I need to charge the battery. (only partially discharged due to interior light on overnight). How do you turn off the lights in the boot (trunk) while charging? If I close the boot lid to turn off the lights, how does the hydrogen gas from the battery escape? When I open the boot could there be a spark that can ignite the gas?

 

If you have an oem jaguar battery, or one that is a correct replacement then the battery will have a vent hose routed to the underside of the car so, there won't be any gas in the boot. I use one of the "smart" chargers that monitor the battery voltage and shut off when the battery is fully charged... I set it to the 6 amp setting and close the boot while charging, just don't route the wires near the latch mech. A few hours and it will be fine.

 

The light in the boot only stays on for a few minutes, when the boot remains open. Or should I say it works that way on my 2000. Jim

 

I leave mine on a trickle charger during the winter months with the trunk lid ajar. The light goes out after a few minutes on its own. The battery originally had a vent tube attached from factory which may still be there or need replaced. Not critical if the lid is ajar though. If there is residual drain it is more than offset by the charger. No problems so far after two winters of this procedure.

 

You can charge the car from under the bonnet [hood]

 

Take the lamps out, do very little my opinion, again CTEK charger, trunk lid ajar.

 

As my movement sensor is super sensitive, there are frequent occasions where I need to turn the alarm system off when there is heavy rain/hail storms if the beast cant get in the garage. Which in turn, drain the battery big time.


So bought a CTEK battery charger to trickle charge it all year round. As the battery capacity is 95ah I bought the MXS 5.0 version which is man enough to deal with batteries from 110ah up to 160ah. Comes with a battery harness which you simply bolt on to the battery without the need for disconnection and then hook up to the charger/mains. The lead from the boot/trunk can feed out between the rubber cushion seals without obstructing, to the charger.


Once a year do a RECOND but then leave it on NORMAL for trickle feed/maintenance at 5A all the rest of the time. The system constantly tests voltage levels and will restart the charge cycle if there are any drops.


Not cheap at £60 (c.$90), but so far its kept the battery in tip top condition.