Powered Tailgate won’t close

[Ap1848]

Hi All.

Just picked up my 1st brand new F Type and already run into an issue the powered tailgate won’t close electrically.

It opens fine using all possible controls (button inside, boot release and key fob) but have only managed to get it to close once with the key fob (coincidentally after opening it with the key fob, I tried again straight away afterwards using the boot release and had to manually close it again.

Just making sure I’m not doing anything stupid (is there a setting to change or something in the car) before I take it back to the dealer.

TIA

 

[Kev]

It may have gone out of sync if you closed it manually. Unlock the tailgate, lift up manually (perish the thought) then close again using the remote

 

[Ap1848]

Thanks, will try that - it’s not been closed manually to my knowledge (apart from needing to shut it after it failed) but it was in the dealer’s lot for god knows how long before I purchased it.

 

[scm]

Might be worth checking your battery voltage, and giving it an overnight charge if it's a bit low - these cars really love their volts.

 

[Ap1848]

Might be worth checking your battery voltage, and giving it an overnight charge if it's a bit low - these cars really love their volts.

Surely not on a brand new car with a decent 30 min mostly motorway run to bring her home? Plus another 30-40 mins of driving today! That’s a little worrying when the car will regularly be parked for up to 2 weeks while I’m at work!

 

[paddy1000111]

Might be worth checking your battery voltage, and giving it an overnight charge if it's a bit low - these cars really love their volts.

Surely not on a brand new car with a decent 30 min mostly motorway run to bring her home? Plus another 30-40 mins of driving today! That’s a little worrying when the car will regularly be parked for up to 2 weeks while I’m at work!

It's definitely worth getting a decent charger for it like the CTEK. Will prevent a whole host of issues in the future. Most high end cars, Aston Martin, Ferrari etc come with them as nothing hits a car harder than being parked up for long periods unused.

 

[Ap1848]

Will have a look into it. It’s never been an issue before so never crossed my mind. I’ll be doing 10k miles ish per year in it but will be parked at the airport for up to 2 weeks at a time at least once a month - it’s gets a good 80 mile motorway slog before and after though and will be driven plenty in between.

 

[Jaguandy]

With a decent battery you should be OK parking up for two weeks. Just ensure you double-lock it.

 

[scm]

Might be worth checking your battery voltage, and giving it an overnight charge if it's a bit low - these cars really love their volts.

Surely not on a brand new car with a decent 30 min mostly motorway run to bring her home? Plus another 30-40 mins of driving today! That’s a little worrying when the car will regularly be parked for up to 2 weeks while I’m at work!

I've read that it takes about 20 minutes of driving to put back the charge you use when you start the car (willing to be educated if that's wrong). so if your battery isn't fully charged to start with you're only actually charging it for 10 minutes per run. That's why I suggested giving it a full charge so you can eliminate that from your diagnosis.

BTW, I've left mine for three months and it started okay after that. I did get the "low battery" warning and gave it a full charge subsquently, of course. A couple of weeks should be easily manageable, but give it a long drive (who wouldn't? ) after that.

 

[Tel]

Any electrical gremlins with F-Types can usually be cleared, as mentioned above by charging the battery AND resetting the 'brains' by disconnecting the battery for about enough time to make a brew!

If it still persists, then time to sniff out the code.

Our car, bought new in May 2015, still on the OEM battery. Gets left for >1 month at a time regularly, and not used at all when the salt or the winter is here.
Had the battery low warning once, when I was running my Espresso machine multiple times off the cigarette lighter socket at Beaulieu!
CTEK goes on once a week when I'm away on business.

There is no reason why you shouldn't get a good ten years easy out of modern batteries if looked after.

 

[Ap1848]

I've read that it takes about 20 minutes of driving to put back the charge you use when you start the car (willing to be educated if that's wrong). so if your battery isn't fully charged to start with you're only actually charging it for 10 minutes per run. That's why I suggested giving it a full charge so you can eliminate that from your diagnosis.

Wow, would never have expected that - guess it’s a big lump to get moving from cold! It’s off for a good run this evening so hopefully that will do the trick and the motorway runs when I get back to work later in the month will help too!

 

[cj10jeeper]

I've read that it takes about 20 minutes of driving to put back the charge you use when you start the car (willing to be educated if that's wrong). so if your battery isn't fully charged to start with you're only actually charging it for 10 minutes per run. That's why I suggested giving it a full charge so you can eliminate that from your diagnosis.

Wow, would never have expected that - guess it’s a big lump to get moving from cold! It’s off for a good run this evening so hopefully that will do the trick and the motorway runs when I get back to work later in the month will help too!

To add some colour an alternator and battery system are designed to maintain the battery topped at a full level whilst running the car and ancills.,, not for charging a fairly flat battery.
Just rough numbers. A v6 uses a 95ah battery and assume a 50ah alternator average output, not the peak theoretical output. If you assume half will be used to run engine, electronics, heating, air con, audio, etc., etc., then a flat to full would be c 4 hours. Of course not flat at all as it starts, but a 12.1v reading for instance is only 50% charged, equally the charge is not linear, slowing down as it gets more fully charged.
I’ve experimented with many cars and batteries and I’d say it takes at least 2-3:hours long distance driving (at speed, daytime) to do the job, or a ctek charger 24 hours.
Certainly the concept of a 20 mile or so fast drive will not charge a battery, but is of course perfect to keep a nearly full one in top condition

 

[Tel]

I've read that it takes about 20 minutes of driving to put back the charge you use when you start the car (willing to be educated if that's wrong). so if your battery isn't fully charged to start with you're only actually charging it for 10 minutes per run. That's why I suggested giving it a full charge so you can eliminate that from your diagnosis.

Wow, would never have expected that - guess it’s a big lump to get moving from cold! It’s off for a good run this evening so hopefully that will do the trick and the motorway runs when I get back to work later in the month will help too!

That will temporarily mask the issue...for now.

 

[Anonymous]

After 6 years of ownership, car outside and left weeks with no usage etc, I have never had any battery related issues or electrical gremlins.

As it's a brand new car, a call and trip back to dealer surely should be the advice if the issue persists.

 

[Ap1848]

After 6 years of ownership, car outside and left weeks with no usage etc, I have never had any battery related issues or electrical gremlins.

As it's a brand new car, a call and trip back to dealer surely should be the advice if the issue persists.

Oh it definitely will be going back after our holiday next week. I was just wandering if I’d missed a simple trick before I do. Some interesting points I’d never considered about the battery charge raised though - I’ve never had issues with battery charge on any previous car.

 

[scm]

... I’ve never had issues with battery charge on any previous car.

I don't know what other cars you've had, but these modern high performance, often not frequently used, cars all suffer the same "feature" of requiring lots of volts to avoid random electrical gremlins from appearing - Lambos, Astons, etc. - Jaguar is not alone! That said, i don't use mine every day, and they're usually fairly short journeys when I do, and and I've not had any battery issues either. I do occasionally (every few months, when i remember!) give it an overnight charge, just to keep on top of things. Best to see how it fits in with your use pattern, and then decide how to take it forward.

 

[Ap1848]

... I’ve never had issues with battery charge on any previous car.

I don't know what other cars you've had, but these modern high performance, often not frequently used, cars all suffer the same "feature" of requiring lots of volts to avoid random electrical gremlins from appearing - Lambos, Astons, etc. - Jaguar is not alone! That said, i don't use mine every day, and they're usually fairly short journeys when I do, and and I've not had any battery issues either. I do occasionally (every few months, when i remember!) give it an overnight charge, just to keep on top of things. Best to see how it fits in with your use pattern, and then decide how to take it forward.

Yeah it is my 1st car of this type - it’s a daily driver (though I’ll be avoiding short hops in it) which should help keep the battery topped up. Just had it out for a good 2 hrs and boot has been working, stopped at petrol station - 10 min drive home and it’s not working so would point to the battery discharge I guess. As the dealer are the ones who’ve run it to almost empty I will be taking it back for them to diagnose and sort.