Am I a missing something obvious here? I have a 2003 S-Type R and the battery died on me. I got a replacement battery, connected the leads to test it out and it works. Now I want to physically remove the old battery, but I can't figure out how to remove the tall vertical bolt that holds the plastic battery retainer at the bottom of the battery. It also holds the swing arm that bolts to the frame to hold the battery in place, which I have already unscrewed.

I tried with a ratchet and pliers and it's not turning. Used WD40 on the base..nothing. Is there a specific tool to use or am I missing something really simple?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

I am cunfused....There should be a one bolt on the side and the vertical bolt going down in the spare tire area....both should be unscrewed....Pic of your issue?

 

If it goes into the floor pan, as I think, has it rusted? Have a look from underneath.
If you have any slack, trying screwing it further in to see if it frees up.
Have you tried penetrating oil? (The special stuff, it's better than WD40.)

 

PB Blaster......great ****! can be picked up at advance auto parts

 

Thanks for the responses, guys.
Some good ideas. Someone else who had a similar issue, said that the bolt is going through the car floor/undercarriage and it can get rusty and locked up. He suggested to go underneath to take a look and spray it, then give it a try. If not repeat the process. Very similar to what jagv8 suggested.

I'll try with WD40 if that doesn't do it, I'll try the harder stuff (penetrating oil).

@Riski: Never used PB Blaster, but if the above don't do it, I'm game.

 

That will get through rust off just about any bolt I needed to break loose in the matter of minutes.....puts wd-40 to shame!

 

WD40= Water Displacement 40

bob gauff

 

Spend a lovely sunny afternoon underneath the car, trying to get the damn bolt of the washer. My arsenal: WD-40, penatrating oil AND PB Blaster.
I agree that PB blaster works best with the rust, but the nut underneath the frame wouldn't budge after hours of sparying, tapping, hitting, twisting, bending...you name it.

Seems like it's fused to the bolt threads. I think the bolt was giving me the British bird. So I got tired of this BS, took out my trusty Dremel and there goes the bolt. Within 5 minutes of cutting the bolt, I had the new battery in place, the Jag was purring, but alas no bolting system.

Examining the bolt, it's really sad how luxury car companies (not just Jaguar, mind you) try to pad their dealers accounts. Instead of good old 1/4" bolt with a bold nut head and a wind nut to hold it firmly in place, they used this "special" bolt with the small washer fused in to keep the restraining arm in place. One of the Jaguar dealers, I contacted, wanted $34 for the part! Ha!

Off to Home Depot and after spending $5 worth of bolts, regular bolts, wing nuts and washers, I came back and finished it. It's actually better and easier to attach/remove then the Jaguar "special" system. Plus the new battery, the Duralast Gold (H6-DLG, vented) is smaller and has a higher output. Not cheap for $160, but well worth it.

Thanks for everyone's input. Learned quite a bit and hopefully my travails can save someone else a bit of time and tufts of hair.

 

You should of went with a Otipma Red top battery!

 

I actually went with the biggest Optima Yellow Top I could fit in there. I reused the stock battery holder but had to bend it with a couple vice grips to compensate for the battery's size. I also added a little shim between that plastic battery block, and the actual battery.

My battery was actually still perfectly fine, but it was an original battery from 2003, and I decided to replace it pre-emptively.

 

What a palaver. New battery for my 2006 S type, original 13 yr old battery needs replacing. 3.5 hours to do a job that should have taken less than 1 hour. (even for me with cardiac issues !!). That stupid long thin bolt didn't want to move, the shorter bolt at other end of the arm to the side bulkhead was difficult also, even with WD40. After a bit of wrestling, and choice lingo I came & checked this forum topic. WD40 liberally applied.......pause for a cuppa T... no result. Well rusted up. 5 mins with angle grinder, nut & end of bolt cut off, bit of oomph with a hammer on the inside skinny bolt, hey presto, done. Re-drilled the hole, fitted a new bolt (saved w/ machine transit secure bolt) , found a suitable nut. All done, bit of Holts underseal on nut & bolt underside, sorted. Why design such a silly bolt , too long and thin to get any purchase, why not fit something a decent gauge & half as long, far more practical. Had the S type just 3 weeks, cambelt done (130k miles on clock) , new rear pads, new battery. All set; up to Newcastle next week, 345 miles ...luxury motoring. Must remember to pay Dartford Xing return charges.

 

I was going to say that these battery bolts almost always rust solid and can not be moved.
It is far quicker to just snap it off, grind it flat, drill out the hole, tap a new thread and fit a new bolt and washer, than it is to mess about trying to free the original one.
(But obvioulsy you need the tools to do this.)
Coat the threads on the new bold with grease and also grease the underside of the bolt when it is done up and it should come out next time.

Mellow

 

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Three hours I spent on this problem, till I found this thread, crisis averted. So very grateful to you all took me another hour and a half to get it off, but got there in the end, so thanks again to all those Jag lovers out there.