I love and try to live by this:

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
- Leonardo da Vinci

I don't like the way Jaguar did the battery hold down in my 1999 XJ8. It's not a good idea to have a steel bar across the top of a battery I don't think, as it is a possible leak to ground and rusts.

I don't know if my Jag had the stock setup but mine had the battery held down with two long bolts, each with 8 (!) washers. The word that comes to mind is "hillbilly". Or "Ace Hardware".

That's 19 parts to hold down the battery, all of which rust. Yo.

My first thought was (see pic 1) to use some plastic wood decking material and that got rid of the rusting/conducting metal bar and the washer collection.

Then I remembered the GM method where they had a rubber block that wedged the battery at the lip on the bottom (see pic 2).

You could make a longer block that used both available holes and it would be more solid but the single seems ok.

Here's what it looks like installed (see pic 3). It cleans up the installation, takes away 19 parts that rust and accomplishes the job with just 3 parts - the rubber block, a stainless steel bolt and and a stainless steel washer. I have that setup on a 20 yr old 215K mi car with and it's the same as new.

It removes with one bolt and you don't need Torx tools.

Now if I can get $10 each for the authentic Jaguar washers on eBay that's $160... hmmm...

I had a old timer mentor who did hot rods in California in the 50's. He said they'd use a piece of wood under batteries and make a rail around it with say 3/4" wood for the battery to sit in, and then cover the bottom and sides with fiberglass. That way, when the battery "had an accident" like they all eventually do, the juice would soak into the wood.

On my Jag, there was a whole bunch of corrosion under the battery that wouldn't have been there if a piece of wood had been there to absorb the acid.

 

Somebody has definitely been there before you.

On all my Jaguars from X300 through X308 to the last 2 XK8's, the battery has been held in with the metal bar and two bolts - a total of three parts. No washers involved and never any incidence of corrosion from leaking acid.

It sounds as if you don't have the right size battery fitted to your car. The only reason washers would be there is because the height of the battery is too small.

With the correct battery (and that means physical dimensions as well as capacity) fitted, there is no chance of a short from the either of the terminals to the retaining strap.

If you have corrosion under you battery it probably doesn't have the correct vent tube fitted?

Graham

 

Wrong battery. When the correct one is fitted, you'll have no electrical issues and it'll fit with the crossbeam and two bolts. These cars are super sensitive to voltage and amp hours, having the wrong (smaller) battery fitted will inevitably lead to you chasing odd messages and weird actions with locking and seat memory positions ect.
23 computing modules, 6 fuse boxes and hundreds of feet of copper, they're a sophisticated car in this sense and need a minimum 12.5V to perform correctly.

 

that battery looks a little short to me

 

Never an issue with any of mine -- the batteries look new at 5-6 years

 

Yes, GGG It does appear that the boys at the local Shell station might have had a hand in this... makes more sense.

The car has no electrical issues so the battery seems to function.

As far as the car being sophisticated, a year ago I would have agreed but since then my thinking has changed. Leo's comment changed my thinking. Now I would say that the 23 modules and 6 fuse boxes are of a very unsophisticated car and that the '64 VW bug in many ways was actually more sophisticated.

If they kept remaking my Jag and got the modules down to 1 and 1 fuse box, then it would be sophisticated. The way it is is on it's way to being sophisticated but not there yet. By my new thinking the VW bug was closer to "arriving" than my car. It reached it's goals with less. I embrace the concept that "complicated is less sophisticated". If you need tons of parts to reach a goal then the design is not there yet. That's my car and that's why I want to learn how to simplify it anyway I can. The one bolt non-rusting hold down is an example of this.

I don't know why they call car batteries 12 volt... most cars want 13.5V at least to have a perky startup.

I live in a very harsh environment and what will work for most of you wouldn't fly here. Like wind channelling between two buildings, I'm between two near vertical mountains that make the salt air just pound my house. The rust is probably like nothing anyone here has seen, way worse than most homes near the sea.

So I've had to learn to make my car and house like you would a boat. At times you can touch the wood around our windows and feel electrical current... there's a salt layer on everything and that's what will ground anything metal (like the metal battery strap on my battery) to ground.

Graham, RE: "doesn't have the correct vent tube fitted?" I've attached a pic of a tube that is floating in the trunk that would seem like such a beast... is that the vent tube and where does it attach? I'm going to guess that the answer is "to the correct battery".

 

Ian,

Your pic shows the vent tube and the right angle connector. This is how they fit on the standard battery:



Battery is supplied with a right angle connector separately and the hole for it is plugged. Remove the plug and the connector is a push fit. The tube vents gas and any liquid out beneath the vehicle.

This is a new battery from Jaguar fitted last week:



The clamp fits perfectly with no washers required. X308 is very much the same.

Graham

 

Thanks Graham. My battery does have the port but the right angle adapter won't stay in it... that's what you get with generic batteries that only sorta kinda fit.

My car will likely need a new battery in the next year and I'll get a better one.

I just repaired a bunch of rust in the trunk of my car and I see your car is has rust in the same place (to the right of the red wire in your photo). Rust like that wouldn't be a problem in Tucson, but where I live it will spread fast.

Every car I've owned has unique places that rust, and I'm learning where they are on mine. I had to fix two big holes in the areas near both sides of the lower windshield corners, the area concealed with the long plastic cover that hides the wiper mechanism. Jaguar put foam in there probably to prevent noise and it acted like a sponge. The "sponges" were sopping wet when I was able to remove them. I wonder if anybody else has come across that because how hot and muggy it is here in Hawaii is minor compared to Florida.

 

Silly question along the same lines. I bought a "direct replacement" battery which is about an inch too tall for the bolts to fit back through the metal bar. Are longer bolts available? My husband came back from Home Depot with various and sundry turnbuckles and other parts, none of which fit properly, and is attempting to jury rig some monstrosity, so I thought I'd ask if there's another, easier way. New battery has more voltage, after I got tired of battery drain on the XK8.