Is It Easy To Change The Battery In C5 Tourer?

[splinternet]

I have a 59-plate 3.0 HDi Tourer Exclusive.  In recent months, I've discovered if I don't start the car for a couple of days, the electronic tailgate lift doesn't work (it just gives a few bleeps) and the main console display doesn't light up with the mileometer etc...   There's no issue with turning the engine over to start, and as soon as it does then the tailgate opens and closes OK.   So is this symptomatic of early signs that the battery is starting to lose its charge?   Would I be right in assuming that when it gets below a certain level, then non-essential functions are deactivated on the basis that it needs to save what charge it has to start the car.

 

Given the car is now over 4 years old, then I'm not particularly bent out of shape if the battery needs replacing (though it does seem to be a bit "nanny state" deactivating things because the battery may not be as robust as it was - if there's enough charge to turn the 3.0 HDi engine over, then surely there's plenty to lift the tailgate?).   So I'm looking to get a replacement battery, which leads me to the subject of this topic.

 

Is changing the battery a diy job?  I popped into my local Halfords to suss out batteries (as it turned out, they don't actually do one for this model, they cover the 2.7 HDi from 2007-2010 and the "2.9" from 2007 to 2008 - so this sounds like it's not a run-of-the-mill battery).  Give the young and enthusiastic assistant some credit - he was about to look for the bonnet release but as soon as I asked him if he knew where the battery was located, he worked out that it must be in the luggage compartment.  But then as soon as he saw it, behind the side panel cover, he blanched visibly and said it was best left to someone who knew about Citroens, which sadly rules out my local Citroen dealer where I've been twice bitten and three times shy due to their staggering incompetence.    So can anyone point me to some directions/instructions?  The handbook doesn't give any indication, however it does say rather ominously that after the battery has been disconnected/reconnected you have to re-initialise the remote locking key, the panoramic sunroof and the GPS Satnav!    It gives some details on the first two elsewhere in other sections, but I can't find anything about "re-initialising the Satnav" - any tips?

 

Does anyone have any recommendation on make/model of battery?   The dealer price is £160 but a google search throws up much cheaper alternatives.   I don't know what the minimum spec of the battery should be (the handbook doesn't say) however in another thread where someone else had the same tailgate problem, the advice was to "buy a stronger battery such as a Bosch".   I looked on eurocarparts.com and it throws up 7 models (Lion, Exide and Bosch) ranging in price from £95 to £180.   All help gratefully received.

[paul.h]

Welcome to the forum.

 

A quick look on the eurocarparts site gives batteries from £96 to £220 for your car. The dearer ones labelled boot for vehicles with brake energy recovery. A few years ago I replaced one on a C3 and they were competitive on price and I used an Exide one which from memory is part of Bosch. I went for the highest amp hour one I could get to help starting in colder weather since the existing one was suffering and had a low amp hour rating. Check the labels on the existing battery as a start and then go for a higher amp hour one.

 

I will add something on how to replace it later.

[paul.h]

Battery replacement seems easy enough. This is from Citroen's procedures for cars with the battery in the boot:

 

Open the boot and prop it open.

Switch off the ignition and remove the ignition key from the car.

Wait 3 minutes before touching the battery to give the various electronics time to shutdown and save settings.

Remove the side flap in the boot covering the battery.

Remove the cover over the battery.

Remove the bolts holding the battery base retention bar then slide the bar forwards and up to remove it.

Detach the battery (should be possible to move it out).

Remove the battery negative cable - this is not mentioned in the procedure. It is usual to undo the negative before positive in case the tool/spanner touches anything causing sparks.

Unscrew the battery positive terminal bolt.

Unclip and detach the battery positive cables assembly.

Remove the battery from the car.

Refitting is a reverse but note the following:

 

It does say after reconnecting the battery that if necessary to reinitialise the various ecus without saying which but on the procedure for refitting the radio/sat nav unit it says to reconnect the battery and then to check it works. The sat nav in my 2007 C5 is on a hard disc and when reconnecting the battery I have not had to do anything. I have found on reconnecting the battery that the following has not given any problems (copied from the C5 Technical section Common Problems post):

 

16. Odd electrical problems caused by wrong battery disconnection procedure.

If you need to disconnect the battery and not do a BSI reset procedure, I have found the following has not given me any problems on a 2004 and 2007 C5 and a 2003 C3:

- remove the ignition key from the car

- open the bonnet

- wait a few minutes for the BSI to shut down

- disconnect the battery negative terminal

 

When reconnecting

- ignition key out of the car

- reconnect the battery

- wait a few minutes

- insert the key in the ignition and wait a minute

- turn the key to the first position and wait a minute

- turn the key so the dash lights come on and wait a minute

- start the engine

- take the windows down and up to reset the anti pinch

- reset the clock (and radio on the C3).

[splinternet]

Hi Paul - many thanks for your replies.  The instructions do sound straightforward in principle.   I've changed car batteries before although some I've baulked at, e.g. where you have to dismantle part of the bulkhead (Passat 2.5 TDi), and this one looks more complicated than it probably is due to it's cramped location plus a plethora of thick and thin cables and connectors.   If you like I'll try and post a picture or two if I can work out how to (that's 'how to post a pic', not 'how to use my camera'!). 

 

Regarding choice of battery, I couldn't find any labels on the existing one, at least not on the side facing you - probably on the reverse side nuzzling up to the rear wheel arch.   The most expensive Bosch (S6) has 70Ah rating according to the europarts web site, wheras far cheaper ones like I can find, e.g. on allbatteries.co.uk (NX and Fulmen at £75-£100), have 92-100Ah ratings, so is it just all about the Ah rating?   I also notice the length of the S6 (278mm) is a lot shorter than all others (353mm) so I wonder if this may cause a fitting problem.  I notice the expensive Exide (EK700) has the same rating and dimensions as the Bosch S6 which bears out what you said about Exide being part of Bosch.

 

Interestingly, the Bosch web site (http://rb-aa.bosch.com/aa-batterien/gb/en/pkw/media/brochure_S6.pdf) suggests there are two S6 variants, one at 70Ah (length 278mm) and another at 95Ah (length 353mm) so it sounds like europarts.com may not be quoting the correct S6 for my car.

[paul.h]

I would measure the existing battery to make sure a replacement will fit. Often you find a longer battery can be used, this was the case with our C3 - the smallest one had been fitted originally but there was room for ones about 50% longer, (possibly for diesel versions) it just needed a retaining clip moving to a different position on the battery tray.

 

To post pictures I think they have to be on another site and then a link to it is included on this site.

 

Before you do change the battery it may be worthwhile checking the voltage of the existing one before starting the car and once running, just to check there is nothing else wrong. A charged battery will be about 12.7 volts, a flat battery about 12.3 volts or less. With the engine running it should be about 14.4 volts.

[bubblejet]

I know that a lot of water has passed under the bridge since the first post on this topic, however others may be reading it now for the first time so I felt I could help a little. Europarts do now list a battery for this model (096) and with regard to procedure for changing the battery a simple trick is to use a piggy back battery to keep all settings whilst swapping out batteries. I used one of those jump start power packs, just remember to connect in parallel not series,(+to+, -to-). This is now near standard practice in service bays. Hope this helps someone.

[MikeLane]

Try the following link. It's a 75Ah Battery with a 4 year warranty and many customers have fitted it to C5 Diesels.

 

https://www.tayna.co.uk/096-Enduroline-Car-Battery-700CCA-P8383.html

 

Costs about £68 including delivery!