When I get a call from the Wife during the day it means one of 2 things. Someone has been hurt or something is broken. Luckily for me, it was the latter. I really didn’t want to spend my afternoon in A&E with one of the kids.

Upon hearing in great detail on how her 2011 Ford Grand C-Max 1.6tdi wouldn’t start and “just make this clicky noise”, it was pretty obvious that the battery was at fault. I was over in Peterborough, so I popped it at Milfiled Autos for a new battery. £80 later (when the f**k did batteries get so expensive?!) I was on the way to swap out her battery and drive it home. Like most “simple” tasks I undertake, it’s wasn’t going to be that easy. 

Under the bonnet of the C-Max you might first think that at the battery was located in the boot. Nope, they just put it as far back as they can and make it as awkward as possible to get at. Since I was only equipped with some basic spanners, I opted to jump it using the VRS and head home to get wrenching.

On this unfortunate occasion, YouTube was of very little help but I managed to find this little gem hiding away on a Ford owners club form website. 

Battery Replacement Guide

Note that there may be some minor differences between the images below and your C-Max. The front of our battery case was a little different and so were the intake pipes. I suspect that this wasn’t the same engine as ours but the procedure was the same.

TOOLS REQUIRED:

  • Phillips cross-head & flat head screwdriver
  • 10mm (preferably a deep reach socket), 8mm and 7mm sockets
  • ¼” Drive ratchet handle with a 2-4” extension.

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BATTERY REMOVAL PROCEDURE:

Remove the Engine Cover (1). Remove the Battery Cover (2).  Unclip the Radiator Cover (3) rear clips (dashed boxes), and loosen the stud fasteners (circled).

Lift the back edge of the Radiator Cover (3) up so that it is free to move above the air intake pipe that goes from under it to the Air Filter Box (4) – We’ll need this to be free later on to give us some “wiggle room”.

Remove the Air Filter Box cover (4) by loosening the four 7mm bolts until they are free to turn by hand. The bolts do not need to be removed completely as they should stay attached to the Air Filter Box cover when removed. Now lift the cover upwards to remove it.

To remove the Air Filter (5), lift the right end (marked *) upwards (looking rearwards). This will release it from the Air Intake Pipe (6). If your filter looks a bit brown like this one (and is full of dust and fluff), I’d advise on replacing it soon.

Now undo the two 7mm bolts (circled) attaching the Air Intake Pipe (6) to the Air Filter Housing, so they are free to turn by hand (as per step 3. No need to remove them fully). Pull the Air Intake Pipe to the left (looking rearwards) to release it from the Air Filter Housing.

Lift the Air Intake Pipe (6) upwards slightly, and underneath it you’ll see an arm (7) coming off of the Air Filter Housing (9). Pop the arm off of the metal bracket below it by pulling it upwards. Do the same for the other pop mount (dashed circle near the “(9)”). This will make it easier to release the big rubber band (8), which is shown released in the picture. NOTE. Our C-Max had a flexible pipe going to the intake pipe – we recommend that you remove this fully using the flat blade screwdriver to losen the hose clamps.

Now for the fiddly bit! Pull the forward Air Intake Duct upwards (the one that goes under the radiator cover), so that it disconnects from the Air Filter Housing (9) … then wiggle, twist and lift the Air Filter Housing (9) so it comes out. You may need an extra pair of hands to hold the Air Intake Pipe (6), as well as the forward Air Intake Duct out of the way.

Nearly there! Pop all of the wires out of the clips on the Battery Front Cover (10).

Disconnect the Battery Positive Terminal Connector by loosening the 10mm nut (circled) until you can easily lift the Connector free of the Battery Terminal. Pull the Battery Terminal Connector towards you so that it does not touch the Battery Terminal when you release it.

Wiggle and lift the Battery Front Cover (10) out of the way – it should come out easily.

Loosen / remove the two 10mm nuts (11) that hold the Battery Retaining Bar against the Battery. Remove or reposition the Bar so the Battery is free to slide forwards.

Push the wires at the front of the Battery downwards / to the side and slide the Battery towards you until you can reach the Negative Terminal Connector. Remove the Negative Terminal connector in the same way as you removed the Positive

Terminal Connecter (loosen the 10mm nut).

Slide and lift the Battery out, lift it over your head and scream like a warrior in battle. You have won.

Slide in the new battery making sure that the negative terminals go in first. Reverse the steps and trust me. It’s a lot easier to put back in!

Why oh why?

I’m pretty handy with the spanners and this was not a pleasant job at all. Due to some of the tools you require, the job might be out of reach for many owners who don’t have the right sockets or confidence to start engine components pulling apart. I really don’t understand why Ford made it so difficult to replace, is it just to keep their technicians in a job. Hopefully, this guide will help you have the confidence you need to swap out the battery without too much bother and save you a few quid in the process. I’m just glad that the battery replacement of our Mk3 VRS is much easier!

Do you want a video?

Do you want a video of the process? I’d be happy to put one together – it certainly would have helped me a little. Let us know in the comments below.

Credits & Downloads

ford-cmax-Battery_Replacement-mk2-2003-2010 & thanks to ww.soulgfx.com to writing the guide.