The battery of my XK convertible went flat. However to reach it I had to first screw of the number plate to acces the lock and then strip away 3 panels. A big hassle.

I would like to attach a battery charging point in the front so I can just pop the hood to jumpstart the car if necessary (like with all normal cars.

Does anybody have experience with creating a smart solution for battery charging in front or rear?

Thanks!

 

Unless your car is somewhat different you should have a jumper positive post in the trunk. On the inside left of the trunk you have a plastic grill. When you remove the grill you can see a rubber boot over a stud. This is the positive battery post where you can put a +12V battery cable for a jump start. There should also be a threaded post in the spare tire area where you put the ground cable. This should allow you to charge and jump start the car so you can get the rear lid up to remove the old battery.

 

Try the search for ctek.

 

I didn't know that, thank for the info.

We had a cold spell a while back and my battery went dead. It was completely dead; no dim lights, no pathetic little half-energized peep, nothing. Since the electronics stay active and drain the battery when the car is unlocked, I've gotten in the habit of locking it even when it's in the garage.

I dug out my physical key with the hopes of popping the trunk open and jumping it (my other car is an XJ with the battery in the back also so it's nice and easy in the garage). I find the cable, dig them out of their storage compartment and with a bit of hope in my heart, drop them on the floor (carpet) between the cars.

The key wouldn't turn. Not at all, not even a little wiggle side to side. Since I'd never used the key before, my first thought was maybe they didn't get the threads on the key correct and I won't be able to get in (mild panic). Time for some calm meditation.

The next thing I figure is that maybe I'll get into the passenger compartment and with a little luck, the trunk key will be a mechanical release and not electrical, or, if electrical, there might be enough of a spark of juice that the trunk would release.

I looked at the handle and clearly, there's no visible key access there, but, I remembered from the manual (locked in the car) that part of the handle flips up and the key access is underneath. I feel around for a small gap that I can pull and I find it, stick a fingernail in there and pull. No go. The next logical thing is to slide the key in there and wedge it open. No go. I start giving it more of a tug, but then relent with the thought that the last thing I want to do is break this pathetic little piece of metal under there or crack the plastic....after all, these are sometimes temperamental little cats.

Mmmm....what to do? I can't get in the trunk, I can't get in the driver's side door...can't get to the manual. Mmmm. Just in case, I try the trunk again with the key...No go. Time to meditate again.

At this point my thoughts begin to wander. I contemplate towing the car, but that would be really embarrassing. A more promising thought pops into my head, maybe I could just move the car, put it into the middle of the front yard and plant flowers around it. I think I could get the top off, use a little fill dirt up to the tops of the doors, and cover the whole passenger compartment with a delightful mix of matching colorful annual flowers in the spring. Petunias. Definitely petunias.

I go in the house, jump on the computer and dig out my mechanics guide to the XK. I immediately see that the British haven't lost their sense of humor and that there's a very specific set of motions that you have to use to get the plastic cover off the drivers side door handle. It goes something like this. Stand on one foot, wave your right arm around uselessly, use your left to wedge the key under the plastic cover from the 180 degree perspective and wiggle it to the left like a Beefeater making his rounds. Off pops the plastic cover without a scratch and we're almost done with the first step.

The key fits into the lock...and doesn't turn. Back to the drawing board.

Now I'm beginning to question my sanity, so back around to the rear of the car I go and pop the key into the trunk lock and try again. This time, however, there's a little movement in the lock, I can twist it a couple millimeters from side to side, but not really enough to make a difference. After 10 minutes of being completely ridiculous standing there and twisting the key slowly back and forth till my fingers start to ache, the definition of insanity comes to mind, the one where you do the same thing over and over again in the hopes that you might get a different outcome. I retreat and try to develop another strategy.

Back to the drivers side. Since I had some play in the back, maybe there will be some play on the door. After 10 minutes, the lock allows me to twist it all the way and the door opens! Cheers! With a great sense of accomplishment and relief I jump into my dear old drivers seat, hit the button to release the trunk and ....nothing. It's electrical and there's less juice in there than in a AAA size battery that powers calculators.

After a bit more meditation, I am comforted by the thought that I can use the hand crank to get the roof down and the flower option has at least become feasible.

It's beginning to warm a bit in the garage after leaving the door to the house open. I go in the back and after about 10 more minutes of straining my fingers, the trunk pops open. As soon as I connected the cables, the car came to life again and greeted me like Ensign Data awaken from a long snooze. I looked at it, smiled a bit and thought to myself, the flower option still isn't off the table.

My guess is that the locks were frozen and that's why they wouldn't budge. I haven't tried it again since then, but should try when it's a little warmer to make sure the locks don't have some other defect.

 

For those facing the frozen lock dilemma that FRGIII2014 suffered through, the same charge positive charge point in the trunk can also be accessed from OUTSIDE the car under the trunk by removing the rubber boot over the charge point cable bolt (if you look on the underside behind the left wheel well you will see the thick cable that runs there). The negative cable can be clamped to bare metal bolt on the chassis underside.

 

Over in the S-type world it's standard practice to open the trunk/boot at least once a year with the key to make sure the lock still works. I'm overdue I think.

Also a good idea to look into using a battery tender if the car is going to sit for more than a week or two.

 

Do you have a picture of that? I probl need it when mine comes of the car ferry after a month...

 

Photos are in post #16 in this thread: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...n-trunk-87388/

 

Yep , right you are and I forgot to mention that. Having a lift it is easy to see this stud.

 

LOL this was great maybe not for you but enjoyable to read. Glad you got it fixed.

 

Wow. You need to be careful not to short circuit the thing. These connectors are close to the negative metal.... but good to know!

 

Steve, don't you have a module to access the trunk by tapping a code on the unlock button, powered by a lithium cell? I know it was in your UPCOMING PRODUCTS line, but it didn't have a completion date.
It would alleviate all these problems.

 

I actually have a working prototype and even went so far as having printed circuit boards made, but during testing I found a small issue with it and it needs a bit of redesign. Demand for this has been soft, so I have back-burnered it for a while in favor of the integrated rear camera.

A secondary issue is that I probably will only be able to make it available in the US due to restrictions on lithium battery shipments.

 

Reading this... what are the chances of a completely drained battery as my car is being shipped at the moment. The doors are unlocked, luckily the windows are half open, but I read here that the electronics are still draining when unlocked? Luckily I tried the spare key to get in the trunk and it works... even have direct access to the battery after that as I've removed the trimming inside, removed the luggage cover and the roof is up.

 

I don't believe it would be a problem as I understand that the electrical systems shuts down in about a half hour when the car is not locked. So unless you have a bad battery a few days should be a problem. My car was in a dealer lot for a few weeks prior to them shipping it to me. They had problems with the shipper and the car was on the truck unlocked with the keys inside for 4 days until it arrived. We just got the keys out and started it right up. As a safety factor I put my 10Amp charger on it and left it for a few hours until it came down to an amp. I then put my Sears smart charger on it and in 20 minutes it went to GREEN and all was well. I put the smart charger on after every drive at the end of the day. Due to our present snowy weather the car has been on my lift for 5 weeks with the maintainer on it and I expect no problems when I need to use it. Oh it is locked.

 

After my last adventure, I did go and buy a battery charger/maintainer and haven't had any issues since. We had snow over the last couple days and the baby is tucked away.


You're probably not going to get a deep chill in Abu Dhabi that will drain your battery, but there are other risks....was your car on a big ferry by chance? (just kidding, that was a while ago).

 

Heat. Batteries don't like heat.

 

A can't really see the heat in Amsterdam causing a battery problem. Especially in an XK where the battery is behind the rear glovebox (seat). Under hood heat in cars where the battery is under hood may have a problem on very hot days and with heavy usage though.

 

Note the "Abu Dhabi"

 

Well, I guess I got my posts mixed up, as I thought it was regarding the #1 post from Michaell. My bad.
Still, Abu Dhabi isn't really toasty at all this time of year. Another caveat; everything is relative... I've spent most of my life in hot, arid areas (SoCal, Las Vegas, Phoenix...), so a paltry 100F (38C) is a normal day.
My second sentence still stands though, the battery is in a cool location in the car.