2007 Autotrail Scout help

[tezza]

Hello

 

Can anyone help me please, my boss has the above motorhome on a Fiat 160 mulitijet base, my problem is batteries, the van is dry stored and is used about once or twice a week for shortish journeys, maybe 50 mile round trips, anyway, when he first layed the van up the engine battery went flat on several occasions, (he has a sigma alarm connected) he then thought he had a duff battery so he replaced it, unfortunatley, whilst doing this he dislodged a wire from the multiplex relay that sits along side the battery in the same compartment, there are only two quite thin wires, a black one which goes to the bat earth and a white one that now goes no where, does anyone know where this wire should be attached to?

Last weekend he went away and come Sunday morning the engine battery fell to 6v and wouldn't start, he says the battery is duff again but i pointed out it has sat in a paint shop for a week (small bumper issue) and it started with no problem.

So, when on hook up is there anything special he should be doing with the control panel, like selecting which battery to use or does it automatically select the battery for you.

Sorry for the long post but any suggestions would be most welcome.

 

Tezza

 

PS the van has the Seargent EC325 control panel/charger unit.

 

 

[Guest CAB]

I had a new Autotrail (around 2004) which failed to start regularly a few weeks after collection - "duff battery"? AA called on at least 3 occasions to jump start when it would behave itself for another week or two.

The issue was finally diagnosed as one of poor earthing of the battery. The addition of a second earthing strap cured the problem (I think attached to the engine block).

I believe others have had similar problems in the past with the Ducato/Boxer base vehicle.

Could this have any bearing to the problem you describe?

[tezza]

Hi

Does anyone now if the relay is fitted by Autotrail or Fiat and what is it's purpose in life?

 

I think the battery issue is through this relay.

 

Terry

 

 

[tezza]

Thanks CAB, i'm not sure if the earth strap could be the problem, I'll check it out though, the battery is either being drained or is not being charged, which one is the mystery question.