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Should I buy a new battery? And if so, where the hell is it?! |
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Stealth
 
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   Member No: #986
Location: Sydney |
Varta is on order and will be AU $355 delivered and ready to install. My next challenge is removing the boot lining and making the switch over. Can anybody advise whether there any specific rules to observe about whether to remove the positive or negative connections first? I've downloaded the guide that refers to re-initialising windows etc. but are there any traps for young players that I must be wary of? I would hate to upset the French gods of electricity. |
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C6Dave
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   Member No: #1
Location: Northumberland |
Negative earth car, always remove the negative first. | ||
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Stealth
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Member No: #986
Location: Sydney |
Thanks Dave. Pardon my ignorance but how does one 'negative earth' the car? I do have jumper leads. Does that mean I should fasten a jumper lead to the bodywork somewhere and attach the other end to an earth line? |
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C6Dave
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Member No: #1
Location: Northumberland |
Sorry, your miss reading my post. On negative earth cars one should always remove the negative connection from the battery first. Removing the positive connection first can result in sparking etc. |
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Stealth
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Member No: #986
Location: Sydney |
Thanks Dave, That clears that up. |
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JemShaw
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  Member No: #1084
Location: Stafford |
Following the advice on this forum I bought the Varta battery (£90) and fitted it in about 20 minutes. Does anyone know if there's a market for a large mound of molten metal with what looks like a Citroen badge? Oh-oh, and that looks like charred cat fur. Good job the next door neighbour's got a sense of humour... Oh, OK, actually it all went swimmingly and the starting problem seems to have gone away completely. The only caveat I'd mention is that the plastic retainers for the trim are quite fragile, especially the ones holding the rear boot sill. There's also a typically Gallic inconsistency to the types used. The ones at the far end of the boot are released by turning with a screwdriver, the ones at the near corners have a centre pin that should be levered up, and the ones retaining the boot sill need to be levered carefully up with a broad-bladed screwdriver. (This is on my car, yours may have torque heads, crank handles or even digital combination codes - no two C6s are the same as far as I can see) Also, watch out for the breather pipe and remember to reconnect it to the battery. It vents hydrogen to the outside world, which will do wonders for your eyebrows if you're in the habit of leaning into the boot with a fag in your mouth. |
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Tjensen
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 Member No: #954
Location: Bergen |
Did you use backup power during the operation ? If the car is not without current at any moment a lot of small complications after changig will not apply ? | ||
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JemShaw
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Member No: #1084
Location: Stafford |
No, you're fine with a few minutes' disconnection. I removed all trim and the fix-down, so that the battery was ready to come out. Then disconnected it, slid it out, slid the new one in and connected it immediately. That way you're off power for no more than a couple of minutes. I had to reset the clock, but other than that everything was normal. By the way, the negative terminal releases with a clip, while the positive is a clamp nut on the post under the red box of electronics. I messed about trying to open the box before I spotted the nut. The whole box assembly comes off once you've released the clamp. |
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Stealth
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Member No: #986
Location: Sydney |
Thanks Jemshaw, Really helpful tips and clues there. Having removed the small battery access cover, I can already see there's a small tornado of Gallic wiring and I'm not looking forward to doing the switch over. Gobxoy's photograph on page two of this post reveals the jam session going on in there behind the boot liner. Interesting to see there's even more sound deadening material about the place behind the battery. As I get to know my 6 better, it's clear Citroen really did go the extra mile to sound proof the 6. It's not just laminated windows and a few clever tricks here and there... So, one starts by removing the plastic boot sill right? I've been concerned about whether I'll be met with those familiar Citroen plastic pegs and clips that seem almost impossible to remove without doing damage. Your comments confirm their presence so I will need to be extra careful. Appreciate you pointing out how to remove the red box of electronics to get to the clamp nut. I wonder what or who lives in the red box of tricks... I also presume one needs to lever out the boot light, near the access cover, and push it back through the lining before attempting to remove the boot lining. You got a great price on your Varta, by the way - 90 pounds is so cheap. The Australian price is 157% more! Typical!  POST EDIT: Have just found full instructions on changing the battery on page 137 of the manual. Note to self - when all else fails... read the instructions! |
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JemShaw
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Member No: #1084
Location: Stafford |
It's actually not as challenging as it first appears. The manual does a surprisingly good job of detailing where those pesky clips are, with the exception of the horribly breakable clips lurking under the boot sill. I broke two, but it locates positively under the seal rubber and it's anchored by the tougher black clips at the end, so it doesn't seem to have made a difference. Yes, you do need to pop out the boot light, but it comes out and goes back very easily. Amazed to find something's actually cheap in the UK! Bear in mind that we pay about 2.25 AUD/litre for our fuel  Oh, and just noticed your RTFM post edit. If I'd done that this thread would never have started! I'd convinced my self that battery location wasn't mentioned anywhere, and that it was probably inside one of the tyres. POST EDIT: Bought the battery on eBay by the way! The link was - Click Here -, but I notice it's now £150 
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Stealth
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Member No: #986
Location: Sydney |
Either that or just alongside the anti gravity drive unit!  |
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Stealth
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Member No: #986
Location: Sydney |
Performed the transplant operation the other night and it took me 45 minutes. The boot sill embellisher is tough to remove and one of those pesky clips broke, however, JemShaw, you're right - they have virtually no purpose anyway. The sill re-seated perfectly well and they seem almost redundant. My car doesn't have levers on either the negative or positive connectors, just the usual clamps that you tighten. The red box of tricks does move slightly clear, when you unclamp it from the battery, but it is still a bit awkward gaining access. After removing the undersized battery (670 CCA) fitted, it is extraordinary how tightly shoe-horned in the Varta (830 CCA) recommended battery is. Not much wiggle room.   I nearly forgot to attach the all important vent pipe, which either dislodged itself as I removed the puny battery or had never been fitted. It is a black, serrated, pipe that comes up from behind the plate that the battery sits on. It's difficult to see, amongst all the black wiring. It has a tapered end that fits neatly into the waiting vent hole on the side of the battery. I fitted a red plastic plug to the vent hole on the opposing side of the battery - which I hope was the right thing to do. My partner and I have a Mercedes E240 that we've now owned for some 10 years and its battery lives under the back seat. After its battery was replaced, the vent pipe worked loose and acid leaked into the bay doing significant damage. It was extremely difficult to clean up and need to be sent to the smash repair shop to be re-sprayed and properly attended to (to prevent further corrosion). I managed to re-establish power within about one minute of disconnecting the old battery. The clock did need to be re-set but the windows did not need to be re-initialised. I did wait for one minute, after turning on the ignition (as the manual recommends), but the only other loss seemed to be the seat memory/mirror dip memory function. I noticed while reversing today that the mirror was not dipping to its memory position so just re-saved my settings. Radio station memory was unaffected. So, for those interested in knowing whether it makes any difference, changing from an undersized (but functioning well) battery to the stronger Varta - yes, it makes a difference. The starter motor is slightly more positive but I can't yet report whether I get more time before Economy Mode kicks in. I haven't had enough time yet to establish that but will report my findings in the next week or so. With the previous battery, Eco Mode was activated almost immediately when the engine was turned off. And, as I live in the Highlands where it does get very cold in winter (yes, this is possible in Australia) I didn't want to face a flat battery next winter and be without the car for several days while acquiring the rare and exotic Varta 
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M21
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  Member No: #871
Location: Lisbon |
I would like to let you know that it has my turn. Yep, it's dead... Unable to find a OEM or Varta H3 at a reasonable price (Citroën dealer was asking 200 euro plus), I just ordered what I think may be the second best: VARTA BLUE DYNAMIC G3 12V 95Ah 800A. Never the less and despite the same Ah (95) as the OEM battery I now have less 150 CCA... Hope it's up for the job. Well, maybe I should start unmounting the boot compartment... I hope to be able to give some feedback soon. Regards. |
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Tjensen
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Member No: #954
Location: Bergen |
The Silver Dynamic is listed with 830 CCA , your 800 CCA is enough. I ended up with a cheap Euroglobe 110A/830cca. My original was 950 CCA (3,0 hdi) | ||
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M21
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Member No: #871
Location: Lisbon |
Dear friends, I've just performed the "transplant" and she's working fine.  Thank you very much for your advice. Without you I couldn't have done it. Let's see what the future brings. Regards.  |
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