I was about to replace the battery for my 2010 Jaguar XK with a Walmart EverStart Maxx. It has 900 CCA with a group size of H8 or 49. Is has vent holes on both sides of the battery. I was about to put it in my cart when I noticed there were no caps to remove for adding distilled water and this battery was actually a sealed battery. It was not an AGM but a flooded battery. Since I wanted to get as close to the factory battery that I have now, I've held off for the present. Although I never actually checked my battery acid level in the last 4 years, I still wanted the option and also read somewhere that maintenance free batteries or sealed batteries don't last as long as non. Any feedback would be appreciated. I'm sure I'll have no problem finding the battery I want with caps to observe fluid level, I just wanted to know what other members thought on this subject. Thanks all.

PS....That battery is some heavy son of a bitch!

 

come on Guys! There are still items that are of interest other than lowering cars and making modifcations to bring our fragile cars out of warranty!

 

Ok.. It's boring.. but still.. there should be advice as to the proper battery for our extemely Finicky car!

 

get that battery, jaguar has not used a serviceable battery in a long long time

 

2nd Brutal..... yes they are heavy, and also in such a great spot too. Yep, serviceable will last longer, simply by being able to top of fluid, wont reduce life and performance of the battery.


Have wanted to write them on many occasions about some of their " brilliant " ideas... specially warranty times they give.


It is what it is..... XK's ( XK150 ) are pretty good cars though, if you're getting 4 years or more out of a battery, you're doing pretty good.

 

Bocatrip, I'd like to know what others think too.

I've been reading some of earlier posts that indicated the 5.0 cars need to observe like kind replacement but I didn't see anyting about sealed vs non-sealed flooded batteries.

 

So if it's sealed and it isn't AGM, then it's gel. Still considered maintenance free. I see no need to debate it. It'll last.

 

If you get a vented one, vent it. PO of my car didn't and ended up burping acid when they overcharged it. Made a mess that still isn't cleaned up completely.

 

My guess is that Jaguar engineers decided on sealed (gel) batteries because (1) most X150 buyers are proper gentlemen who prefer to pay someone else to get their hands dirty and (2) it's too difficult to access the battery to use a hydrometer to check electrolyte levels and specific gravity.

 

It might be sealed with vent holes, but I'm sure it acid filled and not gel.

 

I would go with the Walmart Everstart battery. I use them in all my cars and they last about 18 months here in Tucson. The Walmart batteries have a 24 month guarantee so they give me a new one every 18 months or so, no questions asked as they know the heat kills any battery quickly here.

Bottom line - 90% of the lead acid batteries available in the US are made by Johnson Controls. No matter whose label is on the battery, Johnson Controls probably made it. You can pay a lot more for the same battery with a different label elsewhere.

 

I spoke with a rep at Johnson Controls Battery Group that makes the Everstart Maxx H-8. The is the battery that Walmart sells. She told me although this battery is a sealed battery with vent holes, it is not a Gel battery and is a battery acid type (flooded). Not an AMG either which I knew. It seems that mostly all batteries I find for our XK with 900CCA in the 49 Group H8 are all sealed batteries. The H7 which is a different group for a different car has caps for checking fluid. Not sure why this is the case, but I'm not going to knock myself out. If it's made by Johnson Controls and it has the vent holes at 900 CCA and fits the tray it's good enough for me. A newer battery replacing a 7 year+ battery has to be an improvement! Period. FYI.....I brought my voltmeter and checked a few batteries on the shelves for voltage. One of the H8 had 6.65 while another had 6.5 Another battery from a different group had 6.45. I assume some of these batteries need to be charged from sitting on the shelves?

 

Four years and I have only seen my battery once, what a pain to get to, so forget about adding distilled water, aint going to happen and Walmart batteries may be cost effective, but replacing after 18mths, sounds pretty ??? to me. My old 1984 Suzuki 1150 received my first AGM battery 3yrs ago, keeps its charge for months, no terminal corrosion, no vent pipe, can lay it on its side, guess what our XK will likely be getting next time?
Good luck

 

I just changed my battery in my 2008. I believe it was the original battery. 10 year life is pretty good in my book.

 

When I bought my 2007 XK early last year, it came with a new Bosch liquid acid battery. At one point a previously-installed battery had a pretty big electrolyte leak which severely corroded the battery bracket. I bought a new bracket and cleaned the electrolyte off the trunk floor area below the battery.

My 2000 Ford Mustang GT convertible has a Walmart Maxx Everstart battery. The date code is 2/16 and I bought the battery in April 2016. That battery has a three year free replacement warranty.

My experience with car batteries differs from yours, the batteries usually last several years. Since I have four cars and only two drivers, I keep the batteries charged using a lab power supply, capacity of 3A current with voltage set to 14.4V. The charging voltage starts below 14.4V, then rises up to that level once the charging current drops below 3A.

Hence the charging strategy is constant current followed by constant voltage. I do this charging process at least 2x per month per car.

Once the charging current stabilizes, I disconnect the lab power supply. A new battery will typically have a stable charging current of only 0.04A to 0.05A once fully-charged (after you account for quiescent current draw from the vehicle electronics.) A battery which is deteriorating will require a larger charging current even when fully-charged.

 

Update: I decided on the Walmart sealed battery and picked up the Everstart Maxx H8 today. The date code is January 2018. It has 2 vents, one on either side. I took my multimeter with me and the battery read 12.65 on the shelf at the store. After charging it at home with my CTEK 3300 it now reads 12.96. That's a whole lot better than my old battery's readings of 12.5 which had an install date of 05/2011. I'll probably get it installed within the next day or so.

 

Me being lazy and no desire to search for what I probably wouldn't be able to find anyway sonce the SEARCH function in here is lacking.......................
Since 2010+ cars have that stupid Battery Monitor thing, does anything need to be reset? I had to change the battery in my 2013 F150 pickup two weeks ago, and the stupid NEW battery (group 65 AGM) died in five days. I searched the F150 Forum and turns out that THOSE trucks have a Battery Monitor System that NEEDS to be reset at each battery replacement, AND when the existing battery is charged with a separate charger. Goofy stupidness, if you ask me.
ALSO, I did replace my original XKR's battery 2-3 years ago and never had a problem, so to answer my own query............ "Probably Not"?

 

Dealer told me I had to have it reset at the cost of $175 since I changed the battery myself. I called a different dealer and they said it's not required as it will learn the state of the new battery after a few cycles and adjust accordingly.

So the answer is: maybe

I didn't reset it and I'm over a year, no issues or oddities..... YET!

 

As an FYI the service manual says that the battery monitor module must be reset after installation of a new battery. If not the charging system will not recognize a new battery and will charge at the previous battery charging rate. I don't know how much of a difference it makes but that's what the book says.

 

The battery monitoring system module is integral with the battery negative cable and is controlled by the ECM.
If a new battery is fitted to the vehicle, the battery monitoring system module will require re-calibrating using the Jaguar approved diagnostic system.
BATTERY MONITORING SYSTEM
Periodically the battery monitoring system module will instigate a self-calibration routine. To self calibrate, the battery monitoring system first charges the battery to its full condition.
• NOTE: If the vehicle is only driven for short periods the charging process could take a number of days to complete.
Once the battery is fully charged, the battery monitoring system will discharge the battery to approximately 75% of its full state of charge, but never lower than 12.2 V. The time taken to complete this part of the routine is dependent on the electrical load on the vehicle.
When the second part of the routine has been successfully completed, the battery monitoring system will return the battery to its optimum level of charge. The optimum level of charge will be between 12.6 V and 15 V, depending on battery condition, temperature and loading.
The battery monitoring system module also monitors the battery condition with the engine switched off. If a low voltage condition is detected the module can request the infotainment system is switched off to protect battery voltage. Once the infotainment system has been switched off, the vehicle must be run for at least 5 minutes to charge the battery before the infotainment system can be operated with the engine switched off.
The battery monitoring system module measures battery current and voltage, which it communicates to the RJB over a LIN bus connection. The RJB transmits the battery information to the instrument cluster over the medium speed CAN (controller area network)bus. The instrument cluster acts as a gateway between the medium and high speed CAN bus networks, and transmits the battery condition information to the ECM over the high speed CAN bus. Based on the information received from the battery monitoring system module, the ECM will control the output from the generator and request the switching off of electrical loads if necessary.
CAUTION: Due to the self-calibration routine, it is recommended that all power supply diagnostic testing is carried out using the Jaguar approved diagnostic system rather than a digital multimeter
The battery monitoring system module is able to generate DTC's to help diagnose battery or generator power supply issues. These DTC's can be read using the Jaguar approved diagnostic system. The Jaguar approved diagnostic system can also be used to implement a battery and generator self test routine. For additional information, refer to the Diagnosis and Testing section of the workshop manual.
If a fault is detected, the ECM will override the battery monitoring system module. The battery monitoring system module DTC's can be used to help diagnose battery or generator power supply faults. The
DTC's are stored in both the RJB and the ECM. The Jaguar approved diagnostic system has a process for an automated power supply diagnostic procedure. The procedure provides a menu driven process to locate a fault in a logical sequence.
The procedure uses the capability of the battery monitoring system and generator LIN bus controlled functions to provide current flow information and will detect if the battery monitoring system or generator are functioning correctly.