Changing the battery - anyway to disable alarm going off?

[Juddder]

I've got a nice new battery for my Cerb and started following the instructions in the Jools doc to replace the old one, however the alarm goes off every time the battery is disconnected for a second - which is driving my neighbours nuts.

Anyone know if you can remove a fuse to disable the alarm or similar while doing this process to stop them hating me even more?? :-)

Also - does anyone know if you need to remove the airbox pipes or whether you can just squeeze the batterty through the gap?

Many thanks in advance for any tips!

[Juddder]

I'll answer my own questions as after searching the forums and reading (a lot!) the following seem to be valid ways of doing this.

1. Activate the alarm, disactivate the alarm, immediately disconnect battery

2. Connect portable jump start pack to positive lead as soon as disconnected to power the alarm system while removing the battery, and disarm the alarm

3. Connect jump leads from car a. to Cerb positive lead while removing the battery, and disarm the alarm

4. Remove 10Amp fuse from fuse box (the post didn't specify which one, but guessing from the black book they mean Fuse No. 8 - Injectors, alarm / immobilisers)

5. Connect portable power pack to Cerb cigarette lighter socket, and disarm the alarm [not sure weather solar trickle charger would work here - but guess not as only a trickle charger not battery - also there have been a few warnings about putting power through the cigarette socket wiring as it may not be able to take it, so guess this could be a more dangerous option)

Hope this helps other people looking for the answer!

Edited by Juddder on Saturday 25th July 17:10

[Juddder]

Hi Dave

Yes - reading a few posts it seems some cars can just remove the battery fine, others like mine hate it and the alarm goes off like crazy!

When you say you removed the Air Box, did you just remove the silver pipe near the battery, or the black carbon fiber/metal bit of it bolted and sealed onto the engine with 6 or so bolts in it?

I didn't want to remove the black carbon fiber/metal bit as it looks like it would need resealing (= difficult) but removing the adjustable clamps on the silver pipes doesn't look too hard.

Any thoughts appreciated as I'm having another go tomorrow :-)

[Juddder]

Hi Dave

Yes it does :-)

Sounds like you have an Air Box that kind of looks like this one

http://www.topgearautomotive.co.uk/images/Cerbera_...

Where as mine doesn't have any boxes, just two black 'manifolds' connected to the engine and then two big silver concertina pipes going down to the central air inlet.

Maybe it was modified at some time in the past...?

[Juddder]

OK - This didn't go as smoothly today as planned!

The battery won't slide out in the gap between the wheel arch and the air pipes, and even though I mentioned that mine just has pipes, I was actually wrong as it does have (what look like) carbon fiber boxes connected by 6 bolts to the engine manifolds on each side.

As I'm still new to this car (and everyone here definitely knows everything better than me!!) I've photographed the whole lot and would love to know if

a. I can just unbolt the pipe clamp and the 6 bolts on the carbon fiber boxes, and remove it to get the battery out, and if so what do I need to use to reseal it, as it seems to have existing sealant on there. :-)

b. what is the lose pipe in the bottom of the picture for

c. does anyone sell replacement air boxes as these ones are a bit chipped and could do with freshening up.

Many thanks!

Engine Overview

http://www.alexjudd.com/cerbera/battery/EngineFrom...
http://www.alexjudd.com/cerbera/battery/EngineOver...
http://www.alexjudd.com/cerbera/battery/EngineOver...

Stuck Battery

http://www.alexjudd.com/cerbera/battery/BatteryStu...
http://www.alexjudd.com/cerbera/battery/EngineView...

Why is this pipe unplugged?? (the metal braided pipe, slightly rusted on the top, just before the passenger side wing)

http://www.alexjudd.com/cerbera/battery/NotPlugged...

[Juddder]

Brilliant - thanks very much guys for the replies - would help felt a little stupid if it was something more serious, and unbolting it ruined something :-)

While I'm there I think I will replace the bolts too (they're rusty and old) - anyone know what length/thread size they are - they look M10-ish in size for the head.

Also - thanks for the tip about the Clutch Bleed pipe - I once bought a Twin Turbo charged Mitsubishi GT3000 that someone had "removed" the boost controller from on the ship over from Japan and just left the pipes disconnected from the stock boost controller.

This of course meant that the waste gates never opened, so it just boosted until it was starved of fuel = bad! Had to re-plumb the whole thing myself so learned on the job :-)

Will let you know how I get on!!