Well finally put the car in winter storage up here in the north . Since i'm a newbie at this , I stored the car by removing the battery , a trickle charger was not a option, and did all the other necessary things to put the ride to sleep. Will I have any surprises upon hooking the battery back up in the spring and powering it back up? Thanks.

 

I've never heard of anyone having problems from removing the battery for an extended period of time. A member on this forum had mice get under his dash and chewed up wires during storage. You should take steps to protect against that.

 

Yes I put moth ***** in engine compartment ,and floor in storage shed , Fabric dryer sheets inside car and plugged tailpipe , Hope for no little guests. Was just wondering about the advanced electronics of our cars and if it would cause any problems. Thanks.

 

just make sure you store the battery on a shelf away from concrete, and put a trickle charge on it from time to time. you should be good to go next spring...

 

When you hook up the battery in the spring, you will have the BAS/ESP lit on the dash. Simply start the car, turn the wheel full lock to full lock and then restart it. It calibrates the steering to know its limits, that should get you squared away.

Oh yeah, and either put cardbaord or carpet squares under the tires for no flat spotting...

 

You can store batteries on concrete, in the old days when batteries were made out of pitch they used to get run down, but now with PP (polypropylene) battery cases this no longer holds true.

The pitch was not a good electrical insulator, PP is very good.

 

Just curious ? How does turning the steering wheel calibrate the steering limits and why is it necessary , And yes I did store tires on 2 foot square 2 inch thick Styrofoam .

 

When the battery is disconnected from the computer, it sets the BAS/ESP light to go on. Not sure why. Starting the car and turning full left and full right and then straight, resets things. I think this procedure is in the owner's manual.

 

Yes, I did look it the owners manual ,Pg. 93 and it explains it well , Always learning something new , Thanks a lot.

 

I just drive my every chance I get even in the winter as long as there is no snow. The heater works great and I enjoy driving it.

 

With a 6 speed, should it be stored with the car in reverse and the e-brake engaged like you do when normally parking it?

 

I don't think the gear matters. And I would NOT leave the parking brake on for a long period. I learned that the hard way.

 

I just make sure to chock the wheels and leave it in nuetral with the parking brake off, my garage is fairly level, but the chocks ensure nothing happens...

 

I would do that here in Vt. , but the roads have TONS of salt on them. I'd like to keep the XF well into my retirement. Hate to see it rust away.

 

Why not leave it in 6th gear say, no chocks. Just wondering.

 

Not really set in my ways, as I am not nearly old enough to be, eh Dave

I just always figured it would be better for the linkage to be left in a neutral position, rather than a loaded one. Kind of the same logic with the parking brake, why leave something engaged for months when you could leave it in more of a 'natural' state. Any suggestions?

 

I can understand that, I hope it lasts a long time for you.

 

You know, I just had my battery out for over an hour. I cleaned the battery, took out the tray and inspected/cleaned it, and inspected the area below and around the underside of the battery tray. When I took it out I first disconnected the neg clamp (no siren, I was ready) and then the pos clamp. Maybe thats why my light never came on when I reconnected (FIRST) the positive clamp and then the neg clamp. This was the second time this battery was out of the car and neither times did the light come on (so no 'reset' was needed). Is it the procedure that prevented it from happening on my battery jobs, or was it some sort of modification done to later year model cars. I go for thinking it was the procedure and not a mod to later year models. Just a thought!

 

You always disconnect the negative post first on these cars, I have never had the siren sound during this process. The siren may go off when something is wrong, I guess I have been lucky.

The BAS/ESP light comes on but what the heck, I can deal with that.

 

This, I have my van if it snows, but the car is just too much fun to drive.