#3944205 - 04/25/14 01:27 AM
when did it get hard to change a car battery??????
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 18,549
piper
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 18,549
Raleigh,NC
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Battery in my wife's GMC Acadia died the other day. She calls me at work, I said no problem I'll change it after work.
DAY 1: Get home that night. Pop the hood. Where's the battery? It's embarrassing, but I had to google where to find it... BTW, the battery is behind the passenger's seat under the floor. OK, I remove the carpet and there's the compartment. The battery compartment has a door on it that locked with a TOR bolt (found that out from a utube video) and one I don't have. A trip to the auto store. Got that off, but hey the passenger seat is over it and needs moved forward. Can't. The seat adjustment is electric... Jump start the car: move the seat forward. There it is...the battery. But hey. it connected to all kids of #%&*$#. Current/voltage sensors/regulators (that evidently didn't work in the first place).
DAY 2: Call the local auto parts store from work to see if they have a replacement. They do. Picked it up on way home from work. Put the battery in the battery compartment. It's all metric, but I actually have the tools. Feeling good. Last thing to do is to hook up the vent hose. Nope. The replacement battery has the vent about 1/2 further than the original.....
DAY 3: Stop at the auto store after work once again. Need a 2 in piece. They sell it by the foot. I don't give a #%&*$# at this point. Go home. Cut the tube to length. All in place. Start the car. Nothing............. I jump start the car again and it comes to life. Remove jumper cables and shut it down. Turn the key and the damn thing starts. WTF.
I'm finally done changing a car battery which took all of 15 minutes when the battery died in my truck last year.
Not sure what the moral of this story is, but it shouldn't take 3 flippin days to swap a battery.
ps everyone needs to buy a truck. An old truck. Especially my wife.
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#3944208 - 04/25/14 01:35 AM
Re: when did it get hard to change a car battery??????
[Re: piper]
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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 15,786
Haggart
I Fought Diablo
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I Fought Diablo
Veteran
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 15,786
The Lone Star State
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It got harder for me to change a car battery when i got older and my back wasn't what it used to be. Plus changing a car battery when it's 95 F outside with 100% humidity is not the type of exercise i need.
And if i have a flat tire ...i call my auto insurance company cause that's one of the things i pay them for
"everything lives by a law, a central balance sustains all"
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#3944216 - 04/25/14 01:57 AM
Re: when did it get hard to change a car battery??????
[Re: piper]
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 3,270
sinner6
Senior Member
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Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 3,270
Fort Worth,TX
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I feel your pain, Piper. I don't know the answer to your question, but I can relay the motorcycle equivalent. Recently, I had to change the battery on my 2008 Kawasaki Concours 14. Feeling confident, (as this is the seventh bike I've owned) I popped off the seat to get to the battery and was greeted to the sight of 5 computers connected with Cat 6 type cabling. No battery. Like you, I finally gave up and looked up where the battery is.
To change the battery, one must: remove a section of fairing, then a metal plate, then a rubber belt, then slide out a plastic tray, remove the cover and unbolt the terminals to get it out. You need tho kinds of wrench and a Phillips head screwdriver to complete this task. To Kawis credit, all the needed tools are in the kit, which is under the seat.
Last week, I changed the battery on my other bike, a 2010 Z1000. This time, I had to remove the back seat, unbolt and remove the front seat (where the battery nestled in it's proper place), remove the terminals...and then realize I couldn't can't for the life of me lift the dang thing from it's compartment...no amount of wiggling, angling, pushing or pulling will allow it through the opening. Finally I had to unbolt the crossbar that links laterally connects to the sub-frame beneath the seat. Two different wrenches, one screwdriver.
I kind of get this on motorcycles where there are often compromises made in the name of balance or weight savings, and space is at a premium. Why, in the name of all that is Holy, anyone would design such a thing as what you experienced...is beyond me.
Last edited by sinner6; 04/25/14 02:00 AM.
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#3944217 - 04/25/14 02:01 AM
Re: when did it get hard to change a car battery??????
[Re: piper]
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Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 2,604
ColJamesD
Senior Member
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Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 2,604
USA
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My neighbor asked me for a battery jump a couple of months ago.
We couldn't even get to the battery posts to put the jumper cable on them.
They were below the plastic coolant reserve tank and facing toward the front seat of the car and on the side, not even top posts.
You had to physically unbolt 3 bolts and remove the coolant reserve tank.
What's in the box? C'mon, what's in the boooox?
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#3944220 - 04/25/14 02:06 AM
Re: when did it get hard to change a car battery??????
[Re: piper]
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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 15,786
Haggart
I Fought Diablo
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I Fought Diablo
Veteran
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 15,786
The Lone Star State
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i wouldn't buy a car unless i can see the damn battery and hook up jumper cables to it with reasonable ease
"everything lives by a law, a central balance sustains all"
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#3944221 - 04/25/14 02:07 AM
Re: when did it get hard to change a car battery??????
[Re: piper]
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 11,242
Coot
Pilgrim
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Pilgrim
Veteran
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 11,242
These United States of America
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Yeah some have gotten to be a pain in the butt. I work for Sams Club as a tire and battery tech. There are some vehicles that come in and it makes you think the battery placement was the last thing they designed or forgot about in the process and so just crammed it here or there. So many electronics too to worry about and contend with. I forget what kind of car it was(and it was the first time my team leader who's been doing that for 8 years and is also a car guy and licensed mechanic from and early age)but one of the other techs had a heck of a time. Apparently it was the first battery install for this vehicle since factory purchase and the carpet had to actually be cut. Then there's no room to work so on and so forth. Technically we can decline a specialty type install, but from time to time I'll still install a battery in a Dodge Intrepid or Chrysler Sebring that requires a tire to come off first before you can access the battery. One of our tech's the other day did an install on a fancy sports car that required a panel to come off first. That's where we normally draw the line but he chose to do it. That and diesel VW bugs that require the fender to come off we won't touch. They need to go to the dealer. There's also Cadillac's with something called "i-drive" that we are not allowed to service batteries on. Apparently its an easy $5000 mistake screwing up the computer so they have to go to their dealer as well who has the right equiptment. Makes me appreciate my F-150 and Silverado.
John 10:1-30 Romans 10:1-13
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#3944227 - 04/25/14 02:16 AM
Re: when did it get hard to change a car battery??????
[Re: ColJamesD]
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 11,242
Coot
Pilgrim
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Pilgrim
Veteran
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 11,242
These United States of America
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My neighbor asked me for a battery jump a couple of months ago.
We couldn't even get to the battery posts to put the jumper cable on them.
They were below the plastic coolant reserve tank and facing toward the front seat of the car and on the side, not even top posts.
You had to physically unbolt 3 bolts and remove the coolant reserve tank. That reminds me a couple of weeks ago one of our guys had an issue with a ladies battery install. She came in some days later saying her wiper fluid didn't work anymore. She had talked with my team lead and he said he's seen that before and that'd we'd look at it and fix it regardless. She came in one morning and I looked at it and it was the first time I'd seen this one and no wonder the guy who first worked on it was so grumpy(he's always grumpy though. He's a twenty year Army vet who sounds like a sailor when doing batteries). It was a side post battery but the batteries terminals were actually designed to pass through the wiper fluid plastic tank which was also bolted down with two or three bolts on top of the battery. I think her car was an older Buick. I think the Chevy Venture is the one too that has all sorts of power cables and a fuse box bolted over tope the battery along with a round steel bar that's also bolted over top of it with three bolts. Some pretty nutty designs out there.
John 10:1-30 Romans 10:1-13
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#3944248 - 04/25/14 03:10 AM
Re: when did it get hard to change a car battery??????
[Re: piper]
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 2,450
vocatx
Member
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Member
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 2,450
Voca, Texas
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People may make fun of me, but as long as I can get parts for my old Ford pick-ups ('73-'79) I'm not driving anything else. I inherited a '98 F-150 when my mother passed away. It's got a miss. Can't find it without a computer to scan the system. Three different mechanics quoted me a minimum of $1000 to fix it. I'm going to fix it and sell it. I can work on anything on my older ones.
4H_V-man
System Specs: MSI 870 A-G54 AMD X4 Phenom II @ 3.4 ghz 8 Gb DDR3 1333 RAM 1 Tb Western Digital 250 Gb Western Digital 320 Gb Seagate Radeon HD 6970 graphics Thermaltake 650 Modualar power supply Thermaltake Element V full tower
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#3944255 - 04/25/14 03:26 AM
Re: when did it get hard to change a car battery??????
[Re: piper]
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Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 2,604
ColJamesD
Senior Member
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Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 2,604
USA
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My battery died on my Lexus about 2 years ago.
I called AAA.
They came out and changed the battery and both terminal post wires right there in the parking lot of the grocery store.
No problem.
What's in the box? C'mon, what's in the boooox?
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#3944261 - 04/25/14 03:32 AM
Re: when did it get hard to change a car battery??????
[Re: piper]
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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 15,786
Haggart
I Fought Diablo
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I Fought Diablo
Veteran
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 15,786
The Lone Star State
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used to have AAA but found it cheaper to have roadside assist through my insurance
"everything lives by a law, a central balance sustains all"
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#3944274 - 04/25/14 04:05 AM
Re: when did it get hard to change a car battery??????
[Re: Haggart]
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Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 2,604
ColJamesD
Senior Member
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Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 2,604
USA
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used to have AAA but found it cheaper to have roadside assist through my insurance The only charged me $140.
What's in the box? C'mon, what's in the boooox?
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#3944287 - 04/25/14 05:30 AM
Re: when did it get hard to change a car battery??????
[Re: Haggart]
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Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 2,604
ColJamesD
Senior Member
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Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 2,604
USA
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ColJamesD...."The only charged me $140" That is reasonable considering they did it in the parking lot (while I went inside the grocery store to get out of the 100+ degrees heat) and I didn't have to leave the car at a shop and be without a car for a few hours or a whole day. They did the repair in less than 1 hour. 2 years later the car still starts right up every time and since that day, we've have had 105+ Summer and two 10 degrees hard freezes.
What's in the box? C'mon, what's in the boooox?
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#3944297 - 04/25/14 05:59 AM
Re: when did it get hard to change a car battery??????
[Re: Murphy]
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Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 2,604
ColJamesD
Senior Member
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Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 2,604
USA
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If you got a 'good' battery, I agree, it was worth $140.00, to come out, and install it for you. And the cables.....yeah, you got your moneys worth. 700 cranking amp power.
What's in the box? C'mon, what's in the boooox?
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