My 2010 Jag XK has been constantly on a CTEK 3300 for most of its life in the garage. I drive it occasionally with no problems ever with starting. I own the car for almost 4 years and I couldn't say with certainty if the car came with the original battery when it had 4,850 miles. It now has 9,700 miles. I've noticed recently that the amber light on one of the battery Icons on the CTEK is on when I observe the charger and sometimes the green one will be on. However, lately it's more frequently on the amber battery icon. I have two CTEK 3300s so I just exchanged one with the other to see if the charger might be at fault. Am I to assume that the battery itself might be having issues keeping a full charge and reaching the end of its life? I haven't done a load test or anything and once again the car always starts numerous times when I use the car for an entire day or more without any issues. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

Simple test would be to take off the Ctek and let the car sit for maybe a 1/2 hour . Take voltage reading at the battery and you should have 12.6 Volts.

 

Jagtoes, Funny you should say that. Right after I posted this thread, I used a different CTEK 3300 that I use occasionally . Within an hour the amber turned green on the CTEK. Before I even read your post, I decided to check the battery with my voltmeter with the car off. It read 12.64. However, I didn't let the car sit for 30 minutes to see if there was any drain. Right now the light is still green with only minor heat coming from the charger. I'll keep an eye on it and report back.

 

Boca:

The CTEK 3300 will change from Green to Amber and back and worth as it continues to charge the battery. My guess, the internals of the battery are slowly going bad, unable to keep a full charge from the CTEK. So what you see is the cycling of the CTEK to keep the battery charged as fully as possible.

 

Richzak! A voice from the past! Nice hearing from you my friend. I tend to agree but am kind of lax to start searching for that huge replacement battery for my car. I certainly am not changing it myself with bending over with a battery of that weight. Cost is secondary, but I would want the proper battery with the original vent available for constant long term charges. Still, I'm not absolutely sure that my battery is failing at this time.. Probably.. but I'm an absolute kind of guy. If I see the 2nd CTEK charger is going amber somewhat regularly, I might reconsider and start looking for a replacement for piece of mind. Thanks Richzak. Miss you on this Forum you Traitor!!!!! We need more members like yourself here. Richzak.....If I do decide to replace my battery and as I respect your opinion... which battery would you suggest I use? I want the best possible battery I can get (regardless of cost) that would fit perfectly as an OEM and of course with the proper vent outlets for any vapors with the CTEK. Thanks again for any help.

 

It's amazing how we have 2 Threads with the identical title CTEK 3300 QUESTION. I have since tried to modify this thread to read CTEK 3300 QUESTION First Part. Not sure it will fly. Oh well.

 

Boca just do the simple voltage check on the battery after it has been off of the charger for a half hour. Anything under 12.6 Volts says your battery is bad.

 

I'm on it Jagtoes. Thanks so much...

 

Took my Jag to my Indie to get the battery condition checked out. He disconnected both posts but had a battery pack backing up the system to save all my settings. After putting the battery under load and checking with his meter, the battery showed 12.5 volts. He told me the battery looked healthy and had no signs of problems. The car whips over very quickly on every startup. My CTEK 3300 continues to go back and forth a few times each day from amber to green.

 

Well huh...... my maintainer goes to amber for about five-ten minutes every few days or so. Other than that (and after a drive) it's green.

 

Typically the resting voltage rate of 12.4 volts means your battery is about 50% charged. It doesn't mean it's dead but if you're on a maintainer, it's probably dying and likely sulfating. If your XK came with a flooded battery (more commonly referred to as lead acid), a simple hydrometer test will tell you the condition of the electrolytes.

If it came with an AGM battery, you can't test with a hydrometer.

A proper load test at the local auto parts store will yield more info regardless of the battery type and they don't charge.

If you get a new battery, charge it. New ones sit on the shelf.

If you need to replace, heed this info in the attached Bocatrip.

 

Thanks Sean W for the Info. At 12.5 volts, I'm assuming my battery is at 85% capacity, and the CTEK is trying to get me to 12.6. I'll probably replace my battery with a Walmart EverStart Maxx 900 CCA 5 year battery. It's about $123. I just got off the phone with my local Jaguar dealership's shop foreman. He told me I CAN NOT put an AGM battery in my car! He said it will not charge properly. He also claims that no XKs ever came with an AGM battery from the factory. Regardless I was not going with an AGM anyway and will be sticking with the standard Flooded Battery. The battery in the car is 7 years old, so I guess I got my money's worth out of it.

 

Funny as that statement contradicts the Jag tech bulletin attached above.

Also funny is that according to that same bulletin, my 2010 XK is well after the VIN range that should have an AGM but I just replaced my flooded battery that had a Jaguar sticker on it. I put a flooded back in. Who knows what was original, maybe that one was (at 6 years old in TX, probably not).

 

Sounds like the right call to me and next time you visit your Jag dealer, hand him a copy of the manufacturers tech bulletin for grins:-)

 

I think the tech bulletin is saying a vehicle within your vin range may have used flooded or AGM. Has to do with which alternator they used in the build I'm guessing and you probably replaced it like for like.

 

yea most likely. I did replace like for like.

 

I'm curious now. Is there any member on this forum with a 2010 or later XK that is using an AGM battery in their car?

 

The info I read in the maintenance manual said that if you car was built/sold with a flooded battery then you should only replace it with a flooded battery. If an AGM then OK to replace with and AGM. Only difference I know is the max rate of charging.

 

The battery I have in now and as labeled on it with a "post-it" is from 2011 and is a flooded battery. No major decisions here, as I will be replacing with a flooded battery. Too bad about the confusion with the 2012 TSB and AGM batteries.... but then again... this is Jaguar. Go figure!

 

If it's like the S-Type the car is optimised for (fairly) smart charging of a lead acid battery (the kind cars have had forever). Those newer kinds need a different kind of smart charging. That's due to the battery. The car won't know if you fit one so will just go on using the smart charging it was designed for,

Summary: fit the right kind of battery.

I gather the ctek-type things with their recent clever electronics can figure out the kind of battery and then charge accordingly. Perhaps future cars also will but our Jags are quite old.