Ticking Hymer (1 Viewer)

[Claire74]

Hello All. I’m staying in France while visiting my father in hospital. I noticed this morning his Hymer engine bay is ticking. Cold frost last night. The battery has been disconnected 2weeks ago. I left it all locked up and the alarm on. Red light on the front is now not flashing. So I’m guessing it’s something to do with that.
I can’t get his help sadly. He fell off his ladder while cleaning the Hymer roof and is currently recovering from serious head injuries.
Any help appreciated at this time of year.
I’m fairly ofay with car engines but not Hymers.

 

[tonyidle]

I'm sorry to hear about your Dad. There'll be a lot of fellow motorhomers on here wishing him well.

Do you mean the starter battery or habitation battery is disconnected?

 

[EX51SSS]

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[Claire74]

A friend of theirs came over and together we jumpstarted it off the Landy then he reversed it back to its parking space off the drive. He then disconnected the battery front left of the engine bay - passenger side (it’s a left hand drive)

 

[Claire74]

Thanks both for your welcomes and wishes. Appreciated. Just a bit lost on this one.

 

[Zains Pops]

Why disconnect a battery?

Welcome by the way.

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[Claire74]

Can you advise how to open ththe bonnet please? It’s a Hymer B694

 

[Claire74]

Battery was disconnected because it had gone flat in the few days it was left during Dad being rushed to hospital. Mum can’t manage it. It’s not been used for a while and was due it’s control technique. So, I arranged for it to be jumpstarted and pushed back until Dad is able to be home and sort it himself. Me and John made an executive decision to disconnect it as it isn’t being used for a while.

 

[Hollyberry]

Is there any way you can put it on electric hook up ? That will charge up the batteries.
It's possible ( but I'm no expert) the ticking could be the fridge trying to ignite ?
If possible, I think your best bet is to put it on EHU and put a space heater inside.
Sorry to hear about your Dad's accident but French hospitals are excellent, he'll get very good care.

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[funflair]

Not really sure about ticking But if its close to the house it might be a better idea to try to plug in the hook up lead to keep everything charged and in good order, you can buy or make a lead that goes from the house to the socket for the motorhome electric hook up plug.

Martin

 

[big map]

All the best for your Dad's speedy recovery @Claire74

 

[Speve]

As others have said reconnect batteries and put on electric hook up to keep charged was the red light the alarm warning light? As the alarm will eventually flatten battery if not on hook up.
Welcome and best wishes to dad for a swift recovery.

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[TheBig1]

if you disconnected the battery because it was flat, it will likely need replacing now

 

[big map]

I've tried googling to find out where the bonnet catch is but to no avail, what chassis is it on?

 

[rb62]

Not familiar with Hymers but if it is on a Fiat chassis the bonnet release
is usually on the end of the dash,you may have to open the door

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[Figaro]

Sorry to hear of his accident falling off the roof, had a couple of close calls myself, soapy water, stretching to reach over, so easy to slip ! Hope he recovers soon.
My bonnet release is on underside of steering column but I guess it depends on the year.
Welcome to the forum as well
BTW I get a ticking but it seems to be the gaslow bottles. I assume rocking the cab causes something inside to tap in the bottle.
Goes on for sometime after rocking stops, could be similar ?

 

[Blue Knight]

Hi Claire,

You need a new battery I'm afraid.

The ticking is nothing to worry about either.

I think what is happening is that the battery, albeit flat, still contains a bit of juice in its cells so when you connect the battery it still has enough power to initiate the ECU or an actuator/solenoid or switch etc. A flat battery will still surge and recover and it's this 'surge and recovery' style operation which is causing something to switch on and off continuusly.

If you fitted a new battery then you would only hear one click as the system would stay live.

It's battery shopping for you guys I'm afraid.

Best wishes,

Andrew

 

[autorouter]

The alarm will have a battery inside it, so that it still sounds if the thief cuts the main battery supply. The alarm battery is kept charged up by the main vehicle starter battery.

You say you disconnected the starter battery, and left the alarm switched on. My guess is, the alarm worked for about two weeks, and the ticking noise is the alarm warning you it's running out of power.

My suggestion is, reconnect the starter battery, and connect the mains hookup to the MH. Hymers have a built-in charger, normally permanently connected, that will automatically start charging the leisure batteries and the starter battery. It will take the best part of 24 hours to be sure all the batteries are fully charged.

You probably won't need to do anything else. Just look around inside the MH and make sure there are no electrical items like fan heaters that are switched on, and could power up when you plug the mains hookup in.

The mains hookup connection is weatherproof, and can be left connected indefinitely. Many people, me included, leave it connected for weeks at a time. The charger is an intelligent type, and will cut back to trickle charge mode once the batteries are charged.

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[autorouter]

Can you advise how to open ththe bonnet please? It’s a Hymer B694

On my Fiat based Hymer (2006) the bonnet catch is a small lever just at the side of the steering column. The big lever in the middle of the column adjusts the steering column angle, it doesn't open the bonnet.

 

[Pilote87]

Hi @Claire74. If you could give your approximate location it is quite feasible that there is a Funster living reasonably close who could offer some help to sort things out for you. If you are in the Limousin, please pm me.

J