Changing Cab battery in Mk7 Transit

[Sandancers]

I need to renew the Cab battery in our Mk7 2014 Ford Transit based MH. In itself a simple job, but does anyone know if by disconnecting the positive supply for say 10 minutes while swapping batteries will cause any of the vehicle electronics to need to be reset ? I have read that some vehicles need to be connected to an OBD reader to reset parameters after such a job. Don't know for certain about the Transit tho.

 

[gus-lopez]

When I had to change batteries in the Uk last year I just disconnected the negative ,then positive & removed battery. It never occurred to me to do anything different although it should have done as my friends citroen requires all sorts of nonsense including opening drivers window with keys in ignition & doing everything from outside to shut down/start up through the closed door!?

I never had any sort of problem changing mine.

I have also disconnected it since just negative straight off when fitting a leaisure battery & wiring up ,then fit a split charge relay afterwards.

 

[Nasher]

It never occurred to me to do anything different although it should have done as my friends citroen requires all sorts of nonsense including opening drivers window with keys in ignition & doing everything from outside to shut down/start up through the closed door!?

I changed the battery in my 2011 Peugeot Boxer by simply dis-connecting neg, then pos, battery out, new battery in, re-connect and the only thing that needed re-setting was the aftermarket ICE

I did consider connecting a 12v supply to the leads before removal, but figured it wasn't worth it - that might be a solution to the OP

 

[Odd-no-more]

When I changed the one on mine I connected a 12 volt supply to the jump start point under the bonnet, just to be sure. If you do remember the pos terminal will be live

 

[Clivefog]

My 17 year old Range Rover, taken from the service manual, needed the ign turned off for 30 minutes, before removing the battery then touch both terminals together to short out any residual charge. Replacing was straight forward. The reason was the huge amount circuits with delicate electrics that could blow at a whim (as they did anyway). This may be relevant to other high spec vehicles but probably not to a Transit based MH.

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[Campervan_man]

 

[gus-lopez]

On a mk 6/7 the battery is already positioned laterally. You also haven't the space side to side on it like he has there. My battery width ways touches the sides nearly & in reality cannot be removed safely without the seat being removed as lifting it,it touches both seat runners. Additionally if you have solar panels & a spit charger the panels will need covering to prevent problems .

In fact the battery is that wide there is a scallop on the side of the seat runner , by the positive side connection, to allow access to undo the 10mm battery connection. It was designed by a moron who obviously had no idea.

 

[bigwood]

I think our 55 plate Mk6 Transit is to old to worry about sedative electrics. The hardest part of removing the battery was lifting the drivers seat far enough to lift the battery out. As Gus said it is a tight fit and there’s a rats nest of wires to avoid trapping when the new battery is lowered in. It is a big heavy lump. Our son helped by holding the wires out of the way.

 

[Campervan_man]

I have a Ford Transit 2010. It has 2 batteries under the driver's seat. One is a 100A 'aux' the other is a dedicated 60A starter battery.
If the aux is low it affects the starter as well.
I have a solar dual charge controller that charges the Aux battery and another 100A leisure in the back of the van.
There a 3 X 60A fuses at the back of the driver's seat. A Ford label says do not connect directly to the batteries under the seat but use the 60A take off points. Ford vans are an unusual set up to most vans with one engine battery. I think the idea is if a tradesman/ worker etc flattens the aux battery listening to a radio or using the night heater / rear lights the van will still start using the 60A starter ?

 

[bigwood]

Our Autosleeper Rienza is Transit based with two batteries under the drivers seat and one under the passenger seat. The rear battery under the drivers seat is a normal vehicle battery the front one is a 110 amp leisure battery. The one under the passenger seat is a 100 amp leisure battery, not my doing.
I was told that on starting the two right hand batteries are linked for starting. As said the front battery is regarded as an auxiliary battery to power things like the radio normally.
Amongst the rats nest at the back of the right hand batteries is a fuse box for the leisure electrics and the fridge control relay.
The solar panel charges the leisure batteries off grid with a battery master to top up the main vehicle battery.
I think the Ford battery system is different to other motorhomes and can cause some confusion.
Our fridge stopped working on 12 volt on the move. A fiend of mine used to build motorhomes on the electrical side. After a lot of thinking and digging we found the fridge really had lost its earth. Ford switch the earth via a control module. When I replaced the main battery I was careful not to trap any of the wiring. Unfortunately one wire had pulled out of a multi plug alongside the battery. Being black and down the side of the battery it took some finding.

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[Sandancers]

I eventually got round to replacing the cab battery.

I looked at the replacement battery from a Ford stockist. "Yes Sir, absolutely it is a silver calcium replacement. £147 and a one year warranty." Me, "Then why does it not say silver calcium on the battery then, I'll just leave that."

So I talked to one of the guys at Premium batteries. And apparently you can tell how good a battery is by the length of warranty offered. So based on the dimensions, Ah and cranking amps for my transit I was recommended a Premium Platinum Prestige Plus (nearly used up all the p's on the laptop there) sealed battery. This is their equivalent to a silver calcium. Comes with a five year warranty.

National tyres have a 10% off deal right now so I got the battery for £112. So quite happy all round.

 

[bigwood]

Not sure if I mentioned it but our battery came from Advanace Batteries. Cant remember the price but it had five years warranty.

 

[Sandancers]

The battery I took out of the MH is 6 years old and I could see that it was tending to sit at 12.45v after charging, no problem starting the MH tho. It is going to be put in the SiLs Nissan X Trail to replace the 14 year old, original, Nissan battery which just this year started being knackered.

 

[pappajohn]

So I talked to one of the guys at Premium batteries. And apparently you can tell how good a battery is by the length of warranty offered.

Not always..... A few years ago a battery (forgot the make) had a five year warranty.
Not a single claim, and apparently there was a lot, was honoured by the maker.

 

[DandG5515]

mine is a 2009 mk7 2.4, it has 2 engine batteries under the drivers seat. When I changed then a couple of years ago the engine settings reset to factory originals, within 100 miles it was back to normal drive.

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[Sandancers]

mine is a 2009 mk7 2.4, it has 2 engine batteries under the drivers seat. When I changed then a couple of years ago the engine settings reset to factory originals, within 100 miles it was back to normal drive.

What I did was run a pos and neg from my car to the jumpstart post and neg of the MH before taking out the old battery. Had to be careful when removing the pos cable of the MH battery of course as it was live from the car pos. Once I had replaced the MH battery I was able to take off the car connections, hence no loss of engine settings.