Electrical Question or two...
 

Hello all!

Im a soon to become new owner of an 04 Xtype Auto w/ 33k miles. I dont have the car in hand yet which is mostly why I'm posting (due to it being left to me in a will, and me being out of the state etc..,) but have some electrical questions I haven't been able to pin down from google searching and not having the engine in front of me to consult, so I was hoping you guys might be able to steer me in the right direction.

I know the battery in the 04 Xtype is a 94R, sits in a plastic box (which on mine the top isn't securing the last time I looked) My question is, how much width does the battery box / tray have to play with? Reason being is I have a 1year old XS power D6500(Group 65) I want to install, but the width of my high power battery is 3/8ths to wide( all other dimensions will work), is there room to squeeze this sucker in somehow?

Bought it for my Jeep GC with a high power audio setup, and since I traded the jeep in, it just sits idle, and it was wayyy to much money for it to be collecting dust!

My second question leads to alternators: I cannot for the life of me find somebody who has a 100% fit for this car in a HO version, and the best I can get is a company who said the bolts patterns should match, and I can buy and send back if it doesn't work. Can you guys give me any kinda info on the stock housing / bolt pattern / etc.., that I can relay to the alternator people to help me get a correct fit.

If I can even find a HO alt, to remove it, the AC Blower MUST be removed along with the bumper and wheel? I have tackled small jobs( Hot side turbo housing / 3in downpipe back exhaust / jeep alt / various stereo things), but not quite sure if I can handle removing the AC unit...

The company I used in the past is Mechman, and the 270 amp they made for my Jeep was top notch, now that just sits ina box too :( lol.

Other then that, the only thing I plan to do to my new baby is drop in some 1/0 gauge wire ( Big 3 ) and install some old stereo equipment I having laying around in the in-laws basement collecting dust.

Thanks for any and all feedback while I wait for the paperwork to finish so I can bring my new family member home!

Volvo, as for using the other battery, you should have enough room to fit the bigger battery in. There is some foam rubber and whatnot inside the box that you can probably remove to make the room that you are after.

As for the alternator upgrade, the first question I have is why you think you may need to upgrade. I know you are planning a bigger sound system (more on that in a moment), but the stock alternator is a 160 amp unit that is normally more than adequate for what people have done with their audio system.

An option that you may want to consider is getting a spare alternator and sending that out to be rewound and upgraded. A lot of places will do that. Hopefully they can take something like the pieces from a Ford 3G alternator and use those to upgrade the internals.

As for the stereo, you may find this car a bit more challenging to get a stereo into if the car has the built in NAV system. I am not saying it can't be done. But, keep in mind with the NAV units, that also has the heat-A/C controls built into it and adapting to the other style of controls is not an easy task (pretty much would need to rip out the dash wiring harness and put in the other one). If you have the standard radio (non-NAV), then upgrading the stereo is pretty much like any other vehicle you may have played with.

Thanks alot! Ya, it's the non navigation system thankfully.

Oh and as far as the alt goes, I read these cars are hungry on juice for the car itself and I thought the stock units were 120amp. All replacement units I found for the 04 3.0 auto were 120 and less. If they are 160 on my model, I may give it a shot with just my big battery. The amps I have laying a round would draw normally 120+ (12-1400w rms) amps on full blast.

Plus, It's going to be sitting for awhile even when it makes it to me so I figured that would be a good time to upgrade if I could find the parts.

Volvo, if you are pulling 100+ amps with the stereo system, then yes, upgrading the alternator will be a necessity. I do wiring associated with a power plant, so, I have a bit better understanding of what it takes to power stuff than most. I play with everything from nuclear instruments down into the picoamps into 10,000's of amps at ungodly voltages.

Like I mentioned, your best bet most likely will be to do some calling around and ask a DC engineering shop if they have the stuff to upgrade a factory Jaguar alternator to something a bit more powerful and see what they say. Worst case, they are going to simply tell you "sorry, we dont have the stuff for that". Otherwise, you may be out on a limb and having to create a special bracket to allow you to use a different style alternator. I think the trick will be finding something that will work with the ECU/ECM that jaguar has.