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judow

judow

Darth Vader - R.I.P
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Help! I think perhaps one of you can help me. Hubby is out of town for another week and can't help me now. Alas I was going to take Onslow, the Jag, for a ride this morning and it is/was totally dead. I haven't used the car in about 8-10 days. I put it on the charger at a trickle cycle (said deep charge) for about 2 1/2 hours and still not even so much as light on or a click from the ignition. Also charger gauge didn't change. (Was still at the beginning of cycle)

I am stumped. I can wait for hubby to come home but I would like to be able to diagnose and maybe fix the problem myself. Is there some sort of kill switch that could have accidently been triggered?

When I last used the car, there was nothing out of the orginary happening and I didn't leave the lights on or anything electrical that I am aware of.

Thanks for any help I can get.

Oh yes, I did read the manuals I have but didn't get any advice of help.

Thanks
Onslow's perplexed caregiver.
Judy
 
I have no clue what sort of Jag you have, but it probably makes no difference. What I would do is this. Remove both battery cables. Remove the ground first. Most cars that will be the Negative cable, but check in the manual. Some older Jags are Positive ground. Usually only pre 67 cars Make sure that you cannot mix the cables up upon reinstallation.Put the charger on a madium charge, and leave it for 2 or 3 hours.By this time you should see some movement on the gauge. Clean the terminals on the battery, and the cables. A little sandpaper works ok for that. Re install the cables, the "hot" cable first(See manual as above) Start car, and go motoring.
 
that's correct Jess, but I'm going to add a little more for the lady, ok?

if a modern car, the Black cable is the Ground/Earth/Negative. The Red cable is the Positive/Hot.

The Battery itself might have a + (Plus) marking for Positive and a - (Minus) marking for Negative, usually next to each pole, and usually in raised lettering that blind people can read with their fingers. Though I really don't understand why because blind people can't drive, but maybe there are blind mechanics.

whenever my battery discharges from lack of use, it takes a day or two to get it charged enough to start the engine, so leave it alone while charging and ventilate the area.

make sure the Red cable of the Charger is going to the Plus + marking > Positive pole, and the Black cable of the charger to the Minus - marking > Negative pole.

When recharging the battery, it doesn't matter if the car is positive or negative ground, as long as the charger's cables are connected correctly to the battery.

Also make sure everything is OFF in the car, all switches OFF, all lights off. Later get hubby in the trunk with a flashlight and shut the lid on him, to find out if the trunk's light is staying ON with the trunk's lid closed. (it happens). If everything is ok then let him out of the trunk, or you can take advantage of the situation to negotiate. (just kiddin').

WARNING: do not touch the water inside the battery, or outside if some is spilling, it contains ACID, not good for your health or hands. When a battery is charging, this acid sort of "boils" (electrons get excited) and emits some dangerous explosive gases. DO NOT SMOKE NEAR THE BATTERY AT ANY TIME. That's why you need to ventilate the area.

Ex
 
Thank you guys.

Firstly I need to explain that Onslow is a 1996. I did hook up the charger exactly as you indicated. The battery is only a couple of months old. I left it on the charger for almost 3 hours and there was no change in the charger indicator which was below the "5" mark. I will go back into the garage and put the battery on the charge on the deep cycle, 12 amps and let it stay on the charger until about 8:00 or 9:00 in the evening and see if this makes any difference. It is now almost 3:00 PM, so that will give it 5-6 hours and should (I think) at least give the battery some charge. If this doesn't do anything I will suspect that either I have a bad battery (I guess this could happen) or that some cable connecting all the electrical system has come loose. (Again I guess this could happen) If this is the case I guess I'll attempt to follow the lines with an amp gauge, hubby has one somewhere in his tool area and I'll call him and ask him where. Perhaps I can still locate the problem before he gets home.

Quite honestly I really want to do this myself, but..

As to checking the boot light, I like that idea. Also, yes Onslow is fitted for the blind mechanic/driver. I can feel the negative and positive marks. Plus is positive, isn't it? Just Kidding, I do know red/positive/plus and black/negative/minus. What with being the caretaker of a Healey, I do from time to time maintain and sometimes fix a problem. I.E., no signals, horn, etc. in the Healey. Knew where the fuse box was, had extra fuses and a 50/50 chance of getting it right the first time. Replaced the first fuse and voila, all was right. For the non-Healey owners, there are only 2 fuses in the 100-M.

Female but trying to do the right thing... /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/banana.gif /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/banana.gif
 
I've met a few female mechanics, they take their job seriously and have a good sense of logic for pinpointing problems.

Me, I had a feeling it was a modern car, for some reason. but you need to give the charger more time if the battery was completely discharged. Best to charge it with the car's cables removed.

The 1996 has a "Dump Module" in the Alternator-electrical system which goes bad, and you do say the battery is recent, so that tells me it is not being charged properly by the Alternator. it took two months to drain and ultimately damage the battery. If it doesn't recover, don't get another without checking the alternator and the so-called dump module.

I've been reading about a lot of people having one problem after another with their 1996 models. What is it? Maybe Jess knows. I sure don't know a lot about the '96 except what I've been reading. Mine are a 1965 and a 1984.

Takes two to check the boot light, one to be trapped inside and the other to negotiate a ramson for opening the lid!! But Wait! the 1996 may have a safety release inside the boot, so keep your demands within reason! You don't want hubby to surprise you opening the lid with a big "OHH YEAHH??"

Ex
 
/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thankyousign.gif

Thanks for your help. I am now going to take the battery out of the car and go from there. Not sure where I'm going but I am stubborn and eventually I will either determine the problem and fix it OR husband will determine the problem and fix it OR mechanic will make a house call? In any event it will be fixed.

Enjoy your weekend.

Onslow's perplexed caregiver
Judy
 
/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/driving.gif Onslow is again purring like the Jag that he is. Thanks to the both of you. Finally got the battery to take a charge, went to Sears (noticed some corrusion on one of the cables) praying I wouldn't stall. Got there and the bad news was that if it were the alternator we would have to go to the Jag dealer, they couldn't do anything. Turns out the batter was BAD!! This also caused the corrosion on the cable. Bad cell they said. Checked also the alternator and all was fine. WHEW!!!

Thanks again!
 
Judy,

You read my mind on the battery check... a few month old battery and only 8-10 days unused is a red flag. I had to do the same thing on the 1975 XJ6C, bought a quickie Wal-Mart battery when I began bringing the car out of dormancy, less than a year old (last October on the receipt). I knew that it would require a full charge, but after a day on the charger, I got only about 5 minutes of cranking power. I had just installed the new carbs, and needed much more of course to tune the set. My first thought was an electical drain, bad ground or connection, then maybe a battery cable had loosened or corroded. I thought for a while, and then saw the "1 year free replacement label" and decided to let Wal-Mart do the troubleshooting for me, at least eliminate the rare chance that a new battery died quickly. There was nobody in automotive at 1 am, so they kindly did a swap without the battery being checked and I have had no trouble since. I plan to buy a very heavy-duty higher grade battery when the rest of the tuning is done on the car, but even those often suffer the dead cell syndrome well before the warranty is ended, usually in my experience in the last year when you may receive a few dollars off on the pro-rated replacement.
Good to hear you are back on the road, and I hope your husband is happy you were so quick to explore all of the possibilities... electrical troubleshooting is extremely methodical, and very time-consuming for me. I am learning but it sounds as though you have had some experience in that area.
Karma has arrived, as I now have no spark to the ignition (and several old, brittle wires with no spade connectors or no apparent original destination). Rewiring and testing of the Crane Ignition Module distributor/ballast resistor and coil area requires way too much studying of the original wiring/ ignition setup and the same for the aftermarket modifications to correct in one afternoon. To make matters worse for the limited skills I possess, there appears to be an old Ign. Module/Amp called a "Lumenition" still bolted to the coil mount and still partially connected to the updated Crane Fireball setup! I don't believe that Wal-Mart will be of any help this time. If you have any troubleshooting tips pass them my way.

Best Regards,
Brian /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/eek.gif /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crazy.gif
 
I found this site while googling "electrical system 96..." and while I didn't understand a lot of this electrical jargon it did assist me and I better understood (or at least tricked myself into thinking I did) this complicated electrical system.


https://www.jag-lovers.org/books/old-xj-s/electrical.htm

Maybe it will help you. What I was looking for was a wiring diagram showing all those cables that split from the battery to nether, nether land.

Good Luck.

Oh yes, the battery is a heavy duty battery including it's price... lol. Got to tell you, the Healey is a lot easier than the Jag's monstrous engine, etc. However Onslow is a keeper and Agatha (my Healey) has eyes only for him.
 
if you don't drive the Jag much, it kills the battery.

go to Walmart and buy a Black & Decker Battery Charge Maintainer, about $15. and leave it connected to the battery. This unit keeps the battery at full charge and it costs 2 or 3 pennies a day to keep running. Make sure you read and understand the instructions before connecting it.

After you do, put a sticky note on the steering wheel that reminds you to DISCONNECT BATTERY MANTAINER before driving away!! A few times I've started my car and reversed out without disconnecting mine, tearing the unit's cables and creating a domino-effect in the garage with things falling off and requiring repairs to the wires of the unit! (incredibly it has kept on working!).

Yes, that's why I prefer my old 1965 Jaguar, it is a simple car, (electrically-speaking) none of the bells and whistles found in modern cars which create such chaos when something goes wrong. I did convert it to Negative Ground (it was Positive Ground, yuk!) so that I don't have to remember what car is what.

Glad you got yours going. And whenever you do need a new Alternator, or Starter, or anything, check eBay first.

Ex
 
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