I want to connect the Ctek directly to the battery spare terminals, does anybody know what size these terminals are so I can buy a couple of nuts for them. Its an 07 by the way so it can be connected to battery.

Thx in advance

 

In the 07 and 08 cars you can indeed connect directly to the battery terminals, but you do not have to buy any additional nuts. Just remove the nuts on the cable connectors at the terminals; that is, you do not deal with the connections to the battery posts themselves, and mount the ring connectors of the CTEK unit, refit the nuts. Done. Obviously, best to do one terminal at a time. Very obvious when you examine the battery connections.
I did this to my 07 years ago with perfect results (meaning no subsequent electrical issues of any kind) . It is only on the later cars that the installation is slightly more complicated.
but the answer to your question is that you stay with the nuts you already have!

 

On my 07 I used the small alligator terminals that came with my Deltran maintainer.
Remove the left plastic grille in the trunk (boot). Feed the wires through the grille and connect to the nearest stud which is negative.
Lift the rubber cover from the positive terminal and connect the pos. Alligator there.
Replace grille with the wires sticking out.
The wires are long enough to exit the trunk and allow the trunk lid to shut.
works well.
Bob

 

Found the positive under the grill but couldn't locate the negative.

 

The actual 'negative' is a single bolt under the boot floor in the spare tire area, a bit to the right and about six inches from the aft panel.
Of course, any clean ground point would be just as good.

 

yup that one in the boot I know, just don't see the one behind the grill

 

Are you messing with me?????

 

I am talking the ground behind grill, I see the positive in there , I will look again when I get home.

 

But...the alligator clips are not secure. A rough road, a pot hole, a driveway entrance ...and the clip dislodges. It takes about 5 seconds more to permanently and securely attach the correct eyelet connectors to the battery terminal connectors as I described above. Why would you make a temporary connection (which is what the alligator clips are for)? And why complicate things? The battery is easily accessible without fritzing around. Actually, I revise the above regarding how long it takes: we have already spent much more time thinking of alternative connection points than it takes to make the permanent connection to the right place: the battery!

 

That is what I am going to do , but was just curious about the ground post behind the grill but I think I am reading this wrong and Boga means just any ground point behind the grill.

 

Ah, Okay, looking for a ground near the positive. Gotcha.
Any bolt or nut that is mechanically fastened to the body. Preferably on that has no paint. Otherwise, some paint must be removed.
I remember someone's post about a month ago that had a picture of exactly this situation, but cannot remember which thread or which user.

 

I simply used a rear lamp attachment stud for negative that is visible and available.
Yes an eye connector and nut would be more secure, but my alligator clips have not moved since I installed my maintainer wiring 6 months ago. Works for me.
Bob

 

I've had my alligator clips attached to the positive terminal & nearest ground for over four years now, not come off yet.

 

Here's how I installed mine:

This pic shows the positive terminal behind the cover in the trunk. The rubber cap is in the way in the photo - the CTEK fly-lead connector is attached by removing the nut, placing the fly-lead connector and replacing the nut.


This shows where I made the ground connection.


This is all you see in the trunk after installation.

 

I like that

 

It's a real easy solution - took me about 5 minutes. Those terminals are there to enable jump-starting without having to get access to the battery itself - they are direct connections to the battery, so prefect for using the CTEK. And it's a neat solution too with just the charging fly lead visible afterwards. I have my CTEK mounted on the garage wall and use the extra-long lead to connect to the socket inside the trunk. Takes me a few seconds when I park the car in my garage to open the trunk, hook up, close the trunk and go...

 

Hey folks. Not sure it's the best thread for the question but seems relevant. About to charge my XK '09 3.5 battery and the manual says that I should remove the battery from the boot to do so. However in most of the posts I see that people keep it inside. So for charging, keep or remove?

UPD: Ofc considering that you connect minus to the ground, not to the minus of the battery.

 

If you are using a battery maintainer, it's safe to leave the battery in the car because it charges slowly. But a quick charger can cause the electrolyte to boil and produce hydrogen gas, which is colorless, odorless, and highly explosive particularly in the confines of the battery compartment. That's why the Owner's Handbook says to take the battery out for charging, so the hydrogen gas will dissipate and reduce the risk of explosion.

For the last 10 years, I've had my 2009 4.2L XKR hooked up to a smart battery maintainer using alligator clips attached to the remote battery terminals in the trunk with no problems. See my posts, including detailed photos, in this thread:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...lay-ups-73471/

P.S. My posts in the above link include ##17, 19, 21, and 72 and more. The entire thread is worth reading, as there are several different ways to do it. Note that I still use my old Battery Minder brand maintainer on my XKR, but if I had to replace it I'd buy a CTEK MUS4.3, which is what I've been using for over 5 years on my 2013 XJ 5.0LSC with the alligator clips and no problems.

 

Hey Stuart,

Thanks for the prompt and detailed reply. Great hint, I will look into creating the same set up with the maintainer. Two more questions to qualify details:
1. As for quick charges I know there's a difference from a couple to tens of hours. I have CTEK MSX 5.0 on me, this kind of European smart charger. Is it considered to be a quick charger?
2. What I've read up so far is that if you remove the battery you might have an issue with electronics afterwards. But it seems it doesn't apply to all models. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance.
Looking forward to your reply.

 

Your European CTEK is similar to my US version and is a maintainer, not a quick charger. If you remove the battery you will lose a variety of presets unless adequate power is maintained to your car after the battery is removed. I'm not sure if your CTEK can do that.

I would not remove the battery unless you are replacing it. If it's still healthy but isn't fully charged, leave it on your CTEK until the light is green and it's fully charged.

Your Owner's Handbook should detail the presets that are lost when the battery is disconnected.

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