Just tried to top up my battery with a charger after sitting a few days in the cold, but it won’t charge by putting the leads directly into the pos and net terminals of the battery. It’s just sitting at 11.8 volts.

Is there somewhere else I should be connecting to? (My 2004 v8 petrol had a pos and neg bolt in front of the battery itself.)

Red lead to the positive battery terminal and the black to un unpainted bit of chassis. I connect mine to one of the unpainted strut bolts. Current: FF Westminster money pit

Gone:
RRS 4.2 SC
RRS 3.6 TDV8
FL2 TD4

I have one of these Ctek leads permanently wired to the battery cable in the rear fuse box cubby. and a convenient earth bolt next to it.

Click image to enlarge

Think it maybe a problem with your charger James?

One assumes your charger has enough amperage?
I used an intelligent charger but found it hadn't enough ooomph to charge a large battery, used a c-tek & no worries.
Worth thinking about. 2012 Orkney Grey Westminster 4.4TDV8 with Ivory interior.........nice!
Alfa Romeo Giulietta
Just one Montesa now, 349 White Wonder
Austin A40 Farina MK2
1975 Morris Marina 1.8TC
1973 Honda CB250 K4

Thanks everyone for your advice. Charger works fine on both my other cars. Think it may be the neg pole which is not allowing a charge to go through. I will look for an unpainted bolt to attach to.

Cheers all.

On my 2002 V8 petrol/LPG, I really like the "reverse charge via towbar electrics" method - assuming you have a 13 pin fitting (I believe one of the 7 pin varieties also works) see https://www.disco3.co.uk/shop/tow-electric...c-p45.html

Dolphinboy wrote:

Thanks everyone for your advice. Charger works fine on both my other cars. Think it may be the neg pole which is not allowing a charge to go through. I will look for an unpainted bolt to attach to.

Cheers all.

Craig - can I confirm my understanding that the negative terminal on a 2011 tdv8 grounds onto the passenger side strut ? Gone to a good home: 2011 4.4 TDV8 Vogue SE Buckingham Blue with Ivory and clear glass = "Rory"
2025MY Defender D350 90 in Silicon Silver on coils
1974 Series 3 Lightweight = "Millie"
Many, many other Landies over the years
My preferred specialist: www.glenrands.co.uk
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DrRob yes-ish sir! The battery won’t solely ground there sir but I believe (from memory) the ground stud has never been removed in later models... Does that answer your question?

At 11.8V it's possible a smart charger wouldn't detect it is connected to a battery and so not start the charge process.
Seen it happen. What you need initially is an old fashioned non smart charger to get the voltage up a bit so that you can then connect your charger.

Thanks again all. Success! Used the same nut (photo to follow) as on previous models only there’s no neg wire running to it.

The only was getting the clip onto the pos terminal. There’s not a lot of room within the battery section! Is there a live pos nut on the bulkhead I could have used as in previous models?

No James, they took the + peg away when Ford owned them sir...

Thanks Craig