Hi,

When the battery goes on the Ulysse is it a complete failure i.e. no lights, nothing at all. Apparently this morning my wife started the car which was in gear and she forgot and the car surged forwards as it would and then nothing, can't lock it no lights anywhere on the car.

Lou

There should be a 150 amp (or higher) encapsulated mega-fuse on the battery or built into one of the battery leads that's blown.

Try to start the car in gear and the starter motor will draw an enormous amount of current from the battery. The fuse is there to stop the battery melting or exploding.

Better not tell the wife but it's know as the idiot fuse.

Dave.

Davren said:

There should be a 150 amp (or higher) encapsulated mega-fuse on the battery or built into one of the battery leads that's blown.

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Anybody know where this fuse is or is it a new lead from battery to fuse box?

Thanks Lou

Iv'e been having another look in the fuse box under the bonnet as I should discount the maxi fuses first. I can see most of them except for the 60A and 70A fuses which are the likely culprits. Anybody know where these are located and do they look like normal fuses or are they completely different. I rang Desira to enquire about the inline fuse in the battery cable and they seem to think that my Ulysse does not have one. At the moment I can't keep the fuse box in the front open for too long as it is raining and I can't stop water dripping into the fuse box, even with an umbrella. It seems to be finding it's way through somehow.

Lou

According to the Ulysse handbook there are 8 MAXI fuses in the engine fuse box. If your car has the MEGA fuse it would be located on or close to the battery under the floor.

Dave.

Davren said:

According to the Ulysse handbook there are 8 MAXI fuses in the engine fuse box. If your car has the MEGA fuse it would be located on or close to the battery under the floor.

Dave.

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Thanks Dave. I will have a look tomorrow as it does not stop pouring and everything is getting wet. I may have to signup to Home start from the AA as I don't have that cover and I can't get it a quarter of a mile away from my house for my normal level of cover to kick in.

Lou

It wouldnt be the crash cut off button would it???

gball said:

It wouldnt be the crash cut off button would it???

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Now there's a thought. Would that cut all power as well as the fuel?

Lou

If the inertia switch was tripped, the starter motor and most other electrical systems would still work.

Dave.

Hi,

This morning I decided to have one more look for this possible mega fuse. While disconnecting the positive connection on the battery I noticed a slight spark so I reconnected it all up and sure enough I had some dash lights but not enough to start it. So I bought a new battery. Now this is not quite the same rating, though I have been assured it is for my car, it is a 650A as opposed to the 720A that was in the car. This is now where I really do begin to wonder who designed this car. It took two of us nearly an hour to remove the battery. The clamp on the negative post was corroded and fell off so this will require a new cable; luckily it does not look like a long one. Then, at least on my car anyway, if you look at the rectangular hole containing the battery, in the top left hand corner there is carpet as well as plastic trim underneath this that cuts across the corner by quite a bit making it almost impossible to take the battery out. Maybe one needs to remove the fuse box to the right though I can't believe that a simple job like removing a battery would require this amount of work. Eventually it came out and getting the other one in was a lot easier except some plastic bit broke off of something and I don't know what it is but hopefully it is not needed. The next bit is the breather pipe that connects to the battery. This did not appear to be connected to anything when I took the battery out but I have now been informed that it should connect to something. There does appear to be a hole or something to top right of the rectangle at the bottom. But I don't really fancy taking the battery out again, at least not just yet, any thoughts?

Just to round off the saga and make you laugh, on moving the filler neck for the windscreen wash to one side as this appears to be the only way one can remove the cover to the fuse box in the engine bay I noticed that the bottom end was not connected to anything. So who knows how the water has been getting in to the tank when I have filled it up? Probably by luck. Well this was another task, my hands just don't fit down there and I don't have huge hands to push the plastic bit into the rubber ring. Luckily my wife managed it. So I think my next car purchase will involve bringing a mechanic along with me to check out the engine bay and other mundane bits like battery position that in the old days were easy to change. I can't wait to try and change a bulb on one of these as that looks like a job and a half.

Lou

Don't worry about the breather pipe. Now that the suns out I can see where the hole is. Now I just need to find a way to do it without taking the battery out.

I found that if you remove the plastic trim on the floor that is just inside the door the battery can be removed more easily (just 4 torx screws) you will have to remove battery to connect breather pipe. Also loosen the 13mm nut on the + terminal to swing it out of the way.
The washer bottle filler hose does just push in !!!!!!!!!!
And if you think changing a headlight bulb will be tricky (and it is) just wait till an indicator bulb goes , funnily the bulbs on the the passenger side are even more difficult :yuck: :yuck: :yuck:

Hi Madham,

I did consider taking the trim off but by this point I was tearing my hair out. I did swing the + terminal out of the way as I'm sure I would have broken something if I hadn't. The filler hose is back in now. As for the breather pipe I am going to try and push something in from underneath and somehow pull the pipe down. Don't ask me how I'm going to do it but I will give it a go.

Lou