How do I replace the engine battery

I need to replace the engine battery on my 2013 Broadway. It looks from what I've been reading that it is not straightforward because of the way the engine and leisure battery systems are inter connected and the way the ECU, radio and other stuff needing constant power. And there are (horror) discussions online talking about the need to keep the driver door closed etc. and some owners having to pay Peugeot a lot of money to fix things. So can anybody advise?

Thanks.

Joe, I'm not sure if your Peugeot is the same as ours but when I changed the vehicle battery it was pretty straightforward. I thought the radio would have to be reprogrammed at least but it was fine. There's a couple of YouTube video's which are of some help. My only issues were finding a redundant cable in the box (which confused me a tad) and almost getting a hernia lifting the old battery out. Good luck.

Askit wrote:Joe, I'm not sure if your Peugeot is the same as ours but when I changed the vehicle battery it was pretty straightforward. I thought the radio would have to be reprogrammed at least but it was fine. There's a couple of YouTube video's which are of some help. My only issues were finding a redundant cable in the box (which confused me a tad) and almost getting a hernia lifting the old battery out. Good luck.

Thanks for the reply. I was worried about whether there would be any issue with the controller for solar panels and all that stuff. Whether I neeed to disconnect or turn off this. Cheers.

The advice I received due to interrupting the alarm system and potential other issues was as follows on a Peugeot.

Attach a spare battery to the jump start terminals under the bonnet and leave this connected throughout the process.

Replace the engine start battery being careful as the live cable on the start battery will remain live whilst it is disconnected. Sounds tricky but easy in reality.

After swapping the start battery, remove the spare battery from the jumpstart points.

I’ve followed this procedure twice without issues.

Obviously do not do this with the vehicle plugged in, it might not matter, but I was told to disconnect from the mains when changing either of the batteries.

Hab battery is just swap it with everything shut down no issues.

Thanks Toffee.  Unfortunately I don't have a spare battery. But you have raised the type of issues I was worried about. Needs more thinking. BTW our van is 2013. I think there may be potential for more issues with newer vans from what I've read.

Thanks for the link Peter. It looks straightforward. My concern was if there were any issues relating to the EC328 controller and solar panels. Sun is shining here today and solar panels are providing charge to batteries. Do I need to cover up the solar panel so that there is nothing coming in to the van? No new stuff added except maybe the alarm system.

My alarm system does have battery back up but requires remote resetting after disconnecting the battery as it sends alerts and immobilizes the vehicle. That is the reason for the jump lead connections.

When I changed mine a few years ago I had the same concerns as the OP. Fortunately I had a spare 12v battery from our house alarm so used that to maintain the 12v. It was small enough to sit on the cab floor to the side of the battery well.

I recently changed both engine and leisure batteries and followed the same procedure as Toffee[above] has described with regards to the engine battery. I thought it best also to isolate the power coming from the solar panel to the batteries. The problem for me, after fitting the engine battery, was when I turned the ignition on and attempted to start the engine, all the vehicle electronics on the dash closed down, with the result of no power to start the engine. I immediately checked and re-checked all the electrical connection on the engine battery, including the battery fuse, everything appeared ok. A few minutes later with the key still in the ignition, the dash illuminated, power was restored, and the van was ready to drive.
 
More recently,last week, I gave the van a good run, approx 20 miles, as I usually do in the winter months. At my destination I turned the engine of. Went for a short walk and returned to the van. The exact issue happened again. With ignition on I turned the key to fire up the engine. Again the electronics on the dash closed down with no power to start the engine. And as before, after about 10-15 mins the dash lit up and the van was ready to drive home.
 
As already said I have checked the electrical connections and circuits going to the engine battery. They seem ok, but will check again more thoroughly if the problem occurs again. I am also considering another possible reason for this unusual behaviour. My van has an EC155 PCS with a EC51 CP.  According to the handbook for my vehicle ‘the system incorporates an over voltage cut-out which turns the power system off if either battery voltage exceeds 15V’…I was wondering if the new engine battery I fitted did exceed the 15V and did/could shut down the vehicle electrical system? Both batteries were fully charged when I fitted them and the long drive I made with the van would likely have maintained the full capacity of the batteries.
 
If anyone on the forum has had a similar experience please let me know. I would appreciate it also if you have any ideas which might solve the problem [if it occurs again].
 
*Sorry if I do not reply to your comments for awhile but I will be away for the new year from tomorrow without access to Wi-Fi, laptop etc.

I cheated - because of the weight of the battery I got Halfords to fit it at the house for me. Just took it off the hookup and, once it was in they checked everything to make sure it was working properly and the chap wasn't phased by the fact it was going into a MH.

MelB wrote:My van has an EC155 PCS with a EC51 CP.  According to the handbook for my vehicle ‘the system incorporates an over voltage cut-out which turns the power system off if either battery voltage exceeds 15V’…I was wondering if the new engine battery I fitted did exceed the 15V and did/could shut down the vehicle electrical system?

No, it cannot shut down the vehicle battery. It is able to monitor the battery voltages and may shut itself down during over-voltage conditions, but the EC155 has no capability to shut off the supply to anything other than the habitation loads.

With your symptoms, I would take a very close look at the main connection point where the battery negative connects to the chassis. It's certainly not the only possible cause, but corrosion at that point can cause odd symptoms like this.

Roopert wrote:

No, it cannot shut down the vehicle battery. It is able to monitor the battery voltages and may shut itself down during over-voltage conditions, but the EC155 has no capability to shut off the supply to anything other than the habitation loads.

With your symptoms, I would take a very close look at the main connection point where the battery negative connects to the chassis. It's certainly not the only possible cause, but corrosion at that point can cause odd symptoms like this.

Thank you Roopert, thought I was barking up the wrong tree with regards to the EC155 capabilities, you confirmed it. When I have the time I will do as you advise and hope for the best.