we3overseas Posted August 22, 2019 Share Posted August 22, 2019 Here’s the problem in a nutshell. We are having starter battery and potential transformer/rectifier issues. We have a Hymer T594 (partially integrated) on a 2012 Ducato Maxi180 Multijet chassis. Van has been parked up for 3 ½ weeks not moving or starting the vehicle, plugged into 240V the whole time. Charge should be going to the leisure battery and trickle charge to the starter battery. (As I understand it from the manual) 1. LT 95 display panel shows the leisure battery full but the starter battery at 11 V and alarm light is blinking when plugged into 240V. Issue started 3 days ago and went from starter battery full green to orange 11V in the span of the morning. Then, at a point in the afternoon the starter battery was again full green. Leisure has consistently stayed full green. 2. Day 1 and 2, starter battery starts the vehicle, hard to tell if it is a struggle. 3. Unplugged from 240V and results are the same. (Running on solar) 4. Start the van and day 1 shows full green from the leisure battery and full green on the starter battery. 5. Start the van on day 2 and shows green on the leisure battery and 12/12.5 on the starter battery, run the van for 30 minutes and the starter battery is in the bottom green, leisure has fluctuated in the green. 6. Turn the van off and leisure is in full green and starter is back to 11V and blinking warning light, plug into 240V and status stays the same. 7. Visual inspection of all fuses, all seem fine. No other obvious issues looking at wires and Elektroblock EBL 99 (transformer/rectifier). 8. Day 3, starter battery is dead. So we get a jump start from a starter box (?) and drive for 3 hours in hopes of charging the battery. Park up for the night and plug into 240V. Charge on starter battery stays full for several hours and then drops back down to 11.0 V and is blinking. Ugh looks like we need to find a jump again.... So do we just need a new battery or does is sound like our transformer/rectifier is having problems, too? As a side note, we have been having other issues all in a row, too: airbag warning light (we had the “computer” for that replaced, check engine light on (seems as though it is the dash cluster warning lights, but not had this replaced yet). Any chance some of these things are tied together? We are currently traveling in France (near Annecy). Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Posted August 22, 2019 Share Posted August 22, 2019 Either the battery is faulty or something is draining it faster than the hook up trickle charge. Have you got a multimeter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billggski Posted August 22, 2019 Share Posted August 22, 2019 Sounds like the battery is on its way out. That can trigger warning lights. How old is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted August 22, 2019 Share Posted August 22, 2019 Have you checked your engine earth strap? They can cause random faults when failing. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceM Posted August 22, 2019 Share Posted August 22, 2019 In an ideal world you’d pull out the starter battery and test it and then go from there (I’m assuming that the battery is less than five years old so should be ok). Given though that you’re holidaying, if it were me I’d go for the quick empirical fix, ie 1/ Check the starter battery connections are tight. 2/ For the relatively small cost involved, replace the starter battery. If this resolves the issue then well and good. If it doesn’t then at least the battery can be ruled out as the cause. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
we3overseas Posted August 22, 2019 Author Share Posted August 22, 2019 I'm assuming the battery is the original, so that should make it roughly 7 years old. We have owned the van for 2 years. How long should they last? How do I check the earth strap? Sitting outside a fiat dealer waiting for them to open after lunch. So hopefully will have a new battery soon! Thanks everyone for your help so far! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billggski Posted August 22, 2019 Share Posted August 22, 2019 The dealer will probably charge twice what a battery shop will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceM Posted August 22, 2019 Share Posted August 22, 2019 we3overseas - 2019-08-22 12:25 PM I'm assuming the battery is the original, so that should make it roughly 7 years old. We have owned the van for 2 years. How long should they last? For starter batteries my rule of thumb is 5-6 years. It depends though on the quality (make) of the battery and its usage. I had one car battery on a petrol vehicle that lasted 8 years before it needed replacement. On my 3.5ltr diesel Landrover though the battery needed replacing after just over 5 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alanb Posted August 22, 2019 Share Posted August 22, 2019 we3overseas - 2019-08-22 12:25 PM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- How do I check the earth strap? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ You have mentioned using jump leads. Apply one from an engine lifting lug or similar, to battery negative. Engine earth straps seem to be the Achilles heel of 2006 onwards Ducatos. However since you seem to be able to charge the starter battery when running the engine it may not be the cause of your problems. See what effect a new battery has first. Your problems could well be explained by a faulty cell in the battery. (My first motorhome developed such a fault very early in its life.) Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 22, 2019 Share Posted August 22, 2019 Billggski - 2019-08-22 12:31 PM The dealer will probably charge twice what a battery shop will. That may well be the case, but a Fiat dealership should be able to select a battery suitable for a 2012 Ducato and install it correctly. Evidently there is a specialist battery retailer quite close to Annecy http://www.posinergy.fr/index.php/batteries-74/batteries-74 but will w3overseas be able to pick the ‘right’ battery and install it himself? And then there’s the matter of whether the problem is actually due to the starter-battery being on its last legs, or resulting from something else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikefitz Posted August 22, 2019 Share Posted August 22, 2019 There is a branch of Norauto near you that can supply a suitable battery, they usually stock Varta batteries in your size. It's a sort of Halfords with attached workshop. https://www.google.com/search?q=annecy+norauto&oq=annecy+norauto&aqs=chrome..69i57.14407j0j8&client=tablet-android-samsung&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#trex=m_t:lcl_akp,rc_f:nav,rc_ludocids:575570937067072958,rc_q:Norauto,ru_q:Norauto Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 23, 2019 Share Posted August 23, 2019 The original starter-battery of a 2012 Ducato with 3-litre motor is likely to have been a 110Ah wet-acid battery marketed by Magneti Marelli or FIAMM, and (probably) of the ‘maintainable’ type where the electrolyte-level can be checked and topped up if required. The Varta battery described on this .pdf file should be a suitable replacement https://cdn.taynabatteries.eu/datasheets/I1-Varta.pdf (The Varta battery is ‘non-maintainable’) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
we3overseas Posted August 24, 2019 Author Share Posted August 24, 2019 Thank you everyone for your help. We decided to stick with getting the battery from the Fiat dealer since not only were we having the battery problem, but we had the check engine light on. We also don't have the confidence to do it ourselves. (Although we have replaced car batteries, we're not really do it yourself-ers with the RV as we worry we will cause irreparable damage!) They spent time testing and replaced the battery and we will go back Tuesday for a new sensor that we need to fix the check engine light. I did ask them to look at the earth strap and they seemed to think I was crazy, but did at least shine the flashlight on it. I now at least know where to find it. It was certainly still there and attached and looked only a tad bit rusted. I will keep an eye on it! As far as the check engine light, it seems to be a problem with the particulate filter, camshaft and crankshaft sensors. The sensors will be replaced on Tuesday. We had someone else tell us it was the dash cluster warning lights, so hopefully it is just the sensors and, fingers crossed, that will clear the warning lights! Thanks again everyone for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikefitz Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 I suspect you have a faulty dash cluster rather than sensors. If any of those sensors were faulty the vehicle would not run! The air bag warning may be a faulty air bag computer, jump starting or operating with a faulty or discharged battery may damage the air bag computer. Hope the garage can sort things out for you. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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