Ducato starter battery removal (1 Viewer)

Druid993

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Hi, first day on and already needing help although hopefully it's an easy one.
My batteries died and as I can't get mains to it can't charge it in situ so I have two questions.
A) will it be possible to jump start a Ducato van from a standard car?

B) If not how do I get the battery out? I've removed the holding bracket, negative and positive leads from terminal but there's a 3rd lead to a terminal on top of battery which I can't get undone. It seems to be on a plate with clips either side. I released those but there is still some resistance when I try to move said plate and I don't want to force it until I know what it is. I've attached a PIC which may help. Any ideas?
IMG_20160208_175754.jpg
ny ideas?
 

f6c

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Sorry can't help like to know myself? Welcome aboard;)

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Druid993

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Hi Lunarman
Yep plates off. I can move the battery but need that cable off. I think it may be the 12v leisure battery feed.
 

Kool Kroozer

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Be careful, i was in the same situation with the same van and after removing the battery a whole can of worms opened up along with lots of problems, it had to go into Peugeot in the end for warranty work (they asked if i had removed the battery but i said i hadnt - just told them it went flat) would have cost alot of money to have it put right.

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Druid993

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Hi Kool Kruser,
Well I'm well out of warranty but w pried now. What sort of problems did you have?
 

DBK

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The answer to A is yes/no. :unsure: You need heavy duty jump leads and if the car has a tiny battery it might struggle. You can also create problems with electrical system in some sensitive cars due to the rapid voltage changes caused by the massive current draw. If the car itself is a diesel with a big battery you should be fine. If it's a petrol with a tiny battery it could be risky.

The jump lead terminals should be under the bonnet by the way.

Safer to take the battery out. :) Then work out why it went flat!

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Lenny HB

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Be careful, i was in the same situation with the same van and after removing the battery a whole can of worms opened up along with lots of problems, it had to go into Peugeot in the end for warranty work (they asked if i had removed the battery but i said i hadnt - just told them it went flat) would have cost alot of money to have it put right.
That is why you are supposed to connect another battery to the jump terminals before removing the battery to keep ecu powered.
 

RandallC

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You may find on the battery terminal plate (shown in the photo in a previous post) that there are a couple of screws holding the plate to the top of the battery. They should be marked with a red plastic tag.

Also ok to start from a small car battery if you let the car charge the MH battery for a while. Run the car engine and connect the jump leads. Car just acts as if you switched on the head lights or similar.

Leave running at fast Rickover for 15-20 minutes and give it a go. But does depend a bit on how flat it is.
 
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Delboyarapaho

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The problem with trying to jump with leads is they don't get great contact with the terminals as the clamps are too large. If you have tar with a decent sized battery you would be better off removing your old one and putting the car one in and starting the van. I found out this weekend that you can then disconnect the leads from the installed battery with the engine still running and replace with your old battery which will then get charged as the engine is running.

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Jan 8, 2013
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The problem with trying to jump with leads is they don't get great contact with the terminals as the clamps are too large.

There are specific jump mounting connection points under the bonnet of most modern vehicles.
Just jump start it and let the engine charge the battery.
 

Kool Kroozer

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When i went to start our van after a week and found the starter battery flat i rang 2 people (1) Spinney Motorhomes who told me its ok and safe to remove the battery - as they do it all the time - no mention of any precautions or safetly measures (2) Peugeot who told me under no circumstances to remove it, bring the van into them so they could look at the problem - easier said than done after i had just told them i was stranded without any power to be able to start the engine... I took battery out and charged it at home over a few days and took it back to storage site where i re connected it back up, engine started fine but now had warning lights on the dash, handbrake light,engine mangament light,airbag,ABS, and something else - Oh and it kept going into limp mode, when i got it into the dealer they asked if i had disconnected the battery which i replied no and told them the engine barely turned over as the battery was flat, they said this happens alot with M/H being stood for periods of time... anyway they had to replace the clocks £800 i believe, updated the ECU and had to replace a faulty ABS sensor (£ few hundred maybe), after that all was ok but gladly Peugeot covered it under warranty
 
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****

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The answer to A is yes/no. :unsure: You need heavy duty jump leads and if the car has a tiny battery it might struggle. You can also create problems with electrical system in some sensitive cars due to the rapid voltage changes caused by the massive current draw. If the car itself is a diesel with a big battery you should be fine. If it's a petrol with a tiny battery it could be risky.

The jump lead terminals should be under the bonnet by the way.

Safer to take the battery out. :) Then work out why it went flat!

(Bold) I have a Fiat car (Stilo) and it was a common problem getting a power surge when jumping from another car. It would blow the clocks and on some occasions ECU on the 1.6 models. I had the buggered clocks when i bought my car and it cost £120 to fix and another 90 for a new battery as Fiat recommended wattage was way to low for the car. Why they got away without a recall i will never know but as long as i own this car i will never take or jump from one car to another. Not worth the risk.

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Jan 27, 2013
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Wow! Why on Earth would this be the case? Surely you can remove a battery without having to replace all these bits as batteries do fail. Can anyone explain?

When i went to start our van after a week and found the starter battery flat i rang 2 people (1) Spinney Motorhomes who told me its ok and safe to remove the battery - as they do it all the time - no mention of any precautions or safetly measures (2) Peugeot who told me under no circumstances to remove it, bring the van into them so they could look at the problem - easier said than done after i had just told them i was stranded without any power to be able to start the engine... I took battery out and charged it at home over a few days and took it back to storage site where i re connected it back up, engine started fine but now had warning lights on the dash, handbrake light,engine mangament light,airbag,ABS, and something else - Oh and it kept going into limp mode, when i got it into the dealer they asked if i had disconnected the battery which i replied no and told them the engine barely turned over as the battery was flat, they said this happens alot with M/H being stood for periods of time... anyway they had to replace the clocks £800 i believe, updated the ECU and had to replace a faulty ABS sensor (£ few hundred maybe), after that all was ok but gladly Peugeot covered it under warranty
 
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****

Deleted User
Wow! Why on Earth would this be the case? Surely you can remove a battery without having to replace all these bits as batteries do fail. Can anyone explain?

You talking about the picture in the OP? My car is the same. I have a bank of relays and a 2nd fuse box. The battery terminals come off just as normal but the relays and fuses come of with the live. The OP just could not see it. Crap design i must admit but thats the Italians for you.
 

Kool Kroozer

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Perhaps i just had a bad one, or just unlucky, we were plagued with bad luck from the first day we picked it up, on giving us the walkaround demo before handing the keys over they had to change the solar regulator, and then change the control panel, a couple of weeks later the water pump packed up (hab water pump), then a couple of windows were leaking, then the engine battery was going flat after a few days which caused the problem of the post previously, we had the van less than 2 yrs and apart from everything else it was great :LOL::LOL::LOL::LOL:

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