about to change my battery very soon,the one I have is fine but been on 5years now and just need to be sure i wont be let me down when I need it the moste,been looking at the bosh and varta 830cca and 850cca,enyone got these fitted,thanks guys

 

actually, any brand battery with 850cca or more will work just fine, of course, the correct series is a must for fit. 1999 uses the series 49.

 

. . . as long as it has the external vent connections. You do not want to install a non-vented battery in your trunk/boot.

 

If the battery is the new type which are typically filled with a compound and non re fillable is this still true?
I can understand the reasoning for the old type which were lead acid style and filled with sulphuric acid and distilled water. When charging they gave off a gas which could lead to an explosion in the wrong circumstances.
Only wanting to get clarification on this issue as when I bought my XK8 in August last year I was told it had a new battery, but when I checked it did not have an outlet for a vent, BUT it is a sealed unit.
So question is has technology advanced to the point where car batteries no longer give off this gas or am I going to have to get a new battery?


Cheers,
ArtyH

 

Just bought an AGM battery for the wife's Miata that mounts in the trunk. Every one that I evaluated had the external vent connections.

When I was shopping for the current XK8 more than half of the cars I looked at had the incorrect non vented batteries.

 

Can't speak for the XK but if like the S-Type, as I think it is, then the charging system is set up for lead-acid (and will be vented) in that it uses a different voltage etc than you'd use for a different technology battery. They need (for example) higher volts.

 

I am a bit confused with your reasoning, I am not trying to be argumentative. Its a 12 volt battery, it produces 12 volts and as far as I know the drain on power is in amps, and the capacity of the unit is in hours and cranking capacity. As far as I am aware the voltage in normal conditions remains more or less constant but the current drain drops. I cannot see how being lead acid would effect the efficiency of the battery, what I could see is that a non acid battery would not produce the fumes.
Please put me right on this one as it seems a bit confusing.


Where can I buy a tin hat?


Cheers,


ArtyH

 

Evening gents, had to go into town today for some other business but called into the local Jaguar sales room ( Stratstone Newcastle ). Spoke to a parts guy who contacted a tech in the garage and relayed this message to me.
1) Jaguar would only fit a lead acid battery to our YM XK8 as that is what is spec'ed for it.
2) The tech stated the AGM batteries should have a vent but they are different to a lead acid unit. The lead acid batteries are charged by the alternator CONSTANTLY.
3) The AGM battery charging is a different animal, apparently it is on a demand basis ( my explanation ), so it does not receive a charge constantly, only when it need it.
The guys showed me a new XF and it had the AGM battery which had a vent pipe. SO things have moved on a bit since 1999. What I did see was a very small in comparison round molding on the top edge of the battery ( Varta ) which was the vent pipe. Now when I checked my battery I can see it to has a hole in roughly the same place, but what threw me was the difference in fitment size, the new hole is so much smaller.


SO what I intend to do is run the car as it is for the short term and monitor what happens, I will however make an adaptor to vent the battery to atmosphere. If there are any problems I will have a good idea it could be the battery.
Just in closing, I was quoted £170+Vat by the dealer for the " correct " unit, but they said they would possibly knock the vat off if I was to go ahead with the purchase.
Hope this was of interest to some as it appears I have answered my own question now. Thanks for all the input to all who commented.
Cheers,
ArtyH