Hi All,

I'm taking delivery of a 2011 XF Portfolio in a few days and I'm getting a little scared of this battery charge issue. In the dealer showroom they kept the cars locked with a sticker saying 'locked to prevent discharge'.

I never asked what the deal was with that, but have since read a few complaints indicating that the car needs to be locked with the key fob 30 ft away to avoid battery drain.

Is anyone familiar with this issue? Is it real or some kind of software problem? I've never heard of anything like this with any other car, and I cant imagine having to lock it in the garage every night and hide the key! Any insight would be appreciated!

 

I have 2009 xf sc, no issue with a battery loosing charge. Sound very odd. Use caution.

 

Two things......

One, the problem of cars at the dealership running down batteries has to do with all the electronics, [power consumers] and people getting in and out, in and out, and powering the car up and down, while it never runs to recharge the battery. We have to connect power supplies to the cars in our showroom to counter that.

Two, yes, you should remove the Smart Key from the car when it is parked, but you do not have to lock it necessarily. By it's nature, the Smart Key system works such that when it detects a key inside the car, it is expecting to go somewhere. No key, it shuts down properly; when the key shows up, it means "Wake up, the guy wants to go!" I know that's corny, put that's the truth of the matter.

So, just take the key with you when parked, and you should be OK. Normally, these cars are good for about 3 weeks if properly shut down, before they are risking not enough power to crank and start.

Cheers,

 

At first I asked the same question. I have a 2011 XF and I only drive the car once a week or once every 2 weeks. Only do about 30-60 miles each time. I have not had a problem with the battery since I had the car. It's been only 2 months though. I'll let you know if there is a problem.

 

My car sits in the garage for a week at time. I have never had a problem with low battery or the car not starting. I have noticed that if I open and close the door and allow the interior lights and screen saver to go off on there normal setting without locking the doors after the car has set a while. It triggers the screen message that states; LOW BATTERY Acc will shut down in 30 sec. This only happens when I leave the car for a while then go back later to get something out or put something in.
And the message only show when I start the car.. It used to worry me but after seeing no problems in almost 2 years, I pay it no mine.

 

I have left mine for as long as four weeks, unlocked. No battery issues. The ICE remains active for about 30 minutes after you switch off in case you want to switch the radio on. also power windows and sunroof are operational for some period after switch off. None of this drains the battery unless ou actually operate it.

 

Hi all, I've had a few problems with the battery charge light coming on the dash when starting up, had a service and inter cooler recall mod done and 2 weeks later car would not start. So I called jag assistance. They turned up really fast, 20mins. Car battery only had 2.3volts. The mechanic found the battery terminal was lose!!! I left the car with them for 4 working days. They called today to say car was fixed. When I went to drive way from dealer. The battery light came on again..ARR!!!
So car still at dealers and not sorted yet Will update you with fix when it's sorted

 

Welcome to the forum hilly1312,

Please follow this link New Member Area - Intro a MUST - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to the New Member Area - Intro a MUST forum and post some info about yourself and your vehicle for all members to see. In return you'll get a proper welcome and some useful advice about posting to the forum.

Graham

 

Do yourself a favor and hook it up to a trickle charger (I got one from Sears for $20) if you expect not to drive it for more than 3 days. XF's are what I like to call SUPER battery dependent, have a good size current draw EVEN WHILE SITTING, And require battery power for EVERYTHING! The effect of long periods of draw on your battery and alt will shorten their lives , ALTERNATORS ARE MEANT TO KEEP YOUR BATTERY CHARGED, NOT TO CHARGE YOUR BATTERY FOR LONG PERIODS.
CAR BATTERYS LIKE TO BE STORED AS CLOSE TO 100% CHARGE AS POSSIBLE.

My setup





This charger comes with multiple connectors





I used the 2 eyelet connectors, attaching them directly to the quick terminals on the batt cables to this plug in adaptor.

 

This is exactly what I am doing now. With my XJ, I regularly only drove 4 miles in the morning and 4 miles home during the week on city streets. Not enough time to keep my battery fully charged. Started getting all kinds of error messages. Then I started keeping it on the battery trickle charger overnight every three days and that solved it.

 

Again the terms 'battery charger' and 'battery tender/maintainer are not interchangeable. Chargers are not set and forget devices. They can and will boil a battery dry if left for too long a period.

The correct thing to use is a battery tender which automatically turns itself on and off as required.

 

Not sure why, but I live on a tiny little island and drive 3 miles to work and then back with never a battery issue. By design, I don't think that the cars were built for long distance driving only. Alternators are designed to work at maximum capacities of 80 to 140 amps per hour. If you look at the loads imposed by the accessories, all your accessories added up does not equal half of the potential of the alternator. Additionally, I don't think that the draw on the battery while the vehicle is parked equates for more than 5 amps at best. based on that figure, the battery should last a few weeks before it will be a problem starting the car. I seriously don't think that any auto manufacturer would design a car that needs to be hooked to a trickle charger. But if a trickle charger works for you, then that is okay. As for me, I did not buy an expensive car that needed special care to enjoy. i would be looking for a problem in the system starting with the battery and alternator.

 

I sold the XJ so it's a non issue for me now. Nevertheless, I still use a battery tender overnight on my XF just to top off the battery once or twice a week. It only takes a minute and I'd rather not see those false error messages. By the way, the car ALWAYS started, I just got the error messages.

 

The people that see problems typically live in cold climates and drive the cars for short distances with lights, heater, defrosters, seat warmers wipers going full speed. Let the engine and battery cold soak overnight to -20 and there might be a bad surprise the next morning.

 

For those poster using a battery tender, can you comment on where you connected the tender to? I know it sounds like a no-brainer but I keep reading all sorts of scary things about jumping and charging in respect to the battery health monitoring circuity that is integrated into one of the battery leads.

 

It had been a while since I lived on the mainland where there are severe winters. I guess I did not realize how much power was used just to warm up the cars. I do remember talking to a battery sales rep about the extreme stress that winters put on a battery. So I now stand corrected as to the issues that are making your batteries fail. I suppose that nearly every make and model of vehicles is experiencing this. Now I know the reason that many manufacturers are adding remote start features to their vehicles.

 

Lots of debate and opinions about this, but I connect the red lead to the positive battery terminal and the black lead to an earth, in my case a nice convenient bolt on the body in the boot area near the battery.
Has worked perfectly for me for years now with never a problem, I've never had even a minor battery/electrical hiccup from my XF and I suspect it's still on it's original battery, which if so is now four and a half years old.
Some say you should connect red to the positive battery terminal and black to the negative battery terminal, but I'm not sure that is the best/correct method, at least not for an XF.
I suspect it could vary from one car/battery/tender combo to another.

 

I go directly terminal to terminal.

 

Hi I have a 09 XF SC. Battery went dead and the trunk key will not work. I have read a bunch about other Jags having an alternate charging post/terminal somewhere on the vehicle but I haven't seen anything on the XF.

Can anyone confirm if there is another way to charge up the XF so I can use the electric trunk release to get to the battery to apply a full charge?

Thanks!

 

I read something about a charging point in the footwell although can't say I've ever seen it. Is the entire car locked?

If the battery is so dead that you can't even open a trunk release then I expect you need a new battery

Do you have the manual key blade in the key fob? If so, use that to open the trunk manually - there is a hidden plate in the trunk lid that you pop off and use it to unlock the car

Good luck