DickB Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 The starter battery in my 2013 Ducato has died due to the cold. Here in N Spain it has been well below freezing every night. I hope to get a replacement tomorrow. I seem to recall advice that after removing the battery a time of at least 30mins should be allowed before connecting the new one. Is this correct or my imagination? Dick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 What does your Ducato owners handbook say? I thought it was something stupid like you had to have both front doors shut and ignition off for a certain time before disconnecting the battery, but... Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayc Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 I have replaced the battery in my 2017 Ducato 2.3 and took no extra precautions. If the battery is flat or faulty I cannot see what else can be done other than removing the negative connection and then the positive terminal fuse board and refitting in reverse order after fitting the new battery . I had a Fiat recall involving replacing part of the exhaust emission pipework. The Fiat Professional technician just removed the negative terminal connection by leaning in through the open drivers door prior to starting work. There is a recommended procedure involving door locking etc. which I have shown below but I wonder how many times it is done in the real world. This is what my handbook says with regard to battery charging, I guess there would be a long delay in getting a Fiat Dealership to do it and how would you get it to them? BATTERY RECHARGING WARNING The battery recharging procedure is given as information only. To carry out this operation contact a Fiat Dealership. WARNING After setting the ignition device 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 device is in the STOP position and the driver side door is closed. WARNING Charging should be slow at a low ampere rating for approximately 24 hours. Charging for a longer time may damage the battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matrix Meanderer Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 If you want a laugh and full instructions watch this funny. I used it to remove my starter battery during lockdown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 This 2020 forum thread included advice on the procedure to be used when disconnecting the starter-battery of a Ducato X250/X290 vehicle https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/What-an-idiot-/57011/ The relevant information was as shown below. (Mikefitz advises a 10 minutes 'delay' before disconnecting the starter-battery - I've never heard a 30 minutes delay suggested.) ............................................................................................................................. (Derek Uzzell) Depending on the age/model of the Ducato a degree of care should be exercised when disconnecting the starter-battery. The Owner Handbook for my 2015 Ducato advises 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. (If the negative earth-strap of the under-floor battery of a 2006-onwards Ducato X250/X290 is to be disconnected, it might be a good idea to disconnect the positive (live) connector as well and check the electrolyte-level in all six of the battery’s cells.) ............................................................................................................................. (Deneb) Resetting the body computer by disconnecting the vehicle battery for several seconds can fix many strange glitches in systems controlled by that ECU and is always worth a try in the first instance if something isn't working correctly. It is important to follow the correct procedure as outlined by Derek though, which ensures that all of the ECUs connected through the network bus are allowed to go into sleep mode in an orderly fashion before disconnecting power. Failing to ensure that the driver's door is shut and not waiting the required time subsequent to that before disconnecting the battery can cause corruption of ECU memory in much the same way as pulling the plug out of a computer without shutting it down first. This, and a flat or very low battery are common causes of issues such as the SRS ECU failure that is quite common on motorhomes, but apparently less so on commercial vans. ............................................................................................................................. (mikefirtz) Disconnecting the starter battery without following the procedure may cause problems as suggested, however its not quite as straight forward following the handbook as Derek suggests. Firstly either cab door initiates the system switch on and shutdown so both doors need to be closed. If the ignition has not been on for some time then the 'wait at least one minute ' is valid. My measurements on a euro6 PVC showed the current taken by the system lasted for , on average, 1 minute 35 seconds after both cab door were closed. Things do change if the ignition has just been switched off. Under these conditions it takes over 6 minutes for the system current to drop. So waiting 10 minuets or so with all doors closed ( sliding door and rear doors also wake up the electrics) would seem safer if the ignition has been active. Motor homes do seem to have more failures of the air bag computer than commercial vans and I suspect that interaction between the engine and leisure battery may be a factor, it would thus seem advisable to disable any solar and disconnect the leisure battery negative before working on the engine battery. ............................................................................................................................. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DickB Posted January 31, 2022 Author Share Posted January 31, 2022 My apologies if this appears twice. Thanks to all for their comments. There is no mention in my handbook about driver's door or waiting when changing the battery. Flat battery again this morning so jump start from habitation batteries. Campsite pointed me to a "mechanic" which turned out to be a Fiat Professional garage. Engine had to be jump started again at the garage. 50mins and £360 on my credit card and I had a new battery with 950 CCA compared to the old 800 CCA, so it spins over really well! If only the battery had shown signs of failing before we left home. Dick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 DickB - 2022-01-31 4:04 PM ...There is no mention in my handbook about driver's door or waiting when changing the battery.... Dick The battery-disconnection advice quoted by rayc in his posting above is included in Owner Handbooks relating to Ducato 'X290' vehicles (built from mid-2014 onwards). Handbooks for Ducatos built before that do not contain the battery-disconnection delay/door caveat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 DickB - 2022-01-31 4:04 PM ...50mins and £360 on my credit card and I had a new battery with 950 CCA compared to the old 800 CCA, so it spins over really well!... Dick Idle curiosity, but what was the make/type of replacement battery that was fitted. A 950A CCA value suggests a '020' size battery (L x W x H: 393mm x 175mm x 190mm) which Fiat fitted as standard to Ducatos with the 3.0litre motor - which your 2013 motorhome might well have for all I know - and nowadays there are 020-size 950A CCA AGM batteries marketed with Start/Stop vehicles in mind. Even though you were essentially over a barrel, £360 sounds like a high price for a conventional wet-acid 020-size starter battery, but I'd expect an AGM 020-size battery to be significantly more expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DickB Posted February 1, 2022 Author Share Posted February 1, 2022 Derek, Engine is 2.3 TD 130 so pretty standard. I didn't see the battery after fitting but I will take a look. The part number 600628791corresponds to an Exide AGM I think. The battery cost was 329eu which is less than some of the online prices in Spain and more than some, so hopefully a fair price. It seems to be standard on all Ducato commercials between 2011 and 2014. Labour was a reasonable 45eu. As you say, over a barrel, and just glad it has delayed us only half a day. Dick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 The standard factory-fitted battery for a 2013 Fiat Ducato X250 with 2.3litre motor would be a FIAMM 019-size ((L x W x H: 353mm x 175mm x 190mm) having the upper surface marking shown on the image attached below. This is an ordinary wet-acid 'maintainable' type with cell-caps that can be unscrewed to check the electrolyte level and top up the level if necessary. After the mid-2014 switch to X290 models this battery continued to be factory-fitted to Ducatos with 2.3litre powerplants and without 'Stop/Start' and that's what my 2015 Ducato (2.3litre 150 motor) had. Stop/Start became available for Ducato X290s from 2014 https://www.busandcoachbuyer.com/new-generation-fiat-ducato/ and it may well be the case that a larger 020-size battery was factory-fitted to such vehicles irrespective of their motor-capacity, and that the battery Fiat chose was AGM type. If you now have an Exide AGM battery, it is probably this one https://batterygroup.co.uk/batteries-power-electronics/agm-batteries/10414/exide-ek1050-020-agm-stop/start-car-battery-12v-105ah-950cca#gref There' is some online wariness about retrofitting an AGM starter-battery to a vehicle that was designed to have an ordinary wet-acid starter-battery, but Varta suggests doing this should be advantageous. https://batteryworld.varta-automotive.com/en-gb/advantages-agm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John52 Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 For the Varta 020 (non start stop) ECP quote an absurd £389.99 to make it look cheap after their 45% discount £214.49 .. until you see Tayna price £109.07 https://www.eurocarparts.com/p/varta-silver-020-car-battery-5-year-guarantee-444779004?gclid=Cj0KCQiA9OiPBhCOARIsAI0y71Df-nyzd84Rbom24Go2mskDfzFz5ZIa44mgtjujGgIfMtVWWYe7piAaAoWLEALw_wcB https://www.tayna.co.uk/car-batteries/varta/i1/ But hurry because ECP discount ends tomorrow *-) My understanding is that if you went to ECP without ordering online first £389.99 is what they would charge you . 8-) PS: That said ECP can be pretty good on some things - you just have to watch 'em Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldi Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 Good afternoon, I had my 7 year battery changed at mot in December although it was performing OK. They fitted a bosch about 170 pounds fitted. I was a bit concerned about fitting myself asthey are much more complicated now than 50 years ago Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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