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Vehicle Battery


Peter Boyle

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You might find it is the same as the earlier X244 chassis, but not located under the bonnet as mine is.

 

I've just replaced my failed starter battery, I wiggled it out, not easily, measured the dimensions and technical details and have fitted one of these.

 

https://tinyurl.com/ycxq8va9

 

Time will tell if it does the job as the old one which must have been over nine years old and only failed (low batt' warning) during the winter lay up despite being on Solar and regular charger top ups via the vehicles control panel.

 

HTH

 

B-)

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At the risk of preaching to the already converted.

 

Always disconnect the negative lead first, and reconnect it last. Perhaps a good idea to insulate the lead in a thick plastic bag, so that it cannot make inadvertant contact with the battery terminal.

 

Alan

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Just recharged the battery in my Ford Transit motor caravan. It's under the driver's seat. What a pain to get to the positive terminal, nearly had to take the seat out, I think you do to change the battery.! Brainwave! Fix a wire to the terminal and thread it through so the end is near the other more accessible terminal. Suitably insulated, sitting there ready for next time.

 

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Conrad - 2020-05-26 6:53 PM

 

Just recharged the battery in my Ford Transit motor caravan. It's under the driver's seat. What a pain to get to the positive terminal, nearly had to take the seat out, I think you do to change the battery.! Brainwave! Fix a wire to the terminal and thread it through so the end is near the other more accessible terminal. Suitably insulated, sitting there ready for next time.

 

Ford Transit models built from late-2000 onwards have had their starter battery (or batteries) housed beneath the driver’s seat. What often inhibits access to the battery is when the motorhome converter fits a seat-swivel above the battery and, when there is a swivel, the seat + swivel will need to be removed if the battery needs to be replaced.

 

CTEK markets several “Connect Eyelets” (examples here)

 

http://www.ctek.com/uk/products/accessories?page=3

 

that can remain attached to the starter battery’s terminals and be easily connected to the ouput lead of a CTEK battery charger. My LHD Ducato has its starter-battery housed in a compartment in the cab’s left side foot-well and I’ve led a CTEK eyelet cable from there to beneath the driver’s seat where connection to my CTEK charger takes just seconds.

 

I noticed that, at one time, a local Skoda garage was fitting CTEK ‘Comfort Indicators’ to their showroom models

 

https://www.mdsbattery.co.uk/ctek-comfort-indicator-with-leds.html

 

to indicate when their starter-battery needed chaging.

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Conrad - 2020-05-26 6:53 PM

 

Just recharged the battery in my Ford Transit motor caravan. It's under the driver's seat. What a pain to get to the positive terminal, nearly had to take the seat out, I think you do to change the battery.! Brainwave! Fix a wire to the terminal and thread it through so the end is near the other more accessible terminal. Suitably insulated, sitting there ready for next time.

 

Insulated it may be, but I hope that you fitted an inline fuse close to the battery terminal.

 

Alan

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Conrad - 2020-05-26 6:53 PM

 

Just recharged the battery in my Ford Transit motor caravan. It's under the driver's seat. What a pain to get to the positive terminal, nearly had to take the seat out, I think you do to change the battery.! Brainwave! Fix a wire to the terminal and thread it through so the end is near the other more accessible terminal. Suitably insulated, sitting there ready for next time.

 

Does the Tranny have a remote jumpstart terminal? If so the battery could be charged from this.

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The base vehicle handbook should tell you if a jumpstart terminal is present, as the battery is hard to access I would guess there is one under the bonnet, whilst not the ideal way to charge the battery it will do the job.
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Peter said,

 

' is it easy to change or is there something I need to watch out for.'

 

Well yes there is, hidden away in the handbook it states that the battery must only be disconnected two minutes after the doors are closed with the ignition off. It should add that if the ignition has been on, you need to wait 10 minutes. The problem is that it takes time after the doors are closed or the ignition turned off for all the computers to shut down correctly. If the shutdown process is interrupted then there may be problems, usually its the air bag computer that fails.

After the waiting time, from inside the van, remove the quick release negative terminal. The doors may now be opened and the rest of the process completed.

When replacing the battery complete all the installation except the negative terminal. From inside the van with the doors closed reconnect the negative.

 

Mike

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colin - 2020-05-27 9:13 PM

 

The base vehicle handbook should tell you if a jumpstart terminal is present, as the battery is hard to access I would guess there is one under the bonnet, whilst not the ideal way to charge the battery it will do the job.

 

The Transit Owners Manual is available on-line and jump-starting advice can be found in the “Roadside Emergencies” section.

 

https://tinyurl.com/ydygodr2

 

Like recent Ducatos, FWD and RWD Transit variants all have a “battery positive connection point” beneath a cover in the engine compartment. The guidance is not crystal clear as far as I’m concerned and, if it is envisaged that charging the starter-battery via a separate charger is to be done regularly, it would be preferable to add the necessary wiring to the battery itself.

 

(I thought that a recent Chausson motorhome’s starter-battery would be chargeable via the vehicle’s onboard battery-charger when the motorhome was connected to a 230V power-supply. However, the latest Chausson User Manual I can find on-line (a 2016 French version) indicates that this capability may well not be provided.)

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