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Jaguar XF 3.0 S X250 - Changing Battery X250 2015 XF & Avoiding Issues - hatman

Can anyone recommend the best battery for a late X250 2015 XF 3.0S and the best way to fit it without encountering any problems? I keep reading about owners who have had nightmares with the central locking on facelift XFs after changing the battery. I understand the logic in keeping the power supply going whilst changing the battery with a OBDll battery saver but this type of work is not exactly my forte so would I be better taking the car to a Jaguar specialist? I'd greatly appreciate any advice from someone who has successfully changed the battery on their facelift X250 XF.

The car still has it's original JLR 7 year old battery. I charged it up with a CTEK charger and it was fully charged up to number 7 on Monday. However today, when I started the car it was extremely cold and the low battery warning came on and when I put the CTEK charger on it stayed on light number 1 on the charger for hours so it seems as though the battery needs replacing.

Many thanks in advance.

Jaguar XF 3.0 S X250 - Changing Battery X250 2015 XF & Avoiding Issues - Maxime.

Better to take the car to a specialist jaguar dealer if you have one nearby..

Otherwise a jaguar main dealer.

Ask on the XF forums if one near you.

Edited by maxime on 09/12/2022 at 07:37

Jaguar XF 3.0 S X250 - Changing Battery X250 2015 XF & Avoiding Issues - elekie&a/c doctor
There’s no real problem replacing the battery, the only issue you’ll have is that the battery management system will need updating, which needs diagnostic kit to carry out . I would strongly suggest you don’t use the obd socket with a power saver, could cause issues. Stick with a known brand . Bosch , Varta , Exide etc. i would think it’s an 019 stopstart type

Edited by elekie&a/c doctor on 09/12/2022 at 08:48

Jaguar XF 3.0 S X250 - Changing Battery X250 2015 XF & Avoiding Issues - edlithgow
There’s no real problem replacing the battery, the only issue you’ll have is that the battery management system will need updating, which needs diagnostic kit to carry out . I would strongly suggest you don’t use the obd socket with a power saver, could cause issues. Stick with a known brand . Bosch , Varta , Exide etc. i would think it’s an 019 stopstart type

Sounds like a ":real problem"" to me, but I suppose one could argue that deliberately engineered problems aren't "real"

Jaguar XF 3.0 S X250 - Changing Battery X250 2015 XF & Avoiding Issues - gordonbennet

Thankfully haven't yet owned a car that needed updating when a new battery was fitted, and long may this be the case*

However,when swapping batteries, taking great care i connect my jump pack to the battery leads (jump pack earth lead can go to any decent earth point well away from the battery) to keep the vehicle live during battery changing, i try and connect the positive lead well away from the bettery terminal end if possible and once the battery leads are removed encase a substantial glove or similar over each lead to prevent any accidental connections whilst lifting the batteries out and in, recently renewed the twin parallel wired batteries on my Landcruiser and did the same one at a time, no jump pack required just made sure the exposed leads were well covered.

as an aside, modern trucks are at least as electrically complicated as any modern car, often more so, have had batteries swapped out by the dealers on both my last new vehicles at around 2 years old, never seen them need to reprogram the vehicle to accept the new batteries, so why is this the case on cars, i ask because the cynic in me suspects just one more pointless thing added to make people shy away from diy and into the arms of the main dealer for maintenance....or are the truck maker's dealers not doing their jobs properly and should actually be udating the vehicle?

Edited by gordonbennet on 09/12/2022 at 09:51

Jaguar XF 3.0 S X250 - Changing Battery X250 2015 XF & Avoiding Issues - Chris M

Elekie, what needs updating in the battery management system?

I'm guessing the battery voltage is constantly monitored and a new battery with a higher voltage would confuse it. Maybe that would upset some other functions in the car, some safety related. But if there was a driver accessable menu option along the lines of:

New battery? Yes/No - Yes

Are you sure you have a new battery? Yes/No - Yes

Then the car could have left the factory with the ability to sort itself out.

Am I being too simplistic here or does GB (not for the first time!) have a point?

Jaguar XF 3.0 S X250 - Changing Battery X250 2015 XF & Avoiding Issues - RT

Elekie, what needs updating in the battery management system?

I'm guessing the battery voltage is constantly monitored and a new battery with a higher voltage would confuse it. Maybe that would upset some other functions in the car, some safety related. But if there was a driver accessable menu option along the lines of:

New battery? Yes/No - Yes

Are you sure you have a new battery? Yes/No - Yes

Then the car could have left the factory with the ability to sort itself out.

Am I being too simplistic here or does GB (not for the first time!) have a point?

Obviously a completely different system but my VW's battery management system needs to know when a new battery is fitted, to remove the adaptive data accumulated for the old battery - this requires a diagnostic reader, not necessarily VW's ODIS system - DIY mechanics get round this by changing one digit in the battery serial number, enough for the system to recognise a new battery.

Jaguar XF 3.0 S X250 - Changing Battery X250 2015 XF & Avoiding Issues - elekie&a/c doctor
Most modern cars have some kind of “smart” charging and battery management system that allows the battery to receive its optimum operating charge level. New battery and registration allows the system to start from fresh . On Fords , the charge rate is capable of reaching up to 15.8 volts .
Jaguar XF 3.0 S X250 - Changing Battery X250 2015 XF & Avoiding Issues - Chris M

"...my VW's battery management system needs to know when a new battery is fitted, to remove the adaptive data accumulated for the old battery - this requires a diagnostic reader..."

I get that the car needs to know, but not why diagnostic equipment is required. Most cars will need a new battery at some point unless they get written off through accident damage. Manufacturers know this so why make it so complicated? I'm guessing AA type battery replacement services have the tech., so it can't just be to tie us into main dealers.

Jaguar XF 3.0 S X250 - Changing Battery X250 2015 XF & Avoiding Issues - gordonbennet

Then the car could have left the factory with the ability to sort itself out.

Am I being too simplistic here

Sadly yes, would it be beyond them to put the state of the DPF or even a method of driver triggered regen when necessary deep in the menu (possibly requiring the car owner to enter a code so small boys couldn't play silly blighters), so the chances of what you suggest which makes sense to probably everyone on this forum? er nil.

Lorries have various forms of DPF checking and the ability to delay if inconvenient or start a static regen if required as i believe do some recent Toyota 4x4's, you would think a 'battery reset to new' click would be childs play.

Edited by gordonbennet on 09/12/2022 at 14:59

Jaguar XF 3.0 S X250 - Changing Battery X250 2015 XF & Avoiding Issues - Brit_in_Germany

If the battery is disconnected before the car has fully shut down it can result in the data stored in the control modules becoming corrupted. The dealer solution is then to replace the modules at high cost although they can be re-coded with the correct kit.

The trick seems to be leave the boot open, make sure the keys are nowhere near the car then wait for 10-15 minutes before disconnecting.

While the battery monitor should be progerammed to inform it about the new battery, it will eventually self-learn through its calibration procedure.

Jaguar XF 3.0 S X250 - Changing Battery X250 2015 XF & Avoiding Issues - paul 1963

We recently fitted trackers to our vans at work ( Berlingos) after a bit of research we found the van had to have all doors and windows shut and keys well away from it before disconnecting the battery then left for ten minutes before and after....we did ignore the advice on one van just to see what happened, took half a day and man with a lap top to get it to start, love modern tech but sometimes I do wonder if has to be so hard to do the simplest of things....

Jaguar XF 3.0 S X250 - Changing Battery X250 2015 XF & Avoiding Issues - Crickleymal

I remember having to do some complicated procedure with one of my Citroens or Peugeots when I had to disconnect the battery. If I didn't then it would screw up central locking or the windows or something. What a palaver! At least I never had to change the battery in my Xsara Picasso, that was located under the passenger seat.

Jaguar XF 3.0 S X250 - Changing Battery X250 2015 XF & Avoiding Issues - John F

It seems absurd that some cars misbehave after being disconnected from their power supply. I always disconnect the battery from my 17yr old Audi A8 if going away for more than two weeks - never had a problem with electronic oddities. Ditto for our modern Peugeot 2008 - disconnected for a month while visiting son in USA (intelligent battery lead contact - no spanner needed)

Jaguar XF 3.0 S X250 - Changing Battery X250 2015 XF & Avoiding Issues - gordonbennet

I agree completely John, its not as if all this alleged smart charging leads to batteries lasting any longer, don't get the point myself but i suspect its something designed to help add micro improvements to mpg and CO2 ratings.

The longer i can avoid rubbish like thiks the better.

Jaguar XF 3.0 S X250 - Changing Battery X250 2015 XF & Avoiding Issues - hatman

Many thanks for the replies, much appreciated. It is certainly a lot more complicated changing a battery these days - I used to think it was pain inputting the radio code in the 90s!

Can I just check that this battery will be suitable for a 2015 X250 XF 3.0D S with start/stop:

Bosch S5A13 Car Battery 12V AGM Start Stop Type 019

Jaguar XF 3.0 S X250 - Changing Battery X250 2015 XF & Avoiding Issues - elekie&a/c doctor
That’ll do nicely.
Jaguar XF 3.0 S X250 - Changing Battery X250 2015 XF & Avoiding Issues - Paulsxf

The late X250s have 2 batterys (my SportBrake did), you will probably need to change both if they are original. I think the small one keeps the radio and internals going when stop/start kicks in.

Jaginfo.org will give you any help you need.

Jaguar XF 3.0 S X250 - Changing Battery X250 2015 XF & Avoiding Issues - hatman

Many thanks for the replies - in order to try and avoid any problems, I intend to keep the car connected to power when taking out the battery, where are the best places to put the positive and negative connectors when removing the old battery?

Also, am I right in thinking that the OBD port to plug in a scanner to reset the battery condition monitor is beneath the steering wheel? Thanks in advance

Jaguar XF 3.0 S X250 - Changing Battery X250 2015 XF & Avoiding Issues - elekie&a/c doctor
There are battery jump start points under the bonnet. I would strongly advise not to keep power on while doing a battery swap . The main battery leads in the boot will still be alive. If the main battery positive lead touches earth, you could end up with a whole lot of trouble. The obd socket is behind the lower part of the dash panel , just by your legs . Do not use a battery saver device in this either.