dealership told my wife that you cant DIY a battery change.

wow. she took it in to buy more oil filters.

my battery is getting old. they offered her a free load test, and told her it is getting close.

they also told her if the battery gets replaced they need to reprogram the computer to get the truck to idle. what? i have disconnected my battery before to clean the terminals.

 

What they're talking about is when you have a lot of miles you get build up in the TB and if you disconnect the battery when you hook it back up it will go back to factory settings. That will make the truck idle very low and rough if your TB is really dirty. My suggestion is to just take the 2-3 bolts it takes to get the top intake off out and whip the TB out with a rag then put your new battery in. No computer reprograming, thats BS. If you don't clean the TB your truck will eventually relearn everything and idle right though.

 

The ECU adjusts the IAC valve and the TB over time to make the truck idle smooth even when the TB is dirty and disconnecting the battery erases that memory so it has to relearn. All they are going to do is whip the TB out and put the new battery in and it'll idle like new.

 

Which means a battery replace is a PERFECT time to clean the TB and the MAF sensor. Let the whole system relearn everything...

 

X2, it's like a built-in maintenance reminder!

 

Meh.

I changed mine out, hooked the cables back up and the truck idled like silk just like always. 50K on mine when I did the battery.

We have had a few chrysler vehicles over the last decade or so. Every single one of them had to be driven with one foot on the gas and one on brake for the first few miles after the battery had been disconnected. A hassle to be sure, but not a dealer operation.

I am sure cleaning the TB would be a good idea.

 

I'd take it to the same dealer myself and see if they give me the same bullshit as my wife. Some people say crap like that to women because they are less likely to know about car related issues. It would be interesting to hear what they tell you.

 

Yeah, the Audi dealership did the same to my wife. Showed her the date sticker on her car battery and told her that it was an expired battery that it needed to be replaced and it would cost $250.00. Thank god I learned her right and she laughed at them.

 

Your dealership sucks...

That's crap, I disconnect my battery all the time to wire accessories up. If I took it to them every time I had to do some wiring I'd be broke. Tell them to stop misinforming customers!

 

Thanks for the info - just replaced the battery in mine last night and had noticed the low/rough idle this morning on the way to work. Looks like it's time to clean the TB.

Mike

 

Hey guys this is great information, but what does TB stand for? I want to make sure I clean it when I do my battery changes for now on.

 

TB=throttle body

 

throttle body

 

so true! I bought new tires that were not balanced properly & the tire guy told me truck tires are heavy and shaky steering wheel was normal

 

stands for Throttle Body. You can clean it with a rag and even spray a little carberator cleaner in the TB or on the rag and clean it that way. If you spray it into the TB your vehicle might start rough at first but just give it some throttle and you'll have a little smoke come out the exhaust from the carb cleaner burning.

 

Thanks for the acronym lesson!

 

Wow... some people are scum bags to try and pull that kind of crap.

 

That's dealerships. My buddy has a matrix, dealer send him a postcard notifying him that his Toyotacare is expiring, but they would do his last service for him for free (he didn't buy it at this particular dealership). Awesome right? Well he goes in and they end up trying to sell him on all kinds of crap like a "battery service", TB cleaning, fuel injection cleaning, and even NEW TIRES. He's not the most car oriented guy, so luckily he called me up and I told him to deny all of them.

Dirty. But, its a business, and they make most of their profits from services. If people are willing to pay, why not sell?

 

After having a bad experience with my local dealership, and reading all the time on here about dealerships...

What the hell are wrong with these places???? That is crazy businesses act like this!

 

I unbolted and cleaned the TB and MAF last weekend without disconnecting the battery and it idled way high, so i disconnected the battery, reset the ECU and the truck runs like a dream. BS on the dealer, jackasses trying to screw your wife.