steve hill Posted June 2, 2019 Share Posted June 2, 2019 New van to us, 5 years old looked at the battery normal lead acid, but level of liquid in cells looks a bit low. The book says that less maintenance is needed and it should be checked at service... Notice the cells are covered and it would need to be completly disconnected to look at the liqiuid levels. I suspect it has never been checked. The battery is only guaranteed for 3 years has anyone else had this problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arthur49 Posted June 2, 2019 Share Posted June 2, 2019 Steve You'll need to provide more information, then someone more learned than me may come along and advise 1. Starter or leisure battery? 2. Make, model, year of van 3. Make, model, age of battery (If 5 years old then may well be expiring) 4. can you clarify the "problem" you refer to? Is it that you think battery is dead or need to disconnect to view cell or ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 Steve The original starter-battery of X250/X290 Fiat Ducatos (2006-onwards) is normally a FIAMM-branded ‘maintainable’ type. As you are aware, the battery is housed in a lidded compartment in the left footwell of the Ducato’s cab and - as you’ve realised and is apparent from the attached image below - some of the cell-caps that allow the battery’s electrolyte-level to be checked and topped up are ‘masked'. As you rightly say, to confirm that the electrolyte-level in all 6 cells is correct will require that the battery be disconnected. This was discussed in these earlier forum threads https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Fiat-vehicle-battery-access/45861/ https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Battery-Liquid-Level-/48161/ In principle, if a Ducato is serviced by a Fiat Agent, the starter-battery’s electrolyte-level should be checked during the service. I don’t know how assiduously this is done (ie. whether all 6 cells are individually checked) and I can well believe that, if the Ducato is a motorhome and its cab's footwell is carpeted, that the starter-battery may not be inspected. As you’ve noticed that the electrolyte-level of some of the starter-battery’s cells looks a bit low, it’s likely that the level in the ‘masked’ cells is similarly low. So I suggest you bite the bullet, disconnect the battery and check and top up all the cells that need topping up. Some X250/X290 Ducatos have a 2nd (metal) lid beneath the plastic lid over the starter-battery, plus a cover over the battery’s positive terminal - but many Ducatos have neither. This Fiat Forum thread describes how to replace the battery and the advice includes how to remove the ‘stuff’ attached to the battery’s terminals. https://www.fiatforum.com/ducato/357146-x250-replacing-starter-battery.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve hill Posted June 5, 2019 Author Share Posted June 5, 2019 Thanks for that, just what I needed to confirm it needs checking. :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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