother to double check their work. I really appreciate everyones help here and will be glad to contribute when I can. ... I'll actually likely be back as soon as it warms up. My convertible top seems to be sticking and not wanting to close all way without a little manual help.

 

Have you tried the top with the new battery? Too low of a voltage will cause the top not to complete it's closing.

Just a thought.