I just put my 2001 XK8 in winter storage and removed the battery to keep at home for the next 6 months. Is there any known problem with this??

 

Only con is the side window memory loss. But that is fixed in seconds once you got the battery back in

 

+1 to memory loss of window limits and possibly radio pre-sets.

Make sure the luggage compartment lock works with the key before removing the battery and closing the lid or you will have a challenge in the Spring.

Graham

 

The greatest risk regardless of whether or not the battery is removed is the fuel pump dying during the car's extended time in storage....

 

Interesting. How would the fuel pump die?

 

Ah, good one! I left my boot open, but your suggestion is well taken.

 

The fuel pumps tend to seize up from lack of use. This is a well-known risk for the cars that are stored for the winter....

This seems to be a more common issue on the 4.0 cars vs. the 4.2 cars, but as the 4.2 cars continue to age, time will tell....

 

Honestly, I have done this the last 10 years with my 00 XKR. No battery while stored. I've fixed too many motorcycles and cars that have had battery shens wreck stuff. I put the Interstate Megatron battery on two pieces of wood, connect the battery maintainer, and pop it back in when I need a battery in the car.

 

Sometimes as the car sits the fuel loses some of its more volatile components and it can become gummy which causes the fuel pump to fail but there are lots of mechanisms and play in order for that to happen and it’s not guaranteed to happen but it’s not guaranteed not to happen. it’s always recommended to have a full tank of fresh ethanol free gas and ensure you have a good fuel cap to prevent the evaporation of those components or water moisture from contaminating the fuel and that is why some people start their car periodically- so that they can run some fresh fuel through the lines to try to cut off any chances of bad gas causing problems.

The only other problem I would think you’d be concerned about is the loss of memory in the various programmed modules. I’ve read several posts about people who had their cars stored for several months but when they go to restart it it won’t start. Is it a fuel problem? Or is it a security system issue where it doesn’t recognize the key fob anymore? Or is it something else? I know that on my Jaguar there is a specific transportation relay that jaguar uses after they build a vehicle and it’s being shipped to a dealer which I believe is meant to supply a small amount of power to various circuits so that they retain their factory programmed parameters. One would think that Jaguar would only install such a system if they were aware of problems resulting from extended storage without the battery connected or they would’ve simply just disconnected the battery. But they didnt.