bigrab1888 Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 If you regularly leave it for two weeks and no problems then I think it's safe to discount the radio and camera. Sounds like the battery or charging system. Your first step as suggested is to do a proper load test on the battery once you get it charged. Most garages will be able to do this. I have a 2003 2.8jtd ducato and can leave it 8 weeks and it starts no problem showing 12.4 v. I had a diesel corsa 140.000 miles, 8years old when I sold it on its original battery it was fine, so maybe I'm lucky... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebeaches Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 We've got an October 2010 Fiat Ducato based MH, that came off the production line in February 2010 - similar to the OP. Now done 24k miles, but isn't used a great deal in the winter - just try to take it for a good run every 2 or 3 weeks. And I am noticing the battery is no longer holding it's charge as it should, even though it hasn't let us down... yet. *-) I will probably replace the battery in the spring, before we go abroad again - don't really want it to fail on the continent. And as others have mentioned, there may not be any more warning before it suddenly packs up completely. Having said that, our last two family cars were each replaced at around 8 years old, and neither of them suffered any battery problems whatsoever during our ownership. But, it would probably be the same with the van if it was used every day. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWoo Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Is the Ducato alternator man enough for the job? It has to keep 2 batteries charged and in most cases power a fridge. I normally have no problems in this area but after a recent 170 mile trip on a cold dark night using lights cab heater blower and fridge, the following morning although it started the engine I noticed the battery charge was low. After a day on charge all now seems back to normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 MrWoo - 2015-01-22 12:37 PM Is the Ducato alternator man enough for the job? It has to keep 2 batteries charged and in most cases power a fridge. I normally have no problems in this area but after a recent 170 mile trip on a cold dark night using lights cab heater blower and fridge, the following morning although it started the engine I noticed the battery charge was low. After a day on charge all now seems back to normal. That experience makes sense, and there is no problem with your alternator. Driving for a few hours, even without the draw of headlights etc, will not fully charge a vehicle's battery. We had a couple of nights on an Aire followed by a day's driving and the leisure batteries only got a partial recharge. A vehicle in regular use will keep its start battery charged, even in winter, but recharging a more deeply discharged leisure battery needs more time on charge - overnight on an EHU or a day or two of solar panel. No point in fitting a bigger alternator because it is time on charge which is needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 The alternator output on a Ducato is at least 100 amps and in some cases 150 and that is far more than will ever be used by lights heater fridge and everything else electrical when on the road so if the battery is not charging it must either be failing or not getting the full charge due to dirty or faulty connections - possibly the earth strap or it's connections which are known to be suspect on Sevel vans. The charge to the leisure batteries is limited to around 15 amps on start up quickly falling to 10 and then even less and you need to drive a lot of miles to keep leisure batteries topped up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.