Help needed with 2000 LS 8 electrical problems

N

northern ls

Registered
Our 2000 LS V8 has about 40,000 miles. We love the car, but it is causing us some worry recently.

The problem began when the seat warmers would not work on starting the car. After turning off the ignition and restarting the car, the seat warmers then would work fine, usually.

When starting the car, sometimes the speedometer goes all the way to the right and the other gauges also wildly bounce around. When that happens the seat warmers also won't work.

Today we shut the car off after about a half hour drive and then restarted it a few minutes later. This time the alarm system went off each time we tried to start the car (along with the other symptoms described above). After turning the car off several times to try to get it to work properly, the engine would just barely turn over. Yet the battery normally seems very good, even when the car is cold.

Does anyone have any ideas what might be going on? All these quirky electronic items appear to be related. What might be causing it?

Thanks for your help.
 
RE: Help needed with 2000 LS 8 electrical problems

There are many possibilities, and all of your problems may not even be related. Still, check your ground cable in the trunk before doing anything else. It's been known to cause a million strange electrical gremlins.

The ground cable from the battery is only ~ 14" long. It goes from the battery to a pathetically small 6mm bolt with an 8mm head into body metal. The unibody of the vehicle completes ALL ground circuits forward of that point.

That tiny bolt comes loose.
That tiny bolt overheats and melts.
It corrodes.
It even seems to spontaneously break off. Usually, if that happens, you lose all electrical power and the car won't even crank.

Check it out first. If you have to, ground the cable to the upper battery holddown bolt instead.
 
RE: Help needed with 2000 LS 8 electrical problems

Thanks for the suggestions. I checked the bolt where the ground strap joins the body. It was very clean and tight.

We tested the battery with two different testers. The state of charge seemed to be border line. One electronic tester said "charge battery," even though we had just driven the car about thirty miles. The "eye" in the battery was orange, although it turned green after driving it that distance.

So I installed a new battery. So far the electrical problems have not recurred.

One possible concern is that the original Ford battery had a vent tube that ran from the battery to outside the trunk. The new battery does not have a connection for a vent tube. I left the vent tube there, but it is not connected to the battery.

I've wondered if there is a risk of the battery causing an explosion without the vent tube connected to the battery. ??
 
RE: Help needed with 2000 LS 8 electrical problems

The Jaguar/LS batteries are completely sealed except for that small vent. The tube attatched to it directs any hydrogen gas created by charging to the exterior of the vehicle.

If you ever kidnap someone and lock him in your trunk, don't let him smoke in there!!
 
RE: Help needed with 2000 LS 8 electrical problems

[div class="dcquote"][strong]Quote[/strong]
The "eye" in the battery was orange, although it turned green after driving it that distance.
[/div]

I can't tell you how many 'maintenance free' batteries I've replaced at work that tested bad or borderline with a tester but according to the "eye", all was well with the battery.

I personally dislike 'sealed' batteries. Many times, a conventional battery will test good but fail a simple cell test. Usually the suspect cell will appear 'dead' compared to other cells which normally produce some bubbling during a good charging. Testing the electrolyte with a cheap tester will quickly pinpoint a bad cell as well.
 
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