Where can you plug one in on the XJ Supercharged?

 

you have to do it either directly to the battery in the trunk or you might be able to do it via the cigarette lighter. You can not do it under the hood however and in the manual it cautions you not to attempt to charge the battery via the jumpstart terminals under the hood.

 

Is the lighter live when the car is off?

 

No, the lighters are not live when the ignition is off.

If you are going to use a battery tender, [which is a good idea for cars that set a lot] it must first be a fully automatic one that will turn off when it is fully charged, and come back on when the charge falls. Second, it must be connected to the positive cable, at or near the battery, and then to the ground stud just above and to the right of the battery. DO NOT connect it to the negative battery terminal directly. That electronic gizmo at the negative terminal is the Battery Monitor Module. All the charge current that gets to the battery has to go through that module. It watches what goes in and what goes out. If a tender is connected to the terminals directly, the instruments will always tell you the battery is low because it hasn't seen the charge going in.

Cheers,

 

I had a XFSC stored in my garage all winter with a battery tender connected through the power outlet in the front console. Worked fine, no problems.

 

I'm confused as to whether or not to close the trunk as the manufacturer instructions call for ventilation? And what setting I should use or not use? Normal, snowflake, recond?

 

Welcome to the forum Aaron,

When a battery is housed inside the luggage compartment, vehicle manufacturers are required to fit a vent tube from the battery to the outside. Provided your XJ has the original battery, it should have the vent tube exiting through the floor and there is no need to leave the lid open during charging.

I use a CTEK and hook it up to whichever of my vehicles is parked up in the garage. The 'normal' setting is perfectly adequate when used regularly.

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

 

cloud and Aaron,

For details regarding how I installed my CTEK in my 2013 XJ, click here for the thread I started in 2014: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xj-x351-53/2013-xj-battery-maintainer-installation-130801 Excerpts are below.

xjrguy is right - don't connect the CTEK ground lead directly to the battery; it must be connected directly to the body. I used the CTEK alligator clips (with the pigtail and black and yellow quick connector) and that the red clip is connected to the main battery positive (+) terminal and the black clip is connected to an existing ground cable on the body. Those clips are very strong.


Closed the floor panel and fed the pigtail with the quick connector exposed above the floor, ready to be connected to the CTEK:


Never leave the charger inside the trunk. Here's how I routed mine outside. Trunk closes with no obstructions:


Many questions have already been answered, and can be found by using the Search function.

If this was helpful, please press on the bottom right.

Stuart

 

Another question: I've got the original battery from 2011 and I'm not entirely sure it's faulty or not. Seems after a full charge it'll still die far to quickly. My question is in regards to the recondition mode, is it safe to do without removing the battery from this sensitive car?

 

Yes.

 

I don't recall whether the power outlet is on with ignition off. If power outlet is not on, with ignition off, your batter tender did not charge during winter. Your battery was probably fine, all by itself, through the winter. I can't see how the battery would get trickle charged, if the outlet is in off condition!

I have found that it is never a good idea to jump start/charge the car battery, with another vehicle or with a large battery charger. I have had problems twice with two different lexuses!

Having said that, if the jaguar dealer is selling a high quality battery trickle charger, that might be fine but not at the power outlet in off condition.

Here is a video which is great for jaguar owners. It has also info about jump start and memory retention.
https://vimeo.com/57394588
I copied it from another post on this forum.

 

The title of this thread, "Battery Tender", made me write this reply since I am NOT a fan of Deltran Corporation, the company that owns and markets the brand of "Battery Tender" products. These devices should be referred to as "battery maintainers" instead of giving free publicity for a company and their products that, from my experience and in my opinion, are not worthy of being recommended.

IMHO, the brand of choice is CTEK. I am not affiliated with CTEK and have no financial or other interest whatsoever in either CTEK or Deltran Corporation except as a retail consumer of both brands.

For details, see: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...at-buy-155990/ and my posts ##7 and 10 the links therein.

Here's how I installed my CTEK MUS 4.3 in my 2013 XJ 5.0L SC: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...lation-130801/

Stuart

 

You may think the car is OFF when, in reality, it is still ON even after you have shut off the engine! That can happen when you either intentionally or inadvertently put the car in CONVENIENCE MODE. The Owner's Handbook states: http://topix.jaguar.jlrext.com/topix/content/document/view?id=200846¶meters=highlight%3Dconvenience%20mo de%26openProcedure%3Df3f26ce2-1b6e-4aea-8056-077c27194b24So, when your car is in convenience mode your cigarette lighter socket is ON even though the engine is not running! And if you plug a smart charger into that socket while it is in convenience mode that socket will stay "hot" and accept a charge from your battery maintainer. But will it actually charge your battery? I'm not sure if the rate of charge is greater or less than the rate of battery discharge. Regardless, you're far better off to use your battery maintainer when the car is OFF and not when it's in convenience mode and drawing power from the battery.

To make sure that your car does not remain in convenience mode, ALWAYS lock your doors even when parked in your garage AND keep your smartkey at least 20 feet away from your car (or in a metal container) so your car doesn't sense it. This will cause the computers to shut down and exit convenience mode and will help save your battery.

If this was helpful, please press at the bottom right.

Stuart

 

For how long will the socket stay hot and accept a charge? I know there is a timer for convenience mode. My radar detector was powered through this convenience mode outlet. That's why, when I open the door, the radar detector turns on. But if there is no further action, it would turn off (didn't check the time). Therefore, the charge through the socket would also be limited to that time duration of the convenience mode. Therefore, it is useless to try to charge through the power outlet. Even if it were, Personally, I would not suggest connecting charger to the power outlet anyway - mainly because modern cars are so computer driven and I am not sure whether the power outlet is controlled by a relay or a semi conductor. If I were going to do trickle charging, I would ask the dealer to install a trickle charge connection - this may or may not be easy.
I had given a link to the video where it shows the locations for trickle charge, for newer xj (because it has connectors in the hood).
You can, in theory connect a trickle charger adaptor to near the battery in the trunk but you have to close the trunk lid (trunk light) - which might put a bit of ding in your trunk sealing rubber. Nothing is easy/simple, is it?

 

I am skeptical of almost all battery maintainers - because I don't know which ones to trust. If someone like Stuart has used a particular brand, maybe that is worth the risk. The entire dash went dark and major repairs had to be done to my lexus because the electrical jump starter fried the car's electronics! If I were going to use one, I would go buy it from the Jaguar dealer - so that it would be his problem, if it causes trouble. I think I have seen them at Mercedes dealer also.

 

No need to keep the keys away - I can say this from experience! I have had several cars with Smart keys. Currently, two jaguars, one BMW 5 and one lexus 600hl. Keys can be left in the car, overnight.. absolutely no problem.. I have left them for month or more some time.. Absolutely no problem.

 

From my post #10 on the X150 (alloy-bodied 2007-up XK/XKR Forum: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...at-buy-155990/

"Many high-end car manufacturers have chosen to partner with CTEK: Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lexus, Maserati, Maybach, Rolls-Royce, Jaguar, and Koenigsegg. There was a reason they didn't chose Battery Tender as their partner.



The battery maintainer sold by Jaguar is a rebranded CTEK 3300 at twice the price on Amazon.


Stuart

 

I stand corrected. You're right - the RF transmitters on the locking system don't wake up and 'ping' the key until you pull the door handle. It may feel instantaneous, but the system is powered down until the handle moves, then the authentication handshake only takes a few milliseconds before the lock is released. Note that if you leave the key in the car, you won't be able to lock the doors.

 

I am not sure why there is all of the hate in this thread for the Deltran Battery Tender. I have been using them for about 20 years for a variety of cars and motorcycles that I store in the winter. I've had excellent results. I have a 1999 Honda 4 wheeler and the original tiny battery lasted 15 years! In any event, I would recommend connecting whatever charger you use directly to the battery as described by others here and not through the power socket in the car. It seems risky to me to go through the power socket given all the electronics in these cars.

 

The XJ power socket is switched, so when the ignition switch is OFF that circuit is open and electricity will not flow. Therefore, plugging a battery maintainer into that socket won't work.

I, too, was a fan of the Deltran Battery Tender brand until they stopped making them in the USA. The last one I had was made in China and malfunctioned, overheated and melted the plastic case. Fortunately, no flammable materials were nearby, as I'm sure it would have caused my house to burn down.

If you experienced what I went through, you would never buy another Deltran product again. Their customer service was the worst. I recommend the CTEK MUS4.3 or 3300. The 3300 is co-branded with Jaguar and is sold by Jaguar dealers.