Hello, just joined - flat battery

[DV7]

Hi, good to be in this Forum.
I bought a citroën berlingo 1.6 hdi 90 (2009) model in England last year but am currently in France. The Berlingo has behaved really well, but it has been bitterly cold here and the battery appears to be flat. Being deep in the countryside, I cannot go anywhere so I went ahead and ordered a replacement battery to be delivered.

In the meantime, I wondered if I can charge up the old battery. According to the Haynes manual if the indicator on the current battery shows clear/yellow I should not attempt to do so – if someone has any experience of this – I would be grateful for any suggestions.
Many thanks
DV7

[Argos69]

Hi & welcome.
I'm assuming you're talking about the little "light in a window" on top of the battery that some types of battery use to indicate charge/condition?

Provided you use an "intelligent" type of battery charger (the modern type you can leave on and/or use while the battery is still connected to the car) you should be ok trying it. I'd use the positive battery terminal and the earth point on the inner wing as points for your croc clips. I have once let such a battery stay on charge for a few days and the light on the battery went green again, so it might be successful, it might not.
You may get other opinions, but I'd give it a try! Bonne Chance!

[DV7]

Thank you for your response. Unfortunately, my battery charger is quite old. I wondered if I should try anyway - perhaps it would be prudent to take the battery out before charging it? Then at least it won't damage the car. Any comments?
Very many thanks.

[Tomcat3]

You have nothing to lose with your charger give it a go for 30 minutes to start and see if it responds. As you suggest take it off the car but first turn all things off in the car and leave drivers window down then let car sit for a few minutes. Then disconnect the battery.

[DV7]

You have nothing to lose with your charger give it a go for 30 minutes to start and see if it responds. As you suggest take it off the car but first turn all things off in the car and leave drivers window down then let car sit for a few minutes. Then disconnect the battery.

Thank you, I will give it a go tomorrow  - fingers crossed!

[jj9]

You don't need to physically remove the battery from the car, just disconnect the positive lead and tuck it safely out of the way.

Connect the positive of the battery charger to the positive post of the battery and the negative lead of the battery charger to the earth point on the inner wing.


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[DV7]

Hi Tomcat 3 and JJ9 - I have not done anything yet as I am a little confused.

Haynes manual states that 'prior to disconnecting the battery, close all windows' - Tomcat 3, I am assuming that 'leaving driver's window down' means leaving it open - so which is correct, window closed or open?

Sorry to sound a bit dim, but always had company cars and this is my first Berlingo.
Thanks.
My vehicle ... 2009 MPV,1.6 TD XTR HDI 90

[jj9]

I suspect Tomcat was advising to leave the window open so you could do a BSI reset when you reconnected the battery.

Personally I have never had to do a BSI reset when reconnecting the battery so I wouldn't worry about that, you can cross that bridge IF you need to.

Just close all of the windows and turn everything off, pop the bonnet, wait 3 minutes then disconnect the battery.

When you reconnect the battery give it a minute before getting into the car, you may have to reset the electric windows if they go up & down in steps, to do this close the windows then press and hold the switch in the closed position for 5 seconds.

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[DV7]

Thank you, all, for your timely help. It was very assuring.

In the end I took the old battery out, it had lost its handle and looked a bit battered. It is a Tudor and appears to be the original, if so not bad, The new battery is installed and the Berlingo started up like a dream and the windows did not need any resetting.


My vehicle ... 2009 MPV,1.6 TD XTR HDI 90

[jj9]

Good to hear that all is well.  

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