Servicing
Batteries
The batteries need occasional servicing which involves an extended maintenance charge followed, within 30
minutes, by a top-up of de-ionised water. There is a 'battery service' indicator on the
instrument panel which should light when this is required, so isn't something
which has to be done as a regular service. At the service, any error codes
stored in the on-board processor are read and reset.
It is also good to know that if the indicator doesn't light (due to a blown or
missing! bulb) then the general 'fault' light should come on at a later time.
Thanks to Phil for that info.
A couple of our Electrique colleagues have had this service done recently and
report the cost as just under £100 at a suitably equipped Citroen main dealer.
However, finding a main dealer who has the equipment and training is becoming
increasingly difficult! The only other way (as far as we are aware) to initiate
the maintenance charge and reset the service light is to use an interface
designed specifically for this purpose (evLite).
If you check the maintenance manual (in the Manuals
section) you will see that this service is due every 6000 miles, but it is
recommended that the cells are watered every 3000miles or so to keep the cells
in good order. However, the batteries MUST NOT be topped up without initiating a
'maintenance charge' first otherwise they will probably overflow the next time
they are charged, losing electrolyte in the process!
See the Charging link for further information.
Brushes
Another Electrique specific service item is to check and replace the motor
brushes.
(Click on the picture for more views)
Phil has pre-empted this by purchasing a set of brushes and is
investigating the check & replace procedure. At present he has checked one
of the brushes and thinks that it is possibly about half worn. Assuming the
other brushes are wearing at the same rate, that might mean about 30k miles per
set as Phil's has done 14k miles. Again, the service schedule calls for these to
be checked every 6000 miles.
Apparently, one of the brushes is very easy to get to, but we haven't
investigated the others yet.
I hope to get pictures of the checking and replacement procedure when Phil
carries out his next check.
Other stuff
Most of the other maintenance tasks are no different from those of a 'normal'
Berlingo, involving checking levels, brakes, hoses etc.
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