2.2 crd battery

I have decided to replace the chrysler (exide) gel battery with a Bosch maintenance free battery. It fits under the seat OK and the car starts, runs and charges the battery (so far anyways).

The only problem is the old battery strap that does not fit and is in the way.

Does anyone know how the trim panel that covers the back of the passenger seat fixing in the footwell area (to protect the battery from feet in the back) comes out? It is not in the Hains manual of course as this covers all cruisers (except the engine and associated changes on the crd). With this removed I can then remove and change the battery straps to fit the new battery which is upright rather than on its side.

Thanks in advance for any ideas / help

Dave

Ok,

I broke it to find it is screwed in not just a push fit. To replace it the seat has to come out (wonderful). However while the battery strap is fixed in the same way, if you take the battery tray out (slide back wards after lifting the front edge up) you can get a standard battery in. I have now done this and its running. (put some old carpet under the battery to protect the wiring under the seat on the floor).
If you are going to do this you need to make sure:
The terminals on the battery are the right way around for the leads (as you face front of car, terminals on the right, positive at the front)
The battery is not too long or too high. (I measured the space first before going to eurocar parts).
The correct number of cca's (cold cranking amps) is available. The one I am using is just over 700. The exide proper one gives nearly 900.

Well thats a third of the Exide price, the MOPAR is unbelievable at over £200. Just wonder how long it will last? We'l see.

Dave

I've owned a 2003 Chrysler PT Cruiser 2.2 CRD for approx 18 months and my gel battery is showing signs of coming to the end of it's life.
I cannot believe the price of a replacement gel battery - has anyone found a reasonably priced gel battery yet?
I see that some of the members have tried fitting a normal maintenance free battery under the seat - how has that worked out?
I am certainly considering doing this myself.
Regards
Harry

Hi Harry,

Its good to see at least one other owner of a CRD is alive and kicking in the Midlands. Seems a bit lonely sometimes.

So:
Yes, my battery is still going strong, no problems with it since Feb, feels like it will keep going fine, but hey I only need it to get through another year or so and all it will have cost is the time and effort.
The main problem was removing the gel battery tray. You undo the screws and it goes out into the back footwell. I broke the plastic trim on the back of the passenger seat getting mine out but it will come out without breaking this, I just didn't know how it came out to start with so struggled a lot.
Once that is out I recomend you simply insulate the old battery retaining straps. I tried removing mine and bent them. (not so good). They cannot be removed without disassembling the seat / removing the seat supports as far as I can see; and the spring steel seems difficult to cut. (if you find a simple way of removing them I would appreciate knowing)
The battery I got at the time (a bosche) has to be side ways on to the car and just in front of the seat to get the terminals on and then slides in when the seat adjustment bar is raised. The dimentions and height in particular are very important as the seat adjuster bar is the one thing I found to be restrictive compared to battery sizes back in Feb.
Battery goes in and sits upright on a piece of fibrous matting that I thought would be a good idea to do a bit of shock absorbing with no actual straps fixed over it. Plastic front cover for seat mounting back on. No breather on new battery so not connected. Not noticed any fumes or effects. (this is my day car and I do about 10 - 12000 a year in it mainly on my own).
Car's been for an MOT since the new battery was installed and went flying through.

Let me know how you get on, all feedback appreciated, doing as much of the maintenance as I can on mine myself so very happy to talk 2.2 ideosynchrssies, Haynes is as always so complete for 'all models' (except the diesel in this case it would seem).

Sorry I reperated a lot but the way this BBS works I cannot see my previous posts. Anyways:

Hope things work out for you, good luck with this weather, working on the car freezes the hands.

Cheers, Dave

Hi Dave
Sorry for the delay in replying but i've only just got round to changing the battery on my 2.2 CRD Cruiser.
The battery i used was a Bosch S5 Type 100 which cost me just under £80 inc free delivery. It measures H175mm x W175mm x L278mm and is A 74AH & 750CCA sealed maintenance free battery. The battery is fitted with it's length in line with the car and with the Pos terminal at the front.
I found it relatively easy to fit providing you remove the front passenger seat. This is easily done by removing the front seat base cover, the LH side seat base cover, disconnecting the seat wiring harness connector (which can be seen once the LH seat base cover is removed) and removing the 2 x seat runner bolts at the front and the 2 larger seat retaining bolts at the back. The seat then comes off complete with the rear plastic battery cover.
The original battery can now be easily removed. I also removed the battery tray and replaced it with a cut down plastic seed tray using some packing underneath the rear of the tray. The original battery securing strap was also completely removed. The new battery fits neatly in place making sure it is centred and pushed fully back. The battery cables had to be bent to a new position so that they fit the Pos terminal at the front and Neg terminal at the rear. I also fitted the original vent hose and fittings from the old battery to the new battery.
I used some of the expanded foam packing that came with the new battery to pack out the sides and between the seat base cross member and battery and made up a simple bracket to hold the battery in place. The seat then fits back on using the 4 original bolts, the seat harness is reconnected and the front and LH side seat base covers replaced.
The original Chrysler battery was 50AH with a CCA of 850 so the replacement is up on AH but down on CCA but it seems to work ok so i expect it will be next winter before it is really put to the test.
Since i've had the car i've done the normal servicing, replaced the front suspension arms and anti roll bar bushes, front brake caliper kits, discs and pads, front wheel bearing, rear shock absorbers and the instrument panel bulbs. My next job is replacing the drive belt (fan belt) which looks as though it has to be done from underneath. Have you done this ?
Best regards Harry

Hi Harry,

I didn't think of taking the seat out. It just didn't occur to me and to be honest the car being a daily to work drive for the missus and our only 5 seater meant I didn't want to not be able to get it back together. Its great to know its not too difficult to do.

Anyways. The belt is what they call the ancillary belt and I rate my experience of it as just extreme. My car has thrown belts on and off for a long time so I now know how to change it and the three reasons to change the belt.
Make sure you know the track of the belt before you remove it. Took me a day to find a diagram on the net. Doh.
1) Service interval change (I think its the 60000 mile one and they recommend changing tensioner at the same time - £50 e-bay parts supplier). Its best to put the drivers side of the car on a stand. Remove the road wheel. The lower wheel liner / end of engine cover can be removed by taking out the plastic clips that hold it to the plastic undertray and wheel arch liner and a couple of hex head screws that hold it up to the lower box section of the inner wing. You may need some light to help and maybe a helper to play with the upper pulley while you are underneath. To get the slack in the belt you need to compress the tensioner (push it up from below). Yeah - great! I seem to remember you should be able to lever it with a spanner in it somehow. (Sorry most of my leisure time is spent under an older car and I can't remember exactly what I did in the end with this one. I think there is a bolt head in the tensioner itself - not the pivot bolt that is in the end of the engine - that allows you to lever the tensioner wheel up and get some slack). Needless to say you will need to be superman to break the tensioner so get some leverage but don't totaly compress the tensioner against its mounting pivot bolt as this is the fail safe part that breaks to save the other ancillaries if one of them fails. Trust me I have been there (reason 3). You can lie on your back under the car and fiddle the belt off or over the pulleys. Simples ......... well a tight squeeze is more like the description. I have done this at least 5 times so its not that difficult, just fiddly and time consuming. Remeber to note the track of the belt before you take it off.
2) Belt wear and tear or lost belt. As above but then ask the serious question 'if it threw the belt off then why?' Much cheaper at this point to identify problem than have tensioner pivot bolt to replace if everything gets worse.
3) Belt thown because of other defective part. As mentioned my cruiser has had more belts than all my other cars for the last 10 years. Turns out that the alternator pully has a clutch in it (as do most modern diesels to stop the dynamo inertia keeping the engine running fast when you take your foot off the accelerator. The alternator should free wheel and slow down slowly as it were while the engine is slowed quickly especially for instance when breaking using the gear box. It is common apparantly (as I eventually found out) for this clutch to fail or more likely seize up worse and worse over a period of time. This of course puts a large load on the belt (its a big alternator with a small pulley - lots of mechanical advantage there). If the load is not too great the belt is usually thrown. (The car will run at 40mph without overheating by the way and at night my fully charged battery will drive all the lights and engine management for approx 1 hour. Amazing what you can find out when needs must for a boys night out). If the load is too great the tensioner pully pivot bolt snaps to save the engine from being driven and you just collected a large bill with a part cost of approx 80p unless you can:
a) Move the engine over in the bay to create enough room to work (and not much then)
b) Have the correct tools to remove the bolt stub in such a small work space
c) Have the special tools to remove the alternator pully in such a small space (the problem being the free wheel hub)
My local garage didn't diagnose it (the franchise garage didn't either), it then did it twice in 3 days. 3 hours labour each time. 2 bolts at 80p and I sourced the pully from an e-bay parts supplier for £50 plus carriage. Took 2 days to come.

At least I now know its weakness. The car hasn't had a problem since and that was over a year ago.

To protect your bushes by the way go dead slow over speed bumps and cushions. I havn't had to do the bushes for 3 years now.

Harry. I have done foot break linings on mine like you however I havn't done the parking break shoes. Its a 56 reg and I know there are differences in rear breaks depending on the age of the cars. My rear has a combined disk for the foot break with small drum in the middle where the parking break uses some small shoes apparantly. I have checked the parts on the car and that looks correct. Only problem I have is that I can't find any descriptions / manual that shows me how to go about replacing the linings or getting into the drums or to adjust the parking break. Is your car like this? do you have any info / diagrams / references for books with info in that would help? (Haynes as usual is rubbish for such variations, our whole engines are not in the Haynes 'complete all versions' manual - Huh).

Grateful for any help or ideas as it needs to be done some time this year.

Best regards,
Dave

Hello all,

First time on this site I am a lady owner of a recently purchased pt cruiser 53 plate which the battery seems to be dying on and its not even that cold yet I need to get it replaced, but from what I have read sounds like it is going to be costly. I shall try the local citroen dealer from a price to replace and fit which I am not looking forward to. Is there anyone out there who would be prepared to convert it for me to take a standard battery obviously I would pay for the time etc. Here's hoping someone feels sorry for a damsel in distress lol