Low battery issue after first MOT and health check.

D

Dazarooni

New member
My car will be 3 on 1 September. It is a 66 plate F-Type R AWD.

On Wednesday, I took it to the local JLR dealer just 15 mins down the road and it flew through the MOT and the health check identified nothing. The car has done 7650 miles. So, I drove it home and put it in the garage. At night, before I turned the car on I noticed the triangular hazard light was on. When I started the engine I got "Low battery, please turn engine on" message and thought what the hell, I've had the car for 1 year and 5 months and I've never come across that message before! So I took it for a 20 min drive, no more messages, parked up in the garage and left it overnight.

Next morning, exactly the same thing and the tailgate wouldn't open! Just 2 bleeps when I pressed the fob. I thought to myself, what the hell have they been doing to my car - far too coincidental for this to start happening several hours after the local JLR dealer got their hands on it!

I took it down and spoke to the girl on service who I'd been dealing with and she told me that it could be coincidence and it would need "booked in". I said yeah whatever, I gave you the car with everything working perfectly and you gave it back to me with electrical problems because the car isn't shutting down properly. I then asked for a manager and I got the service manager.

I explained the situation to him and said it was far too coincidental that the low battery message mysteriously starts coming up several hours after the car had its MOT and health check. I said someone must have been fiddling around with the OBD port as a lot of owners have had this issue. He assured me for its health check that they don't do that and everything is "visual". We got into a discussion about JLR vehicles have poor batteries which I was aware of but the issue here was there I couldn't accept that it was a coincidence.

Anyhow, he was reasonable enough. I told him that owners were disconnecting the battery for 15-20 mins and in many cases this was resolving the issue. He got one of the experienced technicians on the case and they did this whilst I waited. This didn't work. I said I could disappear for a few hours and he said they would check things further at their end. So, 3 hours later I got a call to say that the battery was disconnected for an hour and the hazard light went out after 25 minutes when the battery was reconnected. He told to monitor it and see what happens from there so he arranged to pick me up. I drove it home and nervously locked it up. The hazard light went off within 3 minutes and I was very relieved. Just hope this doesn't happen anytime soon again! The car had its service with them back in April and there were zero issues other than blowing the tyres up to weird pressures with one tyre being 3 psi more than the others.

Does anyone in the know think that the technician was fiddling around with the ODB port despite the service advisor and manager telling me they don't do that with a health check? I don't think the MOT tester at the dealership could have done anything to cause this?

Like I said, far too much of a coincidence for me to accept that it wasn't their fault.
 
I'd have thought they'd have connected their system to the OBD port as a matter of course during any sort of service, as they'd need to check any stored codes. Sounds like the tech didn't close the session properly.

And JLR vehicles don't have poor batteries, they have poor dealers. ;)
 
scm said:
I'd have thought they'd have connected their system to the OBD port as a matter of course during any sort of service, as they'd need to check any stored codes. Sounds like the tech didn't close the session properly.

And JLR vehicles don't have poor batteries, they have poor dealers. ;)
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That's exactly what I said too - I said that the technician would check for problems during the health check by logging in and running checks but the manager said it was all visual. Just seems really strange.
 
Probably is a coincidence, although I have heard that dealer (Dundee?) isn't very good. I always use Perth.. Anyway, JLR cars do have low battery message problems. I had continuous problems with my Range Rover (same system). Used Ctek, new batteries same problem. Eventually took it to Auto Electrician whos diagnosed a parasitic drain. Took 3 days to sort out as he had to try something, let it settle, charge battery etc, etc so was not working on it continually for 3 days. Been fine since, although now I have said this it will probably give me the dreaded message. Does your stop/start work, mine's didn't but does now.
 
Health check , is visual, its basically to give them a revenue stream. They only look at things like brake pad & disc wear. Exhaust, bushes. Things like that. Its not a proper check, only takes a few mins. If doing an MOT its probably thing the test is covering so doesn't add any time. A bit of a play on words "Health check", sounds good, means nothing.
 
chicb said:
Probably is a coincidence, although I have heard that dealer (Dundee?) isn't very good. I always use Perth.. Anyway, JLR cars do have low battery message problems. I had continuous problems with my Range Rover (same system). Used Ctek, new batteries same problem. Eventually took it to Auto Electrician whos diagnosed a parasitic drain. Took 3 days to sort out as he had to try something, let it settle, charge battery etc, etc so was not working on it continually for 3 days. Been fine since, although now I have said this it will probably give me the dreaded message. Does your stop/start work, mine's didn't but does now.
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My car can sit for 4-5 days now and again without use but I've never had the low battery issue. When I do take the car out it's driven for a minimum of 30 minutes as I live outside the city.

The thing is though, the vehicle wasn't shutting down properly when locked and this only started happening several hours after they had the vehicle for 2 hours. For almost a year and a half I've never encountered this issue so it's difficult to believe that it is a coincidence.

The Stop/Start would not work for a bit if the car was parked up for 4-5 days but would then work after 20-25 minutes when driving and would work all the time when the vehicle was getting more use especially during periods of good weather.

The car is fine now though so the battery disconnect/reconnect has solved it.
 
Dazarooni

It was not a coincident. The same thing happened to me when I had a 4 year service done on my car in June. Same as you, had car for over 18 months and never a problem with low battery warning, but next morning red triangle still on and low battery warning when ignition turned on. I phoned service reception to explain that they had not "logged out" correctly before unplugging OBD port, causing the problem. I was also told that they had not plugged into the OBD port and therefore it could not be that causing the problem. After speaking to the service manager he confirmed they did not connect into the OBD port. When I asked how did they check for fault codes he said they do not check for fault codes unless a fault is reported to them (I always thought they were checked, as part of the service). I then asked how they reset the "service interval warning message". He said they did it with a hand held Jaguar device which is not physically hard wired to the car (wireless). I then asked if the "session" was logged out correctly and he said with this hand held device, there is no facility to end the session. So, I my opinion that is the problem, if the session can not be "logged out" the system "hangs" in service mode until the battery is disconnected for a time, and then reconnected, similar to switching off a computer and restarting it to reboot it.
 
Hi ninetails - That is very interesting. My car was serviced back in April with no problems at all. This time it was just the MOT and health check which is apparently just visual. So, they said they don't actually do anything other than look at stuff for the health check. I don't believe them. I believe the technician who did the health check did something to the car and did it incorrectly and that's why I had the low battery warning several hours after they got their hands on it.
 
I coincide my car service and MOT at the same time (or will do when it's 3 years old) so it only goes to the "hospital" once a year. I use a very competent independent in Southampton and have never had problems after servicing any of my 3 previous Jaguars and the F-Type - he does a great job at a reasonable price.
 
Just some added info. I also have the MOT done at the same time as the service, and have read on the American site that quite a few people have had the battery warning message after they have put their cars in for their emissions test, so this problem could be caused at the MOT test for the same reasons given in my earlier post. I had my 3 year service and MOT done at same time last year, at the same Jaguar dealer, with no problems. So It can be done correctly if the correct procedure is followed, What I shall do in future, and would suggest other people do the same, when picking up car after a service, is before unlocking the doors (if keyless entry keep key fob away from car) look through the side window to see if the light in the door locks and the red warning triangle are still on, if they are I will refuse to take the car away until they finish the job. Once you have driven away the car will have to be booked in again, you know what it is like. If electrical system is shutting down correctly lights in door locks will turn off in approx. 1 minute followed by the red triangle in approx.10 minutes after locking the doors.
 
ninetails said:
Once you have driven away the car will have to be booked in again ...
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Not really, just disconnect the battery for a few minutes and you're done. ;)
 
scm said:
I coincide my car service and MOT at the same time (or will do when it's 3 years old) so it only goes to the "hospital" once a year. I use a very competent independent in Southampton and have never had problems after servicing any of my 3 previous Jaguars and the F-Type - he does a great job at a reasonable price.
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I've tried searching a few times for an independent near here but there is no one. Closest seems to be Glasgow which is around a 140 mile round trip!
 
ninetails said:
Just some added info. I also have the MOT done at the same time as the service, and have read on the American site that quite a few people have had the battery warning message after they have put their cars in for their emissions test, so this problem could be caused at the MOT test for the same reasons given in my earlier post. I had my 3 year service and MOT done at same time last year, at the same Jaguar dealer, with no problems. So It can be done correctly if the correct procedure is followed, What I shall do in future, and would suggest other people do the same, when picking up car after a service, is before unlocking the doors (if keyless entry keep key fob away from car) look through the side window to see if the light in the door locks and the red warning triangle are still on, if they are I will refuse to take the car away until they finish the job. Once you have driven away the car will have to be booked in again, you know what it is like. If electrical system is shutting down correctly lights in door locks will turn off in approx. 1 minute followed by the red triangle in approx.10 minutes after locking the doors.
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I think that's a good idea to not accept the car back until the hazard light goes out. Dealerships need to learn from their mistakes.
 
This has been discussed on the American forum at length. Just happened to me. Simple fix:

Disconnect the battery (either post) for 30 second.
When you place the cable back on the battery the alarm will sound. Turn it off with the key fob door close button.
Go have a cup of tea and wait 30 minutes.

Take your car for a good drive and everything will be fine until the next reset (someone not clearing codes or about 1.5 years).

Cheers
 
scm said:
I coincide my car service and MOT at the same time (or will do when it's 3 years old) so it only goes to the "hospital" once a year. I use a very competent independent in Southampton and have never had problems after servicing any of my 3 previous Jaguars and the F-Type - he does a great job at a reasonable price.
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HI, who is the Independent you use please.
TIA
 
Fast forward 1 year - car went in for its MOT with Pentland JLR Dundee again and the same thing has happened. Car flew through the MOT (less than 10,000 miles on clock) and when I got home and shut it down, I noticed the hazard and door lock lights would not go out. This is 2 years in a row that these absolute muppets have done this.

I have zero technical knowledge but thanks to digging up some good info from past threads on here and on another Jaguar forum, I was able to disconnect the battery myself and all order has been restored. The Tyre Pressure readings are showing as 0 but I'm guessing they will calibrate when the vehicle has been driven.

Didn't bother calling the service manager because I would have lost my temper.

Pentland JLR Dundee - Incompetent bunch of clowns.
 
Same thing happened to me after MOT. The MOT was not done in house, dealer took it elsewhere. I guess MOT people used the OBD port.
 
A lot of MOT centres are too lazy to read the VIN number and establish the car details, so they access the OBD port and extract the data that way.

As we are all well aware, this is fine with very few OBD tools, but the majority will leave the car in a state of Limbo.

I didn't want people connecting/disconnecting willy, nilly so bought myself an OBD lockable cover. Been in through services with JPR no problem...I just tell them what's fitted and that I don't want any updates...thanks all the same!
 
Tel said:
A lot of MOT centres are too lazy to read the VIN number and establish the car details, so they access the OBD port and extract the data that way.

As we are all well aware, this is fine with very few OBD tools, but the majority will leave the car in a state of Limbo.

I didn't want people connecting/disconnecting willy, nilly so bought myself an OBD lockable cover. Been in through services with JPR no problem...I just tell them what's fitted and that I don't want any updates...thanks all the same!
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What I really don't understand is - There must be a lot of people who receive their car back and drive it home only to be greeted with a low battery warning later that day or next day. Or, am I unique in that they're reserving their cr@p service for me specifically??!! I just don't get it - Surely it is happening to loads of folk and they would have nipped it in the bud a long time ago? It's just disgraceful service IMO.
 
Dazarooni said:
Tel said:
A lot of MOT centres are too lazy to read the VIN number and establish the car details, so they access the OBD port and extract the data that way.

As we are all well aware, this is fine with very few OBD tools, but the majority will leave the car in a state of Limbo.

I didn't want people connecting/disconnecting willy, nilly so bought myself an OBD lockable cover. Been in through services with JPR no problem...I just tell them what's fitted and that I don't want any updates...thanks all the same!
Click to expand...

What I really don't understand is - There must be a lot of people who receive their car back and drive it home only to be greeted with a low battery warning later that day or next day. Or, am I unique in that they're reserving their cr@p service for me specifically??!! I just don't get it - Surely it is happening to loads of folk and they would have nipped it in the bud a long time ago? It's just disgraceful service IMO.
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your not alone. after picking mine up and having a 200 mile round trip my car had this issue, jaguar assist (aa) come out, jump started it but same thing happened next day. another jump start back to dealer then next day covid lockdown happened, they had car for 7 weeks! luckily i had a f type courtesy car although i couldn't go anywhere because of restrictions. :D
 
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