Hi - new member! Has anyone else had a battery fault only to find that the boot is literally 5cm deep in water under the spare tyre??!  Apparently it's a leaking vent seal behind the lights!  Car is 4 1/2 years old so out of warranty, but surely this is a design fault??  Repair means new electrics - relay etc! Or am i the only one?

Hi Jason, welcome to the board. I haven’t noticed anything wrong in mine but then haven’t really looked but I certainly will now. Mine is 2016 XF. Thanks for the alert.

Should have said - it’s an XF estate that’s got the water problem - not sure if saloons have the same issue! 

Hi Jason,

I just changed the battery on my Sportbrake and it seemed bone dry but I have heard of this on the other forum, do a search on jaginfo and you should find some threads on this.

Best wishes,

Dom

Iv'e just checked the boot floor of my 2015 XF Sportbrake and it is totally dry so it looks like you have been extremely unlucky.   I note you say you have a spare tyre in the boot ?? I thought all that year models had the puncture repair kit and pump.  Perhaps the original owner specified a spare wheel instead  - I would have preferred that option in my vehicle !

Hi Ian,

My s type had the water problem over 6 year s ago when I first bought it. It had been sitting in a dry garage for a few months.  Cleaning the water seals resolved the problem.

My s type on an 2007 plate has a proper spare wheel in the boot which cost the first owner about £400 as an optional extra.  It came out of Castle Bromwich with it in the boot.

My wife has a Toyota Yaris which came with the tyre gunge and a tyre inflater.  A look around on eBay got a matching rim in good condition and  the appropriate tyre was fitted.

Regards,

Peter.  

Hi

My 2013 XF Sportbrake had this before I bought it (cost of repair was just over £1000 at Jag indy according to paperwork).

No sign of water since I got it but as part of the fix they left a small drain hole open in the spare wheel well so hopefully if it did recur it would not be so expensive.

As belt and braces I have installed a battery operated flood alarm from ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Water-Leak-Alarm-moisture-flood-high-level-detector-sensor-bath-sink-overflow-HG-/223037327521?hash=item33ee0f88a1 I have put the sensor in the deepest spot in the well and keep the alarm itself in the boot and just test every couple of weeks. The braces part is several silica moisture packs dotted around by the battery and suspension pump etc.

As part of repair, previous owner presumably cut a corner (cost) by replacing the AGM Main battery with a standard Lead-Acid battery which I have since replaced having read about the difference.

🙂