Hi,

Our resident Fiat engineer (he works for a Fiat dealership and is a friend of the family) is on holiday. Before he left he said that we would need to change the battery soon on our car especially with the cold weather coming in, as the battery is getting worse for starting the car. Once started it is fine, its just the initial cold cranking.

Anyway, to keep this brief, I bought a new battery from Halfords, and paid for the service for them to put the battery in... which after 45 mins of trying various thing, gave up!! And I still had to pay for it because "they spent the time, but we are really sorry"

Anyway, I was trying to help them, and the problem we have is getting the old battery out! I can't see how to do this and the Owner's Manual has nothing in it...

Can anyone help me? There is a strap acorss the top of the battery that is bolted in, but getting to the bolts that hold it down is nigh impossible!!

So we tried to take the whole platform out (on which the battery sits). No joy.

Please help, asap if you can!

Will

Peat is totally correct, take it back to Halfords, you have paid for a service and they have not delivered!

Their incompetance is not your problem! If they can't do the job they should not advertise they can!

They are chancers and you've given in too easy. Kick butt!

mine has a halfords battery in it (was on it when i bought it). the physical size is different to the fiat one and although it fits the hole you have to overstretch the leads. I ended up replacing the positive cable and battery terminal on mine because the job done by the previous owner was not great.

might be worth telling halfords to take their battery back and then go to a proper garage and let them do the job for you - it should only take them a few minutes using a ratchet and extension bars to remove the bolt that holds the strap in place.

Thinking back i also had to alter the bracket and strap because of the halfords battery being much bigger - the strap was just sitting on the battery but not tightened because the bolt wouldn't reach. so the battery was bouncing around!!!

Halfords are pretty much hopeless at anything other than selling what they physically have in stock on the shelves, and even then they can get it wrong
The only reason I use them at all is that I have their Trade Card, so I get parts fairly cheaply
How much did they charge for not fitting the battery?
I agree with the others, go back and demand your money back (or that they keep trying until they do fit it).
You're perfectly within your rights to do so.

They're not nick-named Halfrauds for nothing

Is there a captive nut under the bolt that holds the strap down?

I've reached mine with two extensions, and it spins freely, but won't actually come out - very frustrating as I have a new battery here and places to go!

Any advice if I can reach the bolt, turn the bolt easily , but not remove the bolt?

Right, so I've been trying to get this bolt out.

The strap is now looser, but the bolt will not come out - it feels like it may have lost some of it's thread - the bolt will push in to the hole and pull up - but not out. It's as though it has thread on it to a point, and then a 'bald' bit.

I can't get the pipe of the top of the radiator as the screws there are completely shot. I have take the top off the air filter though, which makes things a bit easier, but I can still only get the to bolt with an extension.

Any suggestions how to get it out?

For the benefit of everyone else:

You can reach the bolt on the tray with a couple of extensions.

However, there is a nut on the bottom of it, and you can't get anything on it without moving the air box.

However, you can *just about* get the airbox out without undoing the pipe over the top of the radiator. Unscrew the top of the filter box and fold it over (there is enough slack in the MAF cable to put it on top of the engine block.) Unclip the pipe that goes over the radiator and then squeeze the airbox past the end of it. Pull off the empty housing where the filter was.

Then you can get your hand to the bl**dy nut under the bolt that holds the battery in. Marvellous design. In my case after an hour and a half of turning the bolt whilst pulling up on the battery strap, it was only hand tight.

Take the battery out, then put the new one in - then wonder to yourself how badly designed and made the terminal connectors are, and how badly mangled yours have become since the car was made.

And then put the air box etc. back on. Enjoy your winter motoring.

By coincidence, I've just replaced the battery this morning- like the OP it was sluggish cranking first thing; also the voltage was down to 12.05 under no load.
The battery I ordered online from Euro Carparts turned out to be the wrong size- even though I'd been through their online battery selector thingy and specified it was for a diesel Multipla; good job I'd measured the old one before picking it up. Finally got the correct battery and set about replacing the old one.
It seems I was lucky- the nut holding the retaining strap could be reached with a short extension on my quarter inch drive socket set, and came off easily. When the new battery was in, I put a bit of grease around the nut so it wouldn't slip out of the socket, and managed to put it back on, and tighten it without having to remove the airbox.
One final tip- remove the -ve connection first and reconnect it last.

Which one is it from eurocarparts?
Was going to order one soon

I bought a Varta o27 if that helps? I *think o27 refers to the size? I used South Yourkshire Batteries - http://www.sybsgroup.co.uk/ - highly recommended if you live near them; they don't sell to the public via mail order though.

Eurocarparts online battery picker gave me a choice of 9 batteries for a 2004 1.9 Multi; the cheapest was a "Lion 100".
I'd measured the old battery- it was approx 24cm wide and 17cm deep.
When I got to the shop and the bloke plonked the battery in front of me a quick measure up showed it was too wide (28cm). He had a ferret round and came up with a "Lion type 075" which is the right size. It's not exact- the height is about half a cm short, but it fits in the space in the car.
There are a couple of plastic strips on the side of the battery that need removing (they are spacers needed for some applications I assume- they just pop off).
There is a further 15% off the web prices- enter "battery15" at checkout.

dont find anything wrong with LION batterys to be fair they are in our forklifts at work and do the job and they get some hammer

Hi Folks. My problem is slightly different. I can disconnect the battery leads and the holding down strap on my 1.9 Multijet Bravo 2008 - BUT then I cant get the battery out as the diagonal body brace is in the way. Do I have to undo this brace or should the battery come out without doing that?
Pete