Low battery warning

[duncan.hislop865]

Jaguar XF 2.2l Diesel 2014, Low battery warnings.
I have been seeing a number of these warnings on the centre screen and wonder if they are serious. They appear briefly after starting the engine, often they say ‘Start engine or systems will shutdown in 1 or 3 minutes’ with a symbol of a book underneath.
Recently, a new one has appeared showing the same message but with a Red Battery instead of the book. A symbol also appears on centre screen which says refer to handbook. I’ve done a couple of long drives to charge the engine but these messages persist.
I even took the car to my garage and they could not find anything wrong, is this anything to worry about?

[J44EAG]

The definitive test is always a battery "drop test". If the battery is older than about five years, it may well be suffering a gradual break down. You should be seeing at least 12.8v at the battery terminals before you cold start the car. Anything less points to a failing battery.

During a drop test, the technician will apply a heavy load to the battery via his test unit. Inside the unit is an electric element which provides the test load. Having applied the load for about 15 seconds, the drop in voltage is noted. Once the load is released, the terminal voltage should gradually rise back to the original voltage figure. If it does not rise slowly or the battery only provides a lower voltage, then the battery is definitely suspect.

Modern Jags are voltage greedy and require a stable operating platform. A dodgy battery does anything but that and we then often see spurious messages and ABS/DSC messages start appearing. A change of battery is usually the first thing to suspect. Batteries usually only last five to seven years after which you are on borrowed time.

Hope that helps.

Mike K

[duncan.hislop865]

Thanks for the advice, I'll get it changed at the next service before winter sets in again

[tonycordon721]

I'm in a similar position with my '13 XF Sportbrake 3.0 D S. I'm getting the 'Low Battery' warning. How do I know which battery? Clearly the larger one is the 'cranking' battery and I assume that this is the one that's low, but the small one won't last forever will it? My indie says the car should be programmed to the new battery...is this really necessary? Can't I just buy a suitable specification one and fit it myself?
Re radio codes, I don't think that my 'facelift' model has a radio code, so is there anything else that I need to worry about if I fit my own?

[JimMann]

Hi Tony, be VERY careful with the fitting of a new battery to your XF - I don't know the details as yet, but there is an issue (under investigation) with the full disconnection of the battery in SOME XF models, which when you do (disconnect the battery) wipes out at least 2 control modules. There is no current remedy for this issue I believe.

All is not lost however. I understand it is possible to use a slave battery to keep the car 'awake' whilst you remove and replace the offending dead battery, you simply need to ensure that you have a properly connected slave battery to a positive and negative point on the car ahead of the disconnect. Alternatively, I use a Ring Automotive Smart Charger, which has a MEM (memory) function that can be used to retain all of the memory data in your car ahead of a battery disconnect / change. The charger version is the RSC 612, which I wrote about in the August 2020 edition of the magazine. Again, this is connected to the positive and negative terminals of the car and then the memory function activated ahead of the disconnect of the dead battery. Please note that not all chargers have this functionality.

Jim

[tonycordon721]

Thanks for your reply Jim, I'll take note of what you say! I'm still unsure about the issue of 'registering' a new battery to the car. Is this really necessary? My indie has quoted £336 to fit and program a replacement! Obviously, I can buy a suitable battery much cheaper, but what about the programming????

[JimMann]

Hi again Tony, I am not fully au fait with the requirements of programming a battery to the XF - best to wait for one of the more technical Forum contributors for the XF to come back. I do know however that if you use the charger, or slave battery trick, it provides a work around to the issue of memory loss and the all important saving of damage to the control modules.

Jim

[Bellajag]

Hi Tony, be VERY careful with the fitting of a new battery to your XF - I don't know the details as yet, but there is an issue (under investigation) with the full disconnection of the battery in SOME XF models, which when you do (disconnect the battery) wipes out at least 2 control modules. There is no current remedy for this issue I believe.

All is not lost however. I understand it is possible to use a slave battery to keep the car 'awake' whilst you remove and replace the offending dead battery, you simply need to ensure that you have a properly connected slave battery to a positive and negative point on the car ahead of the disconnect. Alternatively, I use a Ring Automotive Smart Charger, which has a MEM (memory) function that can be used to retain all of the memory data in your car ahead of a battery disconnect / change. The charger version is the RSC 612, which I wrote about in the August 2020 edition of the magazine. Again, this is connected to the positive and negative terminals of the car and then the memory function activated ahead of the disconnect of the dead battery. Please note that not all chargers have this functionality.

Jim

I have just been reading through this thread and wondered as it's 2 years old if there had been any more information on changing the battery.
I have recently bought a 2.2D XF R Sport and the stop start is not working. Also I am getting the battery low warning on the screen although the car is starting normally. I am presuming that the battery is getting tired, it seems to be the original and the car is 7 years old. Is it just a case of connecting some jump leads to another battery and the cars leads to maintain a 12v supply?

[almcl]

Pretty much. I changed the battery on my Sportbrake a couple of months ago (it was the original from the date). I used the 'maintainer' function on a smart charger to keep things alive during the reconnect and all has been well since.

I did reset the battery monitoring system using the Jaguar SDD, although I am not sure how essential this is.

However the biggest challenge was undoing the clamp bolt, which as others have reported duly sheared during the process. I replaced it with a stainless steel variation, which seems to be doing the job OK.