Replacing an 6yr old battery in mt 06 xk8, dealership wants $750, or i can buy one myself and have them replace, reset the codes for a total of $550 ($300 battery + $250 shop charge). lastly just go to batteries plus and spend $280 on a new battery and have them replace. My question is do i really need to spend the money to have the dealership install and reset the codes? Thanks

 

There aren't any codes to reset. Take it to an automotive store and they will do it for free. But you could do it yourself, there is lots of information on the forum or @jagrepair.com.

 

[QUOTE=KRT;2753441]Replacing an 6yr old battery in mt 06 xk8, dealership wants $750, or i can buy one myself and have them replace, reset the codes for a total of $550 ($300 battery + $250 shop charge). lastly just go to batteries plus and spend $280 on a new battery and have them replace. My question is do i really need to spend the money to have the dealership install and reset the codes? Thanks[/QUOTE
For about $200 at Walmart you can get a AGM battery made in Germany and it will fit. Make sure you vent it and take all the money you save and purchase a good trickle down charger. Your battery problems will be solved. There are no codes and I never have run into any reset issues.

 

should be no codes needing reset - the only thing to reset would be the stop points for window travel on the convertible. Replace battery, start car, radio off so you can hear and hold window switch down until you hear faint click, then raise window and again hold until you hear faint click. then do the other side

 

Battery needs to be H8, MB88, Group 49, L5 etc.

 

You may need to have your radio code handy if your battery is totally dead or out for an extended period.

 

Look for how to replace battery, in YouTube. It’ll show how to connect the cables to power, so you are never out of power, while changing the battery.

 

I was going to add that the "risk" in disconnecting the battery fully during a replacement is that you will reset the OBD monitors and fuel trims in addition to the windows limits. For some, getting these monitors to pass again proves difficult. It leads to a Check engine light and these monitors have to be reset again and the car driven for many miles in the hope of meeting the test condition. As already suggested look into keeping some power to these cable while you are replacing the battery so the various control modules never lose power. I believe there are cigar lighter adapters for this purpose, but I have never tried them. If it was me, I would try and maintain 12V with a spare battery setup in the engine compartment, between a ground and that 12V post at the fuse block.

Best of luck, keep us posted.

 

[QUOTE=fmertz;2753558]I was going to add that the "risk" in disconnecting the battery fully during a replacement is that you will reset the OBD monitors and fuel trims in addition to the windows limits. For some, getting these monitors to pass again proves difficult. It leads to a Check engine light and these monitors have to be reset again and the car driven for many miles in the hope of meeting the test condition. As already suggested look into keeping some power to these cable while you are replacing the battery so the various control modules never lose power. I believe there are cigar lighter adapters for this purpose, but I have never tried them. If it was me, I would try and maintain 12V with a spare battery setup in the engine compartment, between a ground and that 12V post at the fuse block.

Not trying to be a wise guy but I have never had any issues in either replacing or disconnecting my battery. My car is a 2000 XK8 convertible. I never have had any codes or warning lights. It seems people are always doing hard resets without any issues, or am I just lucky?

 

Thanks for all your input, so i am going to go with an Interstate Battery MTX-49/H8. 3 yr replacement warranty and plenty of cold cranking amps. Thanks to you all i saved a bunch of money.

 

I would also say that you should avoid this particular dealer in future, as they were clearly trying to rip you off with fake additional work.

 

I wouldn't say that. I'd say that a dealership is the last place to go to get a battery due to expense. But the dealership probably does charge $300 for a genuine Jag battery. The shop rate might be $200/hr, maybe more. They have to pull all the junk out of the trunk, the floor, the side panel thing, disconnect and remove the old battery, install the new, connect the vent and the cables, reinstall the floor, put all the junk back into the trunk, reset the windows, dunno about the radio. This might take $250 of seriously inflated rate shop time. I think the price is ridiculous, but I don't their they're being particularly dishonest.

 

Would take all of fifteen minutes to do all of that...

 

Quite possibly. But they charge book time, which is probably closer to an hour or slightly more, I would guess. I have no direct knowledge.

 

The OP specifically talked about resetting codes - if they have quoted for that, it absolutely is dishonest because it's not a thing.

 

Hey everyone as I previously said not going to the dealership and will just have Interstate Baterry install, for you info the dealership wants $500 for the battery and charge 1 hr shop time for the install @ $250/hr. Crazy right !

 

Shop time is from the time the technician pulls the job slip, until the car is done, tools put away, jib slip updated, car moved to waiting area. There aren’t many single item services that are less than 1 hour. If the car has multiple service items it’s right right to charge as if each is single.

Oh yeah, if it’s a convertible, it might take 30 minutes of futzing around to get the damn luggage barrier in place correctly.

Another oh yeah. , you want to get a smart battery tender, not a trickle charger..

 

On that note, I've read about this 'radio code' before when disconnecting battery. What does this mean? I bought a 2006 XK8 , without any manuals or documentation, so no radio code either. Will I need this code at some point in the future? And how would I get this?
Cheers,
Theo

 

I would guess that you have a Keycode radio like mine so, if you disconnect the battery, you will need the 4 digit code to re-enable the radio. You could do what I do and always change the battery whilst using a temporary battery on flying leads to avoid having to reset windows etc, even though I do have the code for mine.

If you ever need the code, you might find that it is written on the radio itself, or you can contact a Jaguar main dealer with your VIN number or there are some online services which can provide the code for a small charge.

Richard

 

I’ve had my ‘15 XKR battery disconnected for at least 2 hours, to get it load tested. And never had to clear codes, or enter radio codes. The only thing I had to do was: reprogram seat memory, reset clock, and it ‘s a ‘vert so had to reset window limits.