Almost like Shania Twain...

[pfrsantos]

Recently, my car battery died. Bought a new one and replaced it. First time I had to do this. Learn some stuff about car batteries because of this.
 

When it was done, I turned the key and the motor started purring.
 

Man, it feels great when you accomplish something you thought was difficult for the first time!
 



 

I know, I know... All of you hardcore mechanical guys are all thinking differently:

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[Grant Lamontagne]

You can feel however you feel, just please don't video yourself dancing around in your underwear like she does- I don't think it will work as well for you!

Seriously, changing a battery can be a bit of a challenge- batteries often last up to a decade,  which means they can be fairly well set in there and not easy to remove due to years of dirty,  grime and corrosion.   Plus they aren't the lightest component on a car,  and some manufacturers like to put them in very hard to reach places.

Good on you for tackling it yourself!

Def

[Corwyn]

Tried to do this myself in March... had to ask the person in the car repair shop... even worse it was a lady that could have been my mother 

In my defense the thing was rather rusted and locked by 3 different locking system, each requiring a special wrench. Also they told me that if I had put the cables the wrong way around (which I almost did) I could have ruined the whole car...

[Grant Lamontagne]

Yeah, reversing the polarity is never a good thing.  In the old days before car computers it was OK because if you installed the battery backwards the car would only go in reverse so it was am easy fix.

 

Def

[pfrsantos]

I noticed some features don't work. The electric windows don't open/close completelly if I release the button. Maybe some other minor (hopefully) features need reseting. Called the dealership, it would cost as much for 1 hour of labour (minimum time they charge) to reboot the electric system as I paid for the batterie.
 

Going to look for some other generic repair shop to do the same, see how much they charge.

[Whoey]

I had to do mine a while back. Firstly I bought my (Ford) car used from an Opel (GM) dealership. Since it had been sitting for a while, they swapped with one of their GM batteries, which was fine for the most part but has been causing grief on and off as it is taller and less wide than the battery box. My first problem was that due to the battery moving around it loosened one of the connections, so I stuffed a super bouncy ball in the gap to keep it from moving around. That sort of cured the issue until the day when there just wasn't enough juice to start the car. So off I went to the local hypermarket and got the correct model battery (thank whoever invented wheeled grocery carts... made getting it home a lot easier.

Now the fun part, the battery on our Ford MK2 Focus is half below the windshield cowling. With the correct sized battery it's not much of an issue as you have some space to get a socket in to loosen the rear connector, but with this taller one I was almost fearing I would have to remove the entire cowling to get it out. Luckily that was not the case and I eventually wedged in and loosened it and got it out somehow. The new one went in like a dream, and it was no issue getting it all in place, in fact the battery box cover actually fit properly this time instead of just being wedged between the taller battery and the cowling. I would say getting that GM one out took 5 times the amount of fiddling than it would have with the correct sized battery.

That was my first car battery changing experience.

[Sea Monster]

I've done eight batteries so far this year....
It's not a competition, my point is they were all fairly straight forward.
Sometimes there's a secret code afterwards to reset alarms and the like (up-up-down-down-left-right-left-right-b-a Start), if the dealers don't feel like sharing it with you (there's a reason for this - they are gits) you can usually find it online.

What the hell is going on with all ya'll car manufacturers that they are putting batteries in dinky spots you need SSTs to get the damn things out?

[Aloha]

Good job.  I replaced 2 this year myself on two different vehicles.   

[Grant Lamontagne]

I noticed some features don't work. The electric windows don't open/close completelly if I release the button. Maybe some other minor (hopefully) features need reseting. Called the dealership, it would cost as much for 1 hour of labour (minimum time they charge) to reboot the electric system as I paid for the batterie.
 

Going to look for some other generic repair shop to do the same, see how much they charge.

What kind of car is it?  Have you looked online to see if the reset procedure is listed online somewhere?  That might be worth looking into as it's usually something simple that you shouldn't have any problem doing yourself- for example, to reset the oil change warning in my Jeep you turn the key to Accessory then pump the gas pedal three times.

Def

[captain spaulding]

Replacing a car battery is very straight forward, but if you have never done it before I could see how you may get discombobulated. I have had so much battery trouble I could change one blindfolded, but again that is because of the circumstances. I recently had my battery start to leak acid and it rusted my negative terminal as well as the negative cable. I realized I would need to replace the negative terminal when I bought a new battery as I wanted to "start fresh" so to speak. The last thing I wanted to do was put a rusted connection on a new battery and have the negative terminal post rust because of it. I called around about getting the negative cable changed and it was MUCH more expensive than anticipated. I did not have the money to do it, but needed a fix that was cheap and would be reliable. I decided to cut my negative cable off  and splice in a new one. I was sweating bullets as if I screwed it up I would have to take it in and have a mechanic do it. Problem is I would have no way to get there as my car would no longer start or run if I screw it up so I would have to pay for the parts, tow, then the new battery and cables, + labor. It was a all or nothing job for me. In a nutshell I did a excellent job and it has not had a single battery problem since. 

I learned a very valuable lesson I should of already known from that job as well. DO NOT use cheap tools on important jobs.

[pfrsantos]

I noticed some features don't work. The electric windows don't open/close completelly if I release the button. Maybe some other minor (hopefully) features need reseting. Called the dealership, it would cost as much for 1 hour of labour (minimum time they charge) to reboot the electric system as I paid for the batterie.
 

Going to look for some other generic repair shop to do the same, see how much they charge.

What kind of car is it?  Have you looked online to see if the reset procedure is listed online somewhere?  That might be worth looking into as it's usually something simple that you shouldn't have any problem doing yourself- for example, to reset the oil change warning in my Jeep you turn the key to Accessory then pump the gas pedal three times.

Def

SEAT Ibiza 1.2 SC (2010)

Not much info in their site. Going to surf the web for awhile, looking for any tips...

[gregozedobe]

The electric windows don't open/close completelly if I release the button.

On my VW and Skoda all you have to do is keep holding the window control button in the up position for ( I think about) 5 seconds after the window is fully up. Then repeat for the fully down position. This resets the sensors and after that the window will go all the way up or down with one press.  I imagine Audis and Seats would be the same.

[pfrsantos]

The electric windows don't open/close completelly if I release the button.

On my VW and Skoda all you have to do is keep holding the window control button in the up position for ( I think about) 5 seconds after the window is fully up. Then repeat for the fully down position. This resets the sensors and after that the window will go all the way up or down with one press. I imagine Audis and Seats would be the same.

Thanks, will try that later on! They all belong to the same "mother" company, probably much of what's inside is the same/very similar.

 

Note: also corrected my post for anyone looking for the same "trick".

[gregozedobe]

Thanks, will try that later on!

See my modified post - you need to do it in the fully open position as well as the fully closed position.  This resets the lmit sensors and then one-touch open and close should work fine.  There may be other stuff that needs resetting, but this is the most common problem people have when disconnecting their car battery.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I noticed some features don't work. The electric windows don't open/close completelly if I release the button. Maybe some other minor (hopefully) features need reseting. Called the dealership, it would cost as much for 1 hour of labour (minimum time they charge) to reboot the electric system as I paid for the batterie.
 

Going to look for some other generic repair shop to do the same, see how much they charge.

What kind of car is it?  Have you looked online to see if the reset procedure is listed online somewhere?  That might be worth looking into as it's usually something simple that you shouldn't have any problem doing yourself- for example, to reset the oil change warning in my Jeep you turn the key to Accessory then pump the gas pedal three times.

Def

SEAT Ibiza 1.2 SC (2010)

Not much info in their site. Going to surf the web for awhile, looking for any tips...

http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=108273

According to someone on the site above:

to reset your ECU, you have to do a little more than just disconnect the battery and plug it in again.

Disconnect the battery and leave disconnected for about 30 mins.

connect the battery back up and go put the key in the ignition.

Open all the doors, boot and bonnet and turn the key to get all the lights on. (This i am told alligns the throttle body)

Close all doors, bonnet and boot and get in the car.

Start the engine and turn everything electrical on, opening the windows full and then back up again. (This teaches the ECU what the maximum amount of electrical output maybe required from it.)

Turn everything off apart from the car and go for a spin

Some folks say that just disconnecting it for 20 minutes or so should do it too, but this guy says there's a bit more to it.

Def

[pfrsantos]

Thanks, will try that later on!

See my modified post - you need to do it in the fully open position as well as the fully closed position.  This resets the lmit sensors and then one-touch open and close should work fine.  There may be other stuff that needs resetting, but this is the most common problem people have when disconnecting their car battery.

Tried it. The auto open/close is working again.

Thanks!
 

Saw that same "disconnect battery, open all doors, face Meca, stand on your head, recite the alphabet backwards" list. Everything seems ok now. I'll wait before doing that.

 

[Grant Lamontagne]

If that doesn't work you can drive it across town in the dark, put it in a ditch, set it on fire and call your insurance company the following morning. ..

Def

[jerseydevil]

Thanks, will try that later on!

See my modified post - you need to do it in the fully open position as well as the fully closed position.  This resets the lmit sensors and then one-touch open and close should work fine.  There may be other stuff that needs resetting, but this is the most common problem people have when disconnecting their car battery.

Tried it. The auto open/close is working again.

Thanks!
 

Saw that same "disconnect battery, open all doors, face Meca, stand on your head, recite the alphabet backwards" list. Everything seems ok now. I'll wait before doing that.

 

Sounds like my '82 Caprice back in the day. I never bothered locking it, if you didn't know the proper prayers in order she wouldn't start.......