steve hill Posted May 27, 2022 Share Posted May 27, 2022 Okay I have to leave the van for a 5 months, a 2013 2.3 Ducato. I would like to disconnect the earth lead on the engine battery, in the older vans no problem, but with the ECU on the new van I believe this can cause problems when reconnected. Surely this can be done without needing to put a solar or mains charge to the battery to maintain it. Is there a method??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtravel Posted May 27, 2022 Share Posted May 27, 2022 Never had any problems, indeed all my campers (three Ducato and one Renault) have always had a battery switch for both the habitation and the engine battery. I don't know yours but on my 2020 Ducato 2.3 I disconnect it regularly. It is an operation foreseen and recommended in the use and maintenance manual in case of prolonged unuse. Check what your manual says. Max Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikefitz Posted May 27, 2022 Share Posted May 27, 2022 There is a method and its suggested in the vehicle handbook. What can happen is that the disconnect causes confusion or failure in the electronic modules, its usually the air bag computer that fails. If the disconnect occurs when the modules are 'asleep ' there is no problem. Remove the battery cover , close all doors and windows, activate the central locking with one press, key out of ignition, wait two minutes, ( wait seven minutes if the ign has been on). All modules are now in standby mode, disconnect the battery negative quick release, exit via drivers door, lock with key. When reconnecting enter the van using the key , close drivers door, connect negative cable, wait one minute, carry on as normal. Its possible the alarm will sound, cancel with the fob. If the battery is in good condition it will be OK for 5 months. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted May 28, 2022 Share Posted May 28, 2022 mikefitz - 2022-05-27 10:47 PM There is a method and its suggested in the vehicle handbook.... Mike I don't think there is any specific battery-disconnection method suggested in the Fiat Owner Handbook appropriate for a 2013 Ducato X250, though the following advice is given in the "Useful advice for extending the life of your battery section" of the Owner Handbook for the Ducato X290 that began to be built in mid-2014. IMPORTANT After turning the ignition key to STOP and having closed the driver side door, wait at least one minute before disconnecting the electrical supply from the battery. When reconnecting the electrical supply to the battery, make sure that the ignition key is in the STOP position and the driver side door is closed. The Ducato X250 Handbook does include this battery-related advice in a section headed "Long vehicle inactivity" Disconnect the negative battery terminal and check battery charge. Repeat this check once every three months during storage. Recharge if the optical indicator shows a dark colour without the central green area (see “Battery recharging” in the section “Dashboard and controls”); If the vehicle is equipped with a battery disconnection function (disconnector), see the description of the procedure in the “Controls” paragraph in the “Dashboard and controls” section. When putting the motorhome into hibernation for 5 months, if the starter battery is the 'maintainable' type (which an original Ducato battery will have been) a check of its electrolyte-level should be made and the battery should be fully charged before it is disconnected. It's stating the obvious perhaps, but - once the starter-battery has been disconnected - the vehicle's central-locking won't function and the cab passenger door (that has no external keyhole) will remain unlocked. The procedure to manually lock a Ducato cab passenger door was discussed here https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Passenger-door/57568/ (5 months is a long time for an ordinary wet-acid starter-battery to be disconnected, receive no charge and still be in a fit state charge-wise to start the vehicle when reconnected. Not much to be done about that in this instance - just something to keep in mind.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve hill Posted May 28, 2022 Author Share Posted May 28, 2022 That sounds good, but have you done it,I would be very interested and assured, I have read people get problems on reconnecting. Leaving the battery is no problem, I have done it many times for 6 months and restarted the engine on first try on older vans as long as it was a good battery to start with! Thanks for the help Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve hill Posted May 28, 2022 Author Share Posted May 28, 2022 Thanks for all that Derek. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted May 29, 2022 Share Posted May 29, 2022 Replacing the starter-battery of a Ducato or Boxer has been discussed here several times (this May 2020 thread is an example) https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Vehicle-Battery/55275/ Replacing the starter-battery will demand that its negative terminal be disconnected and - as mikefitz advised then and now - to minimise the risk of damage it's important that a procedure be carefully adhered to. When I replaced my 2015 Ducato-based Rapido's starter-battery I followed the procedure Mike had recommended in 2020. I didn't "activate the central locking" (which I note he has now advised) and I'm not sure why there might be a need to do this. (In fact, I would have thought that having the central locking deactivated before disconnecting the battery would be preferable to having it activated, but that's just a gut-feeling view.) There were no subsequent issues in my case and, frankly, I would not have expected there to have been any. The vital thing is to allow sufficient time for the ECUs to fully shut down before disconnecting the battery's negative terminal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikefitz Posted May 29, 2022 Share Posted May 29, 2022 The comnent regarding the central locking is only relevant if you want to leave the van locked with the battery disconnected. With the Fiat cab there is no key for the passanger door so locking with the fob is the easy option. Almost all starter batteries in good condition will have a low self discharge rate so should survive many months. It would be prudent to put the battery on charge for 24 hours before reconnecting after a long lay-up if the battery indicated a lowish voltage, say below 12.2 volts. Attempting to start with a very low battery, charging the starter battery connected to the van circuits and jump starting, may cause unusual low or high voltages that damage vehicle electronic modules. One further point regarding disconnecting the vehicle starter battery, is that any connection to the leisure battery and charging system idealy should be disabled/disconnected, before disconnecting the vehicle battery. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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