Battery died after MOT from Jaguar

[Tim Atkinson]

This is a simple situation with a VERY simple solution. Let's assume that the battery needs replacement, as it's old and has just had a full drain cycle. Here's what you need:

>a replacement battery - expect to pay less than £200 - check spec at the auto parts place you visit
>if you don't know anyone who can lend you some jump leads, buy a set of jump leads
>if you don't have a small socket set with 10mm and 13mm sockets and a short extension bar, buy one of those

Here's what you should do:

>unlock the car with the blade key, being very careful not to scrape the paint under the handle
>connect the new battery to the jump start points under the bonnet with the jump leads
>start the car
>open the boot
>switch the car off
>remove the old battery (you'll need a 10mm and possibly 13mm socket with a short extension)
>fit the new battery being careful to tighten the connections correctly
>start the car
>put the windows down
>put the windows all the way up (they won't go up with 'one touch')
>with the windows fully up, hold the window switches UP for a few seconds
>lower the windows
>check that the 'one-touch' window closing now works, if not, repeat this step
>NEVER EVER go near that dealership again
>post the name of the dealership here so that we all know to avoid it!

[scm]

Problem is though - the car is completely dead - no life - so the boot won’t open and I am guessing I need a jump start to try and get that open to access the battery?

You can open the car using the physical key located in the fob. Once in you can pop the bonnet and connect power (spare battery or a real charger (not a maintainer)) to the underbonnet terminals. Have the fob handy to stop the alarm! That should give you enough power to open the boot. I had a flat battery a few months after I bought mine and the AA (Jag Assist) came out and got me open and going. I charged my battery with a CTEK and the recon option and that battery is now over 7 years old and still going strong (hope I haven#t jinxed it!). I still pop the CTEK on it every month or so to keep it topped up.

If you do remove the battery make sure you put someting over the boot catch to prevent it from closing, or you'll be in a world of pain to get it open again!

[Jackle14]

Thanks everyone!!

AA have checked the battery and it’s all good so far - it’s now running idle for a further 2hrs to see if it’s all good.

Only £35 - happy days (yes the battery got charged enough and then disconnected for 5mins to reset odb)

[scm]

If the battery went flat that would be the equivalent of disconnecting to reset everything anyway so no real need to do it manually. I would suggest you get a battery maintainer if you haven't already, so you can fully charge the battery and don't suffer this again.

[MikeM]

Thanks everyone!!

AA have checked the battery and it’s all good so far - it’s now running idle for a further 2hrs to see if it’s all good.

Only £35 - happy days (yes the battery got charged enough and then disconnected for 5mins to reset odb)

Result

[Tim Atkinson]

I’d be reluctant to trust that battery, so keep a close eye on it and if you leave the car for more than a few days, make plans to cope with it being problematic. A battery of that age, having been deep-cycled flat, at this time of year, could be on its very last legs. It's very cheap and easy to replace.

[elugelab]

Or get on Amazon or similar and buy one of those lithium jump packs - they normally have a "boost" button which when connected to the jump points under the bonnet will give you enough power for a brief time to unlatch the boot. I've used one a few times when the battery was flat, to access to charge it.

[MikeM]

My car isn’t used so much in the Autumn and Winter so is permanently connected to a CTEK MXS5.0. also have a Noco GB40 for a rapid jump start but this is usually used to support someone else’s car

[ianp]

Hello everyone,

Last year when I had my MOT for my F-Type (my16) - it developed. “Please start engine low battery” when powering off. The Jaguar garage took car of this promptly and told me it was their issue.

Fast forward to the 09/09/24 and I have my MOT done.
The day later I have the same issue. I call them and they are very dismissive this time and had me booked in earliest 31/10/24.
I complained several times for my car to be seen asap but they never called me back.

Fast forward to Sunday and my car is as dead as a dodo. It won’t even open the door properly due to no residual power.

I had to physically turn up to the dealership this morning to be fobbed off by the manager claiming that the battery is my fault and they “Don’t use the equipment anymore to leave the session open” so the drain is not their cause.

I told them I know it’s their cause because it’s not coincidence that this happened directly after mot for the second time.

They are recovering the car tomorrow at my own cost and exclaimed they won’t be working on the car for weeks now due to a backlog they have.

Is there ANYWAY I can prove they’ve left the session open? I have a horrible feeling they know they’ve done this despite “changing equipment “ and will blame me/my battery for the fault.

I’m absolutely livid with the way they have treated me and I have complained to Jaguar customer care and they didn’t get very far when they phoned the dealer either.
Awful customer service…

Please can anyone advise how I can not be lied to when they eventually look at the car?

Kind regards,
Kyle

I had this issue and the battery was replaced free of charge under my extended warranty.

[DOC IW]

I had my local independent garage (an independent Audi specialist I use for my wife’s S4, but also happy to do bits n pieces on the F-Type when needed) do my battery, which was causing the same issue that you describe. They fitted a new Lucas brand battery and did the ECU reprogram to “tell it” there was a new battery. Excellent job and they fitted it in next day for me and I’m sure at a fraction of the price that you’ll pay for the dealership recovery, etc.