i have taken the two 12v batteries off my ford cargo 0813 j reg lorry and i am not sure how they reconnect. do i connect the positive lead from the lorry to both plus terminals on both batteries and the negative lead to tge two minus terminals? there are two leads to bridge each end. i took the batteries off before checking out how they went on. also if this is correct which should i do first? hopefully someone will be able to clarify for me.

sarah, June 2010

mine is defo 12v ( checked bulbs and relays all 12v ), with two 12v batteries , but as above not sure about connecting . at the moment ( as bought ) bat 1 has red and black main cables running off but only connected to bat2 by neg to neg link , trucks starts fine ( when not cold ) but is dosnt look right . how should it be ????

jason, January 2016

o813 is 12volts system
if it is th original batteries then the red lead goes to positive and the other one to negative

q, June 2010

Firstly is it a 24 V system or 12V? If it's 24V then the two 12V batteries have to be connected in series to give 24 V. Connecting in parallel will give 12 V.
That means positive lead on truck goes on positive of battery No.1. The short link/lead goes from negative terminal of Battery No.1 to the Positive terminal of battery No.2. Negative lead from truck chassis side-member goes onto negative terminal of battery No.2.
The positive and negative terminals are different sizes and the clamps on the leads to go on them are also differnet, so it should not be possible to mix up + and -.

JD, June 2010