First, i apologise for writing in English - as you know, we are terrible at learning other languages (( I live in France (there are too many English in the UK) so i do speak enough French, but no German.
I am hoping that there is somebody amongst this community who would be so kind as to help - and who speaks enough English to explain to an idiot.
I have a Ford Transit Euroline 2005 that i bought in Germany and brought to France. It is not a camper, but is like a Multivan (7 seats). It is older, but it has been great - even my wife likes it!
But....
Today i tried to start it and the battery is dead - I haven't driven it very much lately, but it has always started before. I was looking at the wiring for the radio a few days ago but i don't think that has caused the problem. I need to charge the battery, but when i looked under the seats I found three batteries - one under the passenger seat (i am thinking that this is the leisure battery) and two under the driver's seat - one of the batteries very big.
So, i have several questions......
What is the second battery under the driver's seat for? Why two?
And how do i get the batteries out? The driver's seat is the sort that turns and so it's not like a normal transit van (i had one before) and there is no space to be able to get the batteries out. Someone has taken the leisure battery out before because all the battery fixings are broken, but that battery is OK - the 12v plugs from it run fine - but I just cannot see how to get the main batteries out. I don't want to break the seat mechanism and i am guessing that there must be a simple way to do it.
Once i have the batteries out to charge, will there be a problem to put them back in (engine management system etc)?

I apologise again for posting in English, but I just cannot find any other forum in English which has, hopefully, the knowledge of Eurolines to be able to advise me.

Many thanks in advance for your help

Hello Parr,
i'm sorry but I don't know the Euroline 2005,
but I think it would be helpfull if you can take a picture of the seat.

To charge the battery it is not necessary to get the battery out.
Read the manuel. There must be a connection in the engine compartment.
This is the Connection in my car.

Hi
Thank you very much indeed for your reply...
I have contacted Westfalia and they tell me that the batteries are from Ford and not Westfalia, but it doesn't help me to find out how to remove them (which, one day, I would have to so that I could replace them).
The manual doesn't give me any information such as you describe and I haven't seen anything such as in your picture - from your signature you have a much newer vehicle than mine! I will look again and take a picture of how the seat is. My problem is that the Euroline is on the street on a busy road, so it's impossible to work on in safety.
Thank you again for your help.
Kind regards
Steve

Hello Steve,

to build out the turnable driver seat you have to loosen the four Allen bolts, which hold the turnable Plate.
Be careful the Seat is heavy..

Hi Tom
Thank you very much for your reply and advice..
After a lot of searching forums i had come to the same conclusion ((
Now I have to try and get the van into my garage as it is on the side of a busy road and not possible to work on safely - and then find a strong friend!
Kind regards
Steve

Hi Parr,

you do not need strong friends, you can remove the seats by unsrewing the bolts, and then, put the Seats behind their rest. You might have to pull the last row to the back and the two single seats also. Then there should be enough space.
I also own a Euroline (2011) and my installation is as follows: drivers seat : two batteries, the one facing to the front is the starting battery, the one behind is leisure. Passengers seat is also a leisure battery. Normally two batteries should have the same type like AGM ( don't know because there are 5 years betwen our modells ) and one is a standard lead acid battery. If everything is connected correctely, you should be able to start with the two leisure batteries, becaus they are connected if you turn the start key in position 2. If it is not possible to start, then it might be that all batteries are down and need a replacement . Thats how it works in my 2011 model ).
Maybe somebody here owns a 2006 model and can assist you further.

greetings

Christian

Hi Steve,
for your first Question:
the Batterys under the Drivers seat has to be for Ignition, Starter and Lights in the -29° package, the battery under the passengers seat is for the pre-heater and one or two power sockets

First, thank you to everyone who has helped and made suggestions - your time and advice is greatly appreciated.

I have managed to remove the driver's seat - not easy because a previous owner had used silicon to stick the plastic covers over the seat runners and had filled the bolt heads with silicon ((

The two batteries are identical and have dates of 2005 on them - i can't believe that they are the original batteries after 12 years? I tested the batteries with a meter and they both had a reading of 0.95 - not good ((( I have taken one battery out and have put it on a charger and will see if it keeps the charge or not - so far it is at 11.00. I'll leave it on and then take it off charge and see what happens. If it's OK then i will charge the second battery. The leisure battery under the passenger seat is fine - the lights and sockets work from it OK without problem.

But something must be causing a problem for the main batteries to be discharged so much. A week ago somebody hit the electric mirror on the drivers side and the glass came out. I tested that the motor still worked OK, but could that circuit be causing a problem? Maybe inside the case the wiring is damaged and draining the batteries?

Once again thank you for all your replies, suggestions and help.