Dual battery problem?

[lito_onion]

My Delica continues to be the prissy little princess:

So lately my car has not been starting properly - I identified it as a battery problem (fail to start, slow chugging of starter, clicking, dim lights, etc.) I can't identify what is causing BOTH (I have dual battery Chamonix) batteries to discharge to a point where the car cannot start, and all of this occurs in less than 12 hours (drove it yesterday afternoon, can't start it this morning). I can jump start the car consistently, no problem.

My questions is: is it possible to replace a single battery or have it running on a single battery vs dual batteries? I don't really want to pay for 2 brand new ones.

[thelazygreenfox]

Check the battery posts for corrosion then clean/ go to a battery shop and have a load test put on the batteries. Batteries fail as soon as the weather cools.
TLWF

[Overlanderjay]

Have them test the batteries indivdually ive seen three cases where one battery has died and drags down the good battery with it .

[Growlerbearnz]

^I'm with Jay on this one, and I've seen it far too often. It's just so tempting to replace only one battery, but it's a bad idea. The batteries should be identical, if they aren't then someone has replaced only one in the past.

You can run perfectly well with only one battery. There's no wiring difference between the dual battery and single battery setups. If I were fitting just one battery I'd tape up the unused battery clamps so they wouldn't short out on anything, but so I could easily go back to two batteries later if I wanted to.

[lito_onion]

It looks like the previous owner had replaced the batteries prior, with 2 different batteries, same model, different manufacturing dates.

My question now is...how do I get the batteries out? I simply can't reach the positive terminals hidden underneath the chasis part of the car, and I can't remove both batteries to detach them because the terminals are connected to wires that are tied/taped in. The terminals parts of the connectors appear to be welded together (ie. the wire leading to the car, the terminals on the batteries and the bridge between them are a single piece) in the front and back...anyone have a guide? Can't seem to find in the owners manual or service manual.

[Growlerbearnz]

My dual-battery setup isn't factory and there might be something about a Chamonix setup I'm misremembering, but there should be enough room to get a spanner onto the rear terminals and detach them. There may be bleeding involved.

I'd detach the negative terminals first, then the positive- less chance of shorting out the spanner on the bodywork that way.

To remove the batteries on my van I have to lift the overflow bottle out of the way before the first battery will come out.

DeliBattSml.JPG (81.46 KiB) Viewed 3079 times

(For reference. The ridiculous wiring is because it's a camper setup- one battery is for starting, the other is a deep cycle for everything else. The starter battery is isolated whenever the van's not running.)

[lito_onion]

Okay so I figured out how to change the dual battery Delica and bought two brand new batteries:

To uninstall:
Remove the cap from the coolant tank/reservoir, set aside
Remove the screw holding the COOLANT TANK into place
Remove the entire coolant reservoir tank (it just lifts out, there's no connections on the bottom)

Unhinge the bungee cord that holds the bar down that secures the batteries
Remove said bar

Remove the bolts holding the cables onto the terminal extender thingies - not the things on the terminals themselves, but the part that attaches to the bridges
Remove the bridges that span the two positive and the two negative terminals
Label and unhook any wires that you think will get in your way (that were also attached to the terminals): these will come in two parts: those attached on the left positive and those attached on the right positive terminals. The negative terminals should just have the bridge between the two

Remove the LEFT BATTERY FIRST
Remove the RIGHT BATTERY

Now remove the terminals

OKAY.
Bought two brand new batteries, car starts no problem. Did an amperage test of the entire car at resting, doors open, keys out: starts at 0.5A, drops to 0.15A. Is this normal?

[Growlerbearnz]

A tiny 1W light bulb (like the one that illuminates the "doors open" warning in the dashboard) draws 0.12A, a car alarm draws about 0.02A, the radio and clock together about 0.01A, so your total of 0.15A sounds about right.

I'd repeat the test but with the doors closed. Most older cars have a resting current of around .03A.