Difficulty Changing Battery.

I know I’m going to get riled but I’ve owned Gen 2 for 14yrs and always had batt changed “free” with purchase

can save about $20 if I buy at Wal Mart and do myself. Is this just a simple few bolts or is their anything nefarious awaiting

 

Its easy, two terminal bolts and two hold down nuts with one bracket.

 

Have you never opened the hood of the truck?

The job takes ten minutes from the time you pop the hood until you shut the hood, requires basic hand tools and is super simple. Two nuts on the hold down bracket and two nuts on the terminals.

 

Yea. It looks easy but I had an 02 F150 that looked easy. It ended up taking me an hr because of a bracket snapping

 

I had to change the battery on my parent’s Plymouth Breeze once, what a pain. Have to remove the wheel, wheel well liner and a bunch of shit to get to it.

 

You can watch a you tube video and certify yourself in 2.5 minutes.

But if you have a 2002 Jetta with a bad battery, just launch the car off a cliff. Fuck those things.

 

It's pretty straight forward. No surprises.

 

omg you need help with this too?

 

Easy. Pull the positive cable off first, set aside. Then the tie down bracket, then negative last. Pull the old battery out, put new battery in. Connect.

Don't use a wrench that's long enough to touch both terminals simultaneously.

That's pretty much all I have to say about that.

 

https://youtu.be/9OPIbB_X7Rc

 

Generally, it's better to remove negative cable first that way the all grounds (other than battery post) are removed and the chances of causing a short while removing the positive cable are diminished. If you remove positive first and your wrench touches a bracket or body or any grounded metal...you will cause a serious short circuit, sparks and "rookie marks" on your wrench.

https://mechanicbase.com/electric/which-battery-cable-to-remove-first/

 

Ive always removed negative first and do reverse on the install. Im in landscape maint and do lots of batts on z's.

One thing Ive learned is that sometimes even the simplest job can have a surprise that turns it into a nightmare.

Case in point. The primer bulbs on some of my 2 stroke units. Some are 3 min jobs and some you got to take apart the whole freaking guts and its a good hr. Or a hydro oil/filter change. Some are 15 min, some can be a 1/2 day affair.

You never know what lurks until you do it or ask.

 

Chill. We all learned how at some point.

Put a rag over the positive, disconnect the negative then the positive, remove the J bolt nuts, out with the old, in with the new. Get the J bolts and bracket on finger tight. Use a battery brush on the terminals and posts, positive on, cover with a rag again, negative on. I like corrosion prevention felt pads to go on under the terminals. Tighten J bolt nuts.

If the terminals were covered with acid. After taking the old battery out, put a little coke cola in a small cup, set the cup or cups where the battery goes, dunk the terminals, leave it. Come back later they'll be sparkling clean. You might have to scrape and resoak. I haven't seen anything work better to clean than coke.

$6 NOCO NCP2 MC303 Oil-Based Battery Terminal Protectors, Anti-Corrosion Washers, and Battery Corrosion Pads (Pack of 2)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DKUTR0?ie=UTF8

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3-rHI59g4I

 

The worst part is sitting the battery down in the truck. My battery had no carry strap. So it was all “finger tips”.
Finger cramps
​

 

This is the 3rd one I've tried, and the best of them. The other 2 would occasionally drop it if bumped just right. I haven't dropped one with the new one.

$17 Lisle 57850 Battery Carrier

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002SRD0U?ie=UTF8

My super battery brushes. I use my old Milwaukee impact driver set for drill. The Dewalt doesn't have drill feature and messes them up.

$3 EZ Red EZR-BK534QD 0.75 in. Power Drill Wire Brush

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FJN51J9?ie=UTF8

$14 E-Z Red (505BTSSHQD) Battery Brush

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I3GNM62?ie=UTF8

 

Put a little oil on that hold down stud first. I did my last one in the parking lot at Autozone. The one before that, I did in the parking lot at Wal Mart. I know.... yes, I was that guy but came out from WM and the truck wouldn't even crank over.

 

The rear J-hook is riveted to the battery tie-down bar, so you have only the front J-hook to loosen. A 10mm deep socket takes care of it. This does mean the replacement battery needs to be the same height. Group 35, group 24F, and group 27F should all work.

After you replace the battery, the engine will die on the first start. Known ECU logic.