Change your leisure battery (Aircooled)

I've just bought a new leisure battery (www.tayna.co.uk) so I thought I'd photo the process to help anyone else needing to do the same.

This is applicable only to the Aircooled Kombi as I have yet to see an AquaBay with its leisure battery in the engine bay - could be wrong - but I think in general the AquaBay has it under the back seat.

Do this with the engine off and preferably cold - so you don't burn yourself on anything. Take your time and be methodical.

So, first, if there is one remove any fuse between the starter battery and the leisure battery - that effectively cuts the power on the charging lead. Next, make life simpler for yourself - remove the air filter housing. Undo the jubilee clip at the top of the throttle body and pull the two breather tubes out from the side and rear of the air filter housing.


Next use a 10mm spanner/socket to undo and remove the 4 retaining nuts that hold the air filter housing to the body of the engine bay.


Carefully remove the air filter housing and put it somewhere safe and dry. Now's a good time to give it all a good clean out btw. If necessary, get yourself some spray brake cleaner and use that to clean out any emulsified oil contamination. Ensure that all the brake cleaner has dried up before you refit the unit.

You now should have a much better view and working area to the lhs of the engine bay:


It's not imperative but useful to move the fuel filter out of the way a bit to the rhs. Depending on how yours is secured, remove any retaining nut and gently move it to the right. Be very careful not to kink the fuel hose as you don't want that leaking or getting blocked. I used a clothes peg to hold the fuel filter away from my working area.


Now disconnect the earth/negative lead from the battery and then the power/positive lead. Store these to the sides of the battery. Danbury used a conventional battery clamp to hold the leisure battery in place. This comprises of a plate which goes across the top of the battery and is held in place using 2 wing nuts each attached to a rod which goes down either side of the battery and through the floor pan. Undo both wing nuts, but only take the one of the lhs completely off, remove the rod from the clamp plate and then put the wing nut back on, otherwise the rod will drop through its hole and out onto the floor beneath your Kombi. You'd then have to scrap around trying to feed it back up inside. Put the wing nut on it, and that will prevent that happening. Move the other rod, with the clamp plate attached to the rhs clear of the old battery.

Now put a protecting cloth over the lip of the engine bay, lift the old battery out - it's heavy and you may catch the paint! Have a good look inside where the old battery was checking for any signs of corrosion - if necessary make good by using Hammerite and then a coating of Waxoyl - all before you fit the new battery.

When you do fit the new battery ensure that it is fixed solid into position. A battery that moves causes stress on the cables it is attached to and eventually it will cause them to break free, which will undoubtedly happen when you're out on the open road. Fix it firmly in place now, then everything else is a reversal of the dismantle.

Nice write up Tim, glad to say it's a much simpler job on an aqua.

The new battery will have been shipped with a small plastic cover on each of the terminals, one useful tip is to use these on the old battery terminals once the cable has been removed in order to avoid any accidental shorting.

Once the old battery is out they can be put back onto the new battery before it is lifted into place, then removed one at a time in order to reconnect the cables.

Depending on the type purchases, the new battery may also have one or more small 'transport plugs' that should also be removed before fitting. They stop any acid leakage during transport but should be removed to allow the battery to 'breath' once it is being used as the normal charging process produces a small amount of gas that needs to be released for safe operation.

Perfect timing! My new battery has just arrived & I was a bit confused about the red plugs.
I'm going to fit it tomorrow & then have a good long run.
Not sure what to do with all the eggboxes that came with it as packing!

I know what you mean about the egg boxes elliec - ingenious bit of packing!

TimV wrote:

I know what you mean about the egg boxes elliec - ingenious bit of packing!

Eggcellent packing materials....

I suggest you get cracking, elliec.

Egg-xactly what I was thinking!

Great write up Tim.

I was wondering if its worth purchasing a battery tray to go under the battery as T2 always have a tendency to rust under the battery. Not sure if the rust comes from underneath the van or from any trapped moisture (or worse acid from an old battery) under the battery when it is clamped down.

I suppose its just a matter of inspecting the area under the battery and treating any signs of rust.

Cheers sparky!

The bonus of the battery clamp that Danbury have installed is that it puts 2 holes in the battery area, so any water lurking around there actually drops out! Incredible, something Danbury have done that does prevent rust!! The starter battery is held in place by a factory clamp and wedge so there's no water releasing hole, hence the corrosion problem.

Liberally waxoyl the area around both batteries and you'll be good for many years.

Yay - managed to fit my new battery and now have 2 orange lights on the display as opposed to the previous 1 red one.
But - there's always a but - one of the connecty bits has a crack in it - the one on the positive bit that connects the wires to the battery- sorry don't know what they're really called!
Anyway - is this likely to cause a problem? Zoe started fine & everything seems to be working well but I just wanted to check.
X

elliec wrote:

Yay - managed to fit my new battery and now have 2 orange lights on the display as opposed to the previous 1 red one.
But - there's always a but - one of the connecty bits has a crack in it - the one on the positive bit that connects the wires to the battery- sorry don't know what they're really called!
Anyway - is this likely to cause a problem? Zoe started fine & everything seems to be working well but I just wanted to check.
X

Great news, orange lights are good, much better than red! (But then I would say that!!)

The crack isn't on the actual battery though right? Can you take a pic?

Hi
No, the battery is fine - its the cable connector thats cracked - the circular bracket that has the cables attached which fits over the terminal.
I'm not sure how to do photos on here but if someone can tell me I'll take one tomorrow.
I've found the bracket for sale online so am guessing it should be fairly easy to replace - it's not knowing how urgent it is
x

Have a look here

How to post images

Hi ellie, as your kombi is about the same age as mine, I'm assuming you have a similar set up.




If it is, you are in luck, the terminal clamps are held on by two screws that clamp into the cable.

(I say this, because there are different types, these, and ones that solder on which require a fair amount of heat, and ones that are secured with a hefty crimping tool.)

When you buy replacement clamps, just make sure they are the ones with the two screws

I suspect the clamp has cracked due to over tighten, when you replace them just nip them up as are digging into a soft metal so easy to just keep tightening until crack !!!. Also try not to tap them on as this can fracture the post to plate inside battery. And last smear a very light coat of petroleum jelly or something like it to stop corrosion on the posts. Tim

I agree with Dennis above, also I forgot to say that the clamps are different sizes to avoid wrong connection.

If you are buying just one, ask for the correct one, the positive is usually larger, about 20mm, and the negative about 16mm.

Thank you to everyone who's offered advice.
I took a pic of the cracked one on my phone, headed off to my friendly neighbouhood car accessories shop & said 'I need one of these'. He said 'positve or negative?' I said 'positive'. He said 'are you sure?' I said 'positive' again & we both laughed..... well it seemed funny at the time!
Anyway - it is now fitted and working perfectly

Thanks for giving me the confidence to do it myself - as always, this forum is ace.
x

"Positive" - I laughed!

Have taken my leisure battery out to replace it and discovered it wasn't clamped down. One of the rods is missing! Another little gift from Lola for me! Do you know where I can get new rods or something to clamp the battery in place?

Get yourself down to Halfords either in Kiln Lane, Epsom or on the A3 next to B&Q bud.

Halfords Battery Clamp

Halfords has sorted me out. I've got the joy of trying to fit the battery back tomorrow.. But now, off to The Stone Roses! #baggy

Remove the air filter housing to give yourself more room to get the battery back in.

All done and working. Fuse is no longer blowing. Have amazed myself. Feel like a proper Kombi owner at last! Thanks for the advice.

Dickymint1972 wrote:

All done and working. Fuse is no longer blowing. Have amazed myself. Feel like a proper Kombi owner at last! Thanks for the advice.

Well done - all part of the service!

Your a good man Tim, everything seems to be covered on the site. The project i have on at the moment is to replace my leisure battery and everything I need to know is here. Just one quick question what size and amp is your new leisure battery. The one I have on is 226 long x 175 wide x 220 ht (including terminals) and is 85ah the make is Green Power. Been on since new and the old girl is 10 next january so she is due a change! Thanks in advance Betty.