central locking 2 the sequal

[Powerband]

Greetings folks I have a slight problem with my S Type R which hopefully has been seen before and will be solved in a heartbeat...….always the optimist.
I've just got the jag back from having work done and noticed the battery now will go too flat to start the car within about 3 hours.
Then today the central locking, when pressed on the fob, only unlocks/locks the drivers door. If I manually unlock the front passenger door this will lock/unlock the other 3 doors. Before the car went away I have to admit I had the interior door panels off to get at the mirrors but all seemed ok for a while so I presume its not that.
The obvious question as well is are these 2 issues linked?

[Montana5]

I would guess your problem is the Battery and yes if faulty it would cause the other door locking /unlocking issues. You could start with having the Battery load tested, this will tell you the condition enough to scrap or keep, or just order a new one.

Doug.

[Powerband]

Thanx this was my first thought. The battery has one of these traffic light systems and it shows green which is supposed to be ok. So I phoned Halfords, where the battery came from, and asked if it was possible to have a green window but still have a faulty battery. They said no (although to be honest he didn't sound 100% sure of himself)

[RichardSEL]

When you get to Halfrauds for a load test (I don't believe in them as mostly it's some kid on work experience who'll slap the contactors across and not wait for any meaningful period for a decent load current to be drawn) you'll have been driving and so giving charge for some time. So you'll have to wait sometime (I leave it for an hour coz there's a decent cafe within walking distance of my branch) and then come back for the load test. It's all about Ampere Hour Capacity.

If you're battery's shot then it won't be still retaining sufficient charge to start the car though so it's a gamble, you'll probably get lower starter motor turnover and sluggish start -- if that.

You've had work previously on the car. Do make sure your battery terminal connectors are on clean and tight.

Those green / red indicators float show by reason of specific gravity (relative density) of the battery fluid (electrolyte) 1.130 being low and 1.250 g/cc (-ish, I may be out of date) being as delivered.

[Montana5]

It don't matter whether your Battery is low, half or fully charged, the modern electronic Battery Testers like Midtron will test and detect the efficiency as a percentage and pass or fail depending on whatever the pre programmed settings for that Battery are. The breakdown services tend to use some of the latest Battery testing equipment, as an aside point, the first thing they will ask any Jaguar owner is... 'are either the Auto Lights or Auto Wipers switched on'.

Coming back from France a number of years ago, I had Battery trouble in the most reliable Car I've owned, a Honda Accord, when we stopped I found the Battery was bulging and the casing was moving as if it had a heart beat...yet the green light was still on.

Doug.

[Powerband]

Thanx here is the latest test's I have carried out. Did a volt test at 6pm and left the battery disconnected for the night and did a volt test 15 hours later. The battery remained at 12.6 volts. Did a load test IE measure the voltage whilst starting the car this dropped to 9.8 so from what I've read that is ok. Checked the voltage while the car is running and that came up at about 14.5volts.
Pulled the inner door panel off the drivers door to check the central locking and after replacing it the central locking worked for a short while now it fails again. So today I have pulled the inner door panels off both front doors and unplugged all connections, cleaned them and inspected them and still no central locking.
I've not twiddled with the auto headlights/wipers yet it never crossed my mind so I'll have a play with them today before work.
Cheers for the help anyway

[RichardSEL]

<I've wibbled ;-> Anyways, from what you describe you haven't got a battery fault -- more like an intermittent connection as you did pull off door card and then replace with a change of symptoms. I'd be examining the loom between door and "A" pillar to see if any wires fractured / intermittant there?

For compleatness forgot to mention the quick tests for a battery (my experience is usually won't start at motorway services in the dead of night )
(i) IGN on, don't start, full beam is either yellow light or white turning to yellow within a few mins.
(ii) Engine idle running, full beam is yellow light going to white and brighter as you take the revs up beyond 1,500

Had an Austin Princess DS III that decided to have battery death -- two 6V. Luckily at the service station was
a lorry mechanic still working that had a pair £10 each and £10 fitting (new pair of earth straps too). Musn't grumble, that DS came from a scrap yard anyway, but scrubbed up well. Batteries were still working when I sold the car a year later

Bowed out battery cases show "treeing": the build up of Lead sulphides between the plates. Older batteries with that fault were called that coz there was more space than today's construction between the bottom of the plates and their seperators, and the bottom of the battery case. So the sulphides used to fall off the plates and gradually build up

[jeff1954]

Bloody Hell Doug. That sounds like something out of a sci fi movie. What was the cause?

Jeff

[Montana5]

Bloody Hell Doug. That sounds like something out of a sci fi movie. What was the cause?

Jeff

No idea Jeff, the Battery had been acting up very last day of our holiday in France, got a jump start when setting off for home, Brittany to Cherboug towing a Caravan, kept the engine running all the way, even in Petrol Station. Ferry to Poole and prayed it would start when getting off the Boat...no luck, quick jump start from the Ferry workers, who are used to this, off we go only to be stopped by Customs and pulled into the big shed, it did seem suspicious when I refused to turn off the engine. Because of this we arrived about 10pm at pre booked Site in Ringford, had to go on the late arrivals section right beside the Bar...just what I didn't want after a long day. Next day I got a very reluctant jump start from the shop owner and set off again, thinking we could get a bit further up the road then call the AA, next stop over was Caravan Club Site on old RAF Base at Newport, driving down country lanes we thought nothing of it until we realised the smell of manure had followed us into the Site, opened the bonnet and the Battery was cooking nicely, bulged out sides and pulsing, the manure smell was bubbling Acid...yet that damn green indicator light was still green. I called the AA who sent an agency breakdown wagon, the Mechanic was dumbfounded when he checked the Battery with the old school load tester and it was ok, I made him test it again, same result, finally he phoned his boss in Stafford who advised him to hitch me up and bring the Car in, I protested about doing it this way to fit a Battery, but was told it would be classed as another call out if they were to bring back a Battery, anyway found my way back to the Site despite no Sat Nav and the rest of the trip home was trouble free.
Doug.

[Powerband]

Problem solved. I took the battery into work and we did a proper load test on it...…. the thing just dissolved in less than a second. So we did the same test on a second hand Jaguar battery we had near by to see how it should respond and that sat there under full load for more than 10 seconds. Job done. Cheers for the helps folks.

[jeff1954]

Glad you got your problem sorted Powerband.
Doug What a strange thing to happen. Maybe someone on here could throw some light on the matter.

Jeff