I just purchased my first Jaguar, a 2008 XKR convertible. I understand these Jags have a tendency to drain the battery if left to sit for a time. I will probably be letting this car sit unused for 6 to 7 months of the year and will need to connect a battery tender. Where is the best place to connect a battery tender on these cars? The battery itself appears to well hidden away behind the back seat and an considerable effort to reach directly to the terminals. Can a battery tender be connected to the jumper terminal provided by Jaguar in the trunk?

 

Welcome to the forums BLD,

YES - these models (and all other modern Jaguars) are VERY sensitive to battery condition and charge. The correct connections are to the positive battery terminal and to the nearby ground stud provided for the purpose. See post #3 in this thread:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...0/#post2566868

I used a CTEK extension lead for the installation so the connector is available at the rear of the luggage compartment avoiding removing any trim to connect the CTEK tender for charging.

Please read the guidance for new members ( https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/n...ned-up-241802/ ) which answers many of the most frequent questions about getting started.

Graham

 

Is the negative supposed to go directly to the battery on the 4.2l's?

 

Congrats on your 2008 XKR Convertible. I hope you enjoy yours as much as I enjoy my 2009. Because it's a 4.2L, attaching your battery maintainer is simple if you use the remote battery terminals in the trunk instead of wiring it directly to the battery. I recommend the CTEK brand of battery maintainer, and I use the CTEK MUS4.3 on both of my Jaguars. There are other, newer models on Amazon.

The positive remote battery terminal is in the left side of the trunk behind this plastic cover. My red alligator clip is attached to the remote +terminal and the wire coming out of the cover is the negative pigtail that goes to the remote -terminal in the trunk.



Here's the remote-terminal in the trunk. It's in front of the spare tire close to the bumper.


I leave the CTEK pigtail in the trunk. When I want to use my maintainer, I attach it to the pigtail and leave the maintainer on my garage floor. The wire is thin enough to not be damaged by the closed and latched trunk lid. I then plug the CTEK into a wall outlet.

I've been using the Alligator clips since Day 1 with no problems. Others on this Forum have attached their battery maintainer pigtail directly to the respective positive and negative battery terminals with nuts, but that's a lot more work.

Note that if you have a 5.0L X150, you can't attach the negative CTEK pigtail directly to the battery negative terminal and must attach it to a chassis ground. Otherwise, damage may occur to the Battery Monitoring System module that is attached to the negative battery terminal.

There are several other ways to attach a battery maintainer to your X150. In my opinion, using the remote battery terminals and Alligator clips is the quickest and easiest way to do it.

 

Here's how you can get a FREE Koenigsegg Regera!

 

Thanks for the replies. Where should the negative terminal be connected or does it matter? With a test light I found several small threaded studs near the positive battery jumper terminal that I was able to verify a ground. The owners manual says there is a negative battery terminal under the luggage compartment panel near the spare wheel but I didn't find anything resembling that.

 

Stuart’s third picture actually shows that stud. It’s almost under the spare tire. I attached an eyelet there with a nut for my negative, and the positive is secured to the battery cable (4.2L) with an eyelet and nut. The spring clamps are working for Stuart, but I just wanted something more secure.

 

Found it. Thanks.
BD

 

Ive been a member of this forum since the "beginning of time"? and have used CTEK maintainers from the beginning. I have 3 3300s which work great, but just upgraded to a MXS 5.0 which is sooo much better? It still works and does the same as the 3300 but it's newer technolody and almost never gets as hot and tells me more info on what is going on with my Jaguar 2010's Battery.. Very helpful.. Never gets really hot and charges extra fast. Very happy with it and worth the extra money.. Go for it.. MXS 5.0.. You can't go wrong..

 

I use a battery tender. Had an extra lead and ran it through an unused grommet in the rear trunk area. I made a bracket that just slides between the body panel and the plastic trim. Works fine. The cord runs on the floor where I get in the car so I don't forget to unplug it.

 

Just to add another perspective…. None of my vehicles have a permanently installed maintainer.
The xkr does occasionally sit for 6 months… without issue.

Now I don’t mess around. When the battery is done, its replaced.
Also, drain is reduced as I don’t lock the vehicle when it is in the garage.

FWIW
Cheers.

 

928 S4…. always wanted one of those in the stable. Nicely done @VegasFPace .

 

After following recommends in here (shut off AC, radio, double tap info screen to blank, double click locks, remove BT OBD11 connect), shut down drain is 70 mA. Longest I've left the car so far is 1.5 weeks. No problems. I'm going to expert w/ longer. Typical stored battery voltage is 12.7. Use the C-tek maintainer because it charges to 13.1 while sitting in driveway.

 

Anyone else have problems w/ C-tek 5.0 blowing the 15A fuse in the positive lead? Just 1x so far. It's worked fine for weeks (use 1x/week). Using a Klein 40A clamp on meter (HIGHLY recommend) did find car spikes briefly to 14A when waking up (70mA when stored thanks to recommends in here). Instant drop to 10A. Maybe that's a factor? Couldn't see the spike w/ my 10A meter. Blew the internal fuse 2x