[The vast minority]

It wasn't fun. 70 on the A19 approaching Seaham on way to our holiday place up north, missis and the hound in car.
It all happened in 10 seconds, battery warning, ABS warning, Gearbox fault warning, Vents shut, Clocks stopped working, and pretty much everything else you can imagine.

By total fluke, I was about 300 yards from the lay-by at Seaham and there was space. Darted in there, unfortunately I applied the parking brake and then she died. Absolutely stone dead, not even a glow from the sidelights, absolutely flat as a pancake and a terrible burning smell from under the bonnet.

No tools so could not disconnect battery.........but it was very hot to the touch so I knew we were dealing with a dead short. The worst was probably done anyway in those first seconds. Cables were hot but not melted. I did ready the team for an emergency exit though in case it went on fire...

Long story short, needed recovering onto a flat bed using skids to drag it.
Got it home, needed dragging off the truck and disconnected battery then left it overnight.

This morning, alternator stinks.....and the battery has recovered to just 7 volts so is going to be **

Oh well, It looks like my next job is a new alternator but first, ive got to mobilise the car. Options are, cut the cables, disconnect alternator and try with a new battery to see if she wakes up and will release the brake or find another way to externally power the brake.

I think ill go with the disconnect alternator and fit spare battery option as I need to find out what the electrical system damage is before I blow a fortune on a new alternator.
If things are fried, it could be the end of the road.

Ill fill you in when ive had a look.

 

[Phil1]

Oh dear, what a pain.

At least the battery didn't start spitting the nasty stuff everywhere. I'd expect the main megafuse to have gone too so you might want to look at testing/replacing that.

 

[The vast minority]

Oh dear, what a pain.

At least the battery didn't start spitting the nasty stuff everywhere. I'd expect the main megafuse to have gone too so you might want to look at testing/replacing that.

Ill be sure to do that, couldn't see it last night, when at the scene. You know where its at?

 

[Gav]

oh dear, think the mega fuse is in the fusebox in the engine compartment.
If you disconnect the alternator battery cable, and connect a new battery on you should be able to disengage the EPB, if you need to move the car without starting it, you can always take the gearbox out of P by pulling the lever under the centre arm rest.

Good luck!

 

[The vast minority]

oh dear, think the mega fuse is in the fusebox in the engine compartment.
If you disconnect the alternator battery cable, and connect a new battery on you should be able to disengage the EPB, if you need to move the car without starting it, you can always take the gearbox out of P by pulling the lever under the centre arm rest.

Good luck!

Cheers Gav. I did have look under that cover when road-side. nothing burnt or smelly there... Ill have another look later.
Its still in D at the moment, there wasn't even the power to operate the solenoid to get it into anything other than where it was at the time of the melt-down. Ill be looking for that emergency release later.
Everything shut down once I stopped. The final few electrons that exited the rapidly dying battery huffed and puffed and applied the park brake and then it was a Roy Orbison for the battery.

Might be next week before I can get a look at the car though. so ill do my reading over the weekend.

Most unfortunate, that battery is only a few months old and is/was a posh Bosch one.
Grrrrrrrr

 

[Gav]

Cheers Gav. I did have look under that cover when road-side. nothing burnt or smelly there... Ill have another look later.
Its still in D at the moment, there wasn't even the power to operate the solenoid to get it into anything other than where it was at the time of the melt-down. Ill be looking for that emergency release later.
Everything shut down once I stopped. The final few electrons that exited the rapidly dying battery huffed and puffed and applied the park brake and then it was a Roy Orbison for the battery.

Might be next week before I can get a look at the car though. so ill do my reading over the weekend.

Most unfortunate, that battery is only a few months old and is/was a posh Bosch one.
Grrrrrrrr

Have you got the w/shop manual?

 

[The vast minority]

Have you got the w/shop manual?

I have yes thanks, Got it when I did the cam belt change.
Not looked yet but I suspect its an underneath job in the manual as I recall its a pig to access from above when I did the cam belt. It will also be a pig from below mind.....

 

[Statler]

Did much smoke escape from the wiring loom? I hear it's a bugger to put it back in....

Seriously though, lucky escape not to have the whole shebag go up in flames.
I'd imagine there's a waranty on that battery if it's quite young....

 

[The vast minority]

Did much smoke escape from the wiring loom? I hear it's a bugger to put it back in....

Seriously though, lucky escape not to have the whole shebag go up in flames.
I'd imagine there's a waranty on that battery if it's quite young....

Giggles, I couldnt do that....im way too honest.

Didn't see any smoke other than a bit emanating from the alternator area. Why this didn't blow the fuse instead of destroying the battery and hopefully nothing else, I do not know.
Well, actually I do, its simple innit, the current draw was lower than the rating of the main fuse...unless the main fuse isn't protecting the battery positive to the alternator of course, which seems unlikely.

All great fun........

 

[allh2k]

Had a similar issue my alternator failed and battery died over night. Charged it up and was able to do a few little trips for the monsters whilst I waited on the garage to fit me in.

Doing one little trip 1mile away I was heading back only 200m away lights on, wipers etc. everything just dies and power is very sluggish. lights flashing then died and wipers stop... Got home safe and roads where empty phew

Got home and I'd knocked my charger from fast to slow... bit embarrassed I stop driving it.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

 

[ninjag]

I have yes thanks, Got it when I did the cam belt change.
Not looked yet but I suspect its an underneath job in the manual as I recall its a pig to access from above when I did the cam belt. It will also be a pig from below mind.....

It is a bit of a pig to do. Mine started to die, I got plenty of warning though with a "Battery Not Charging" warning or something. Book time is something like 1.2 hours which is impossible according to our local indy, who says they charge something like 2.5 hours. It took us 4 hours but that included a break and we were taking our time.

I would highly recommend only getting a Denso alternator to replace it and avoid the other stuff. Being a pre-facelift I don't think you will have to worry about the battery disconnect / central locking issue.

 

[dhallworth]

Is there not an emergency handbrake release on the XF?

On the Range Rover there's a pull cord hidden in the rear quarter that releases the handbrake and one in the centre console that knocks the park lock off the gearbox so that you can move it.

At least they anticipated the need to move a totally immobilised Range Rover 😂

 

[ninjag]

I'm sure there's something about putting 12v onto the EPB or motor somewhere at the rear underneath or in the boot area (module?)?

 

[Gav]

Is there not an emergency handbrake release on the XF?

On the Range Rover there's a pull cord hidden in the rear quarter that releases the handbrake and one in the centre console that knocks the park lock off the gearbox so that you can move it.

At least they anticipated the need to move a totally immobilised Range Rover 😂

Not that I know off, only the Bowden to the parking pawl.

 

[OBC John]

You have to apply power to the EPB module. I know where that is on mine but not on the X250

 

[OBC John]

This is how mine had to be towed when all power was lost. It's how I know about releasing the EPB. But the Jagtech couldn't release the steering lock . . as you can see.

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[Phil1]

This is how mine had to be towed when all power was lost. It's how I know about releasing the EPB. But the Jagtech couldn't release the steering lock . . as you can see.

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Fine if you only had to turn right on the way to the garage. 🤣

 

[xf_phil]

oh dear, think the mega fuse is in the fusebox in the engine compartment.
If you disconnect the alternator battery cable, and connect a new battery on you should be able to disengage the EPB, if you need to move the car without starting it, you can always take the gearbox out of P by pulling the lever under the centre arm rest.

Good luck!

At least on the sportbrake the megafuses are near the battery pretty much back of the rear wheel arch as I recall, can't really miss them with the trim removed, it's a small black box with seriously heavy duty cables.

There's a special tool 206-082, and a cable to go with it 206-082-01 that can be plugged into the harness where the parking brake module normally connects ( its high on the rear wheel arch above the battery ) to release it "manually", it pretty much just applies 12V between the Purple-Brown, and Yellow-Green wires on the light gray connector ( polarity depending if the switch on the tool is pressed to apply or release. ) It picks up power from the harness but you could get it direct ( via a 30A fuse for safety ) from a battery.

 

[The vast minority]

Well, update. Just got home from a weekend away, disconnected alternator cable from above, slipped an empty plastic water bottle over the live cable to avert a new disaster, changed the battery for the spare and she's fine. All systems are working 💪 👷‍♂️ 🙌. Engine runs, gearbox fine, everything fine.
So, it's a new OEM alternator tomorrow and I'm back in business.
What a relief!!

 

[PeteA]

Good news TVM.. hope all goes according to plan.