Battery Dead

[KEN33Y]

Anybody recommend a battery mine has died on the XKR

[Old Peter]

Hi Kenny,

The battery fitted by Jaguar on my car is a Varta. It is now four years and has never let me down.

Regards,

Peter.

[KEN33Y]

Varta as turned out to be the cheapest deal actually Peter. I have mostly over the years purchased Bosch but you can add an extra £30 on the Varta price.

My problem is car usage. At present I am working away from home quite a lot therefore the battery is not being charged as normal until the weekends even though its left unlocked in the garage because there is an alarm on the garage

[Old Peter]

Hi Kenny,

I had never had a varta battery until this one, but found that my car, which was owned by someone living in the Cotswolds in a particularly pricey village, had the car serviced by a main dealer, and the battery was fitted by that dealer. This reassured me on the quality.

My car sits on the driveway, as it won't fit into the garage, for two reasons --  Firstly the width, and secondly the collection of impedimenta left my my daughter to keep while she finds accommodation big enough. That was the reason when the went to University, and 20 years later most of it is still there.

I do get the occasional longer run, but I do charge it occasionally, and I have a little widget I plug in to the power source which indicates the battery condition and charge when the engine is running.

Regards,

Peter.

[JOE-DOT-COM]

Hi

my fathers car sits on the drive sometimes for a while before he uses it and his battery was going low

so when it had a new battery, i bought him a small solar panel that sat on his rear parcel shelf and charged his car by sunlight when he was'nt using it

something like this might help you, it was from maplin and under £15

cheers

joe

[KEN33Y]

20 hours ago, JOE-DOT-COM said:

Hi

my fathers car sits on the drive sometimes for a while before he uses it and his battery was going low

so when it had a new battery, i bought him a small solar panel that sat on his rear parcel shelf and charged his car by sunlight when he was'nt using it

something like this might help you, it was from maplin and under £15

cheers

joe

You may have missed the fact that my car lives in a locked, alarmed garage Joe therefore, the use of a solar panel would be deemed totally useless. I do have a small trickle charger that I should attach during the week however, being an electrical engineer I am somewhat sceptical of leaving it plugged in and attached all week when working away from home.

[JOE-DOT-COM]

Hi

I would use the trickle charger then, ive got one on mine and it stays on all the time its in the garage

its a genuine jaguar trickle charger but it made by ctek

its superb, these are quite safe, as long as you put a fuse as close as possible to the battery

Ive never had any problems, but i know what you mean.

cheers

joe

[KEN33Y]

Eventually went down the Bosch route, stick with what you know. Yes it was a little more expensive than that of the Varta but only fractionally in the end having found an offer from EUROCARPARTS in my junk email box. Got it on a trickle charge overnight because although they tell you it is fully charged who knows how long it as been on the shelf.

[Old Peter]

Hi Kenny,

Sticking to what you know is a good maxim.  Frequently, the element of confidence you get is worth any extra money you have to pay.

Regards,

Peter.

[JOE-DOT-COM]

Hi

it might be worth if you know your way around a ameter

to check what battery drain you have,

mine went flat after about 2 weeks, when i tested it i had something draining the battery more than i would of expected

turned out my car had a tracker hidden in the boot, no paper work with the service history

but the tracker had a battery attached to the side of it, which was no good and causing basically a high drain on the battery

once i removed the tracker and battery, now the battery last ages with no problems, but i still used the genuine jaguar trickle charger to keep it tip top

cheers

joe

[Old Peter]

I don't know if anyone remembers the time when an ammeter was fitted to cars.

It would be a useful addition nowadays,

When I had a caravan, which depended a lot on a good battery, there was an ammeter fitted on the caravan's instrument panel.

Peter.