Convertible top windows not going all the way up?
 

I have a 98 and 99 XK8 and they both have the same issue.

When I turn off the car and get out, the window goes down, but does not go back up for the tight seal up to the convertible top..... if I open the door up and then close it right away, the window goes down lower, again and again. This happens with both of my cars. I did replace, swap out both batteries, do they need to be reset? I did try the roll all the way up, hold for 10 seconds, then roll all the way down for 10 seconds trick that works on Mercedes, but didn't work here.

Anyone?

Windycityx,

Sounds like they do need resetting.
Power the windows down, keeping your finger on the switch. You should hear a slight click. Then power the windows up, keeping your finger on the switch until you hear another click. That should do the trick.
If you don't hear the click just count to 5 at either end.

Hope this helps.

If the window reset doesn't work, try a hard reset from the battery first. Plenty of threads on this, but simple steps are:

Key off
Disconnect negative terminal
Touch neg lead to positive terminal for 20 seconds
Reconnect neg terminal

Then do the window reset as jimbov8 suggested. That should do it. You may need to reset radio and throttle as well. Not sure about 98/99 cars.

Problem fixed on both, I know I did it on the one don't know why it didn't reset the first time and I just assumed it was some odd problem with both, both fixed, thanks for telling me to do it again! Thanks!

Now I just need my trans fixed as per my other thread, wish that was a 10 second fix!

Reseting electric windows
 

I've reset the windows by holding the switch down which works great thanks but it only lasts for a few days until the problem returns.

Anyone any idea why & if I have to disconnect the battery, how do I reset the radio & throttle??

It's a 2004 XKR convertible.

Thanks for your help.

Cheers,
JW

Here's us guys wearing out our best typing thumbs to keep the stickies up-to-date !!
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ect-faq-74146/

This is the classic low-battery symptom. The problem keeps reappearing beacuse when you start the car, the voltage drops below some critical level (~ 10 V) and a memory chip which is supposed to remember how high to raise the windows loses its contents.

Check the condition of your battery, and if it won't hold an acceptable charge send it off to wherever batteries go to die.

Well I've just left the car at the airport for a week while I was away & when I got back it started on the first turn of the key & spun the engine over like a good'un, so while I'm not saying you're wrong about the battery I'd be surprised if you're right.

Let us know whatever it turns out to be.

The symptom as you described it ... similar cases reported here ... I can't recall one with a different cause.

I would be surprised if Dennis is wrong.

Enough current to spin the starter does not necessarily mean enough voltage to maintain the electronics during starting...especially on these cars.

If this was the case wouldn't both windows need resetting every time the voltage dropped too low??

I'm finding the driver's window needs resetting but the passenger's window is still working since I reset it the other week???

Cheers,

I would say the battery. Have a load test performed on your battery.

No. Each window is controlled by a separate electronic module. The voltage threshold can vary a bit between modules as to when they lose their memory.

John,

The only thing that remembers the limit of window travel is electrical; there's no mechanical stop. We could postulate other causes, but when a setting is lost the prime suspect is low voltage. As WhiteXKR said, a small voltage difference could make one side hold, the other lose its setting (not unlikely since things are probably right on the edge).

Jaguar should market this window thing as a feature. It's a remarkably good low-charge indicator.

My first step would be to give the battery a good external charge and see how well it can hold that. Rest voltage will tell us. Do you have a digital voltmeter?

No, what would I do - connect it across the battery to check it's voltage??

Thanks

Yes, with the ignition off and after the car has not run for at least 8 hours or so. Anything under 12.3-12.4 volts is a suspect battery.

Alternatively take it to a car parts shop that sells batteries and they probably will test it for you for free using a special tester that tests the battery under load.

So, it took the trickle charger about 36 hours to fully charge the battery at which point I turned the charger off & took the following readings:

Voltage after charge 12.8
After 24 hrs 12.4
After 48 hrs 12.33
After 72 hrs 12.29

I then took it for a short run & took the following readings:
After short run 12.63
After 24 hrs 12.26

So, it looks as if the battery isn't holding it's charge so I'm in discussions with the Jag main dealer I bought the car off, arguing that they should have tested the battery & not simply reset the windows during their after sales inspection, hoping for a replacement battery.

Thanks for your help.

Thank you so much. I just tried this reset trcik after getting my XK8 convertible back after a new fan assembly was out in for overheating. As a first try the window on the passenger's side seems to be behaving. Time will tell.

I'm a big fan of such precise measurements; they're the best single indicator of a battery's ability to hold charge.

If you don't mind a little fine tuning ... temperature matters enough that we need to correct for it. Taking room temperature as the base case, we need to add ~ .06 volts to measurements taken at 32 deg. F., twice that at 0 deg. F.

If it's as cold there as it is here, your 12.26 V would translate to something in the area of 12.35 V. Not what you'd see from a new battery, but not a terrible number either.

( But I hope your dealer springs for a new battery anyway. Good luck.)