thatkeith wrote:Would this effectively keep it in reserve, so if I ran one down I could slap myself on the wrist but be able to switch it in and start the Bongo?
If the batteries are wired directly together in parallel like that, what does that button by the steering wheel (with the engine graphic ahd the four wiggly lines) actually do?
Aha - another query before I'd posted the last
Yes it would, just remember to turn the switch before driving off, or you won't charge your second battery.
The button should work a flap in the exhaust that restricts the exhaust and heats the engine up quicker - it does nothing on mine cos' the exhaust has been changed for a different one.
Forgot to say that you will only flatten your second battery if you rewire things to work from that battery. It's a simple job and only takes about half an hour - instructions here:-
Look at the fuse board by the drivers right knee.
Remove the fixing screws and wiggle it forwards so that the rear is visible.
Counting from top left to right the numbering goes 1 to 8.
Fuses 1 to 5 are fed by a thick white/red from fuse BTN under the bonnet, which is always live.
(the fuse, silly, not the bonnet!)
Fuses 6,7,8 are fed only when the ignition is on via the thick red/black wire.
6&7 are curtains L&R, 8 is cigarlighter & mirrors.
1] If you do not have a secondary battery:
You can either select just the cigarlighter/mirrors or probably easier and handier select those and the curtains so that you can operate them without the ignition on.
Cut the thick red/black wire going in a couple of inches from the rear of the fuseholder for 6,7,8. Insulate the end that comes out of the loom.
Use a short length of similarly sized wire to extend the end going into 6,7,8 and tap it into the thick white/red that feeds fuses 1-5.
If you want to select just fuse 8 for the cigarlighter/mirrors then you would have to identify the blue wire coming out of fuse 8, cut that and insulate the end coming out of the fuse 8. The blue wire going into the loom would then need an in-line 15A fuse fitting and then tapping onto the aforementioned thick white/red that feeds fuses 1-5.
2] If you have a secondary battery you may wish to feed things from that rather than from the engine battery.
The instructions above are modified only by disregarding tapping anything into the aforementioned thick white/red that feeds fuses 1-5.
Instead you would need to connect it/them into an appropriately fused wire connected to the secondary battery.
While you are at it you could also feed all the internal vehicle lighting from that source as well.
To do so, cut the blue/red wire coming out of fuse 1 and insulate the end coming out of the fuse. Fit an appropriate 10A inline fuseholder to the end disappearing into the loom and connect it to the secondary battery.
or turn it on,