Replacing a car battery is not quite the same as the old days!

[Don2222]

Hello
Replacing a car battery is not quite the same as the old days!
In our case our 2013 Toyota Venza would not start on the prior very cold days we just had!
In the old days we just went to Sears and got a good 5 year DiHard auto battery.
So first we did the research.
Since the newer vehicles have plenty of electronics and more electrical with computers and electrical brakes the new batteries made for them are called AGM = Absorbent Glass Matt which is better than the sloshing led acid batteries.
So many battery manufacturers have an AGM battery we still had to call a few stores check prices and if they have one for our Venza in this case.
We found that Advance Auto parts now sells DiHard and their platinum AGM version is one of the best for the money. Also our local outlet has one in stock for $204.95 plus the $22.95 core charge.
So we zipped out the old battery which was a 3 year triple A battery dated 11/2018. I guess it really at the end of it’s 3 year life.
The store man said from his experience the AGM is better and can last up to 5 years. If so then paying another $100 for a 5 year battery may not be worth it?
We also got the install packet with the protector spray, cleaner spray, felt anti corrosion rings and hand wipes for cleanup for $12.99. Prior to doing this I picked up a very convenient 10 MM ratchet at Tractor Supply for only $10.99 to make the job that much easier!
Well once we figured out how to pull out the plastic anchors that hold the plastic shroud over the front battery hold down clamp the rest was a piece of cake.

The old familiar hold down nut and post was quite rusty so the drill driver and wire wheel cleaned that up quick!
Then after removing the 10 MM hold down nut and just loosening the nut under the plastic shroud we could swing the bracket away, ratchet loose the battery terminals and zip out the battery and clean the plastic battery pan with paper towel and some 409 spray cleaner.
Just reversing the steps, adding the new corrosion rings and bing the new battery was in. Then we had to set the car clock back up and all the radio station buttons! I miss those old mechanical buttons you just pull out and push in to set! They do not screw up when you change batteries!
In summary the new battery has 710 cold cranking amps and the old battery had only 650 cold cranking amps.
Is this a good battery for the money? What kind of battery do you have or like?
Pic 1-2 old AAA battery only 650 cold cranking amps
Pic 3 - cleaner spray, protector spray, wire cleaner.
Pic 4-5 New Advance Auto parts DiHard 710 cold cranking amps.
Pic 6 - 10 MM battery ratchet
Pic 7 - battery wrench
Pic 8 - Auto battery cleaning kit

 

[Highbeam]

Sounds pretty much the same as the old days. I thought you were going to tell us the dealership had to reprogram your cpu to accommodate the new battery.

 

[enordy]

I had a 2016 Escape - I wish it was that easy. Had to take off the brake fluid reservoir, the wiper arms and the shroud because the battery is almost up against the firewall. No other way to finagle it out and in. Not sure about the engineering behind that decision.

 

[PaulOinMA]

Have to also reset the BMS (battery management system) on my '14 Escape. Easy to do with FORSCAN.

 

[Don2222]

I had a 2016 Escape - I wish it was that easy. Had to take off the brake fluid reservoir, the wiper arms and the shroud because the battery is almost up against the firewall. No other way to finagle it out and in. Not sure about the engineering behind that decision.

Wow, maybe they designed the car first and then had to find a spot for the battery!!?

 

[PaulOinMA]

I just let Ford replace the battery after pricing it at Autozone. Very reasonable. I reset the BMS when I got home in case it wasn't done.

 

[tlc1976]

My ex had a Concorde and you had to remove the right front wheel to change the battery.

 

[rwhite]

Took me 1/2 hour to find the battery in a new Jeep Cherokee. It's under the passenger seat with jump start posts under the hood. Wandered around the darn thing for awhile before I admitted defeat and got the manual out.

 

[Bad LP]

Hauled a Cooper Mini out of the corner of a garage at work that was parked in 17. I was going to be a nice guy and replace the battery until I saw where the idiots stuffed it under the cowl.
My pickup is easy but there are 2 of them so when they go I expect a near 500 bill.

I also don’t bother with those washers and spray. Terminal wire brush and a thin smear of chassis grease on the posts then put the clamps on. Done.

 

[PaulOinMA]

I just looked up what I paid at the dealer to replace the battery in my '14 Escape. $129.99.

I was already at the dealer for the annual inspection, so it wasn't even an extra trip. It was 2019, and the build date on my Escape is 2013. Asked about the price to replace the battery after checking the cost of a new battery at Autozone and checking the procedure.

The service DVD has the airbox way with removal of the air filter housing. Others, as mentioned above, remove the wipers and the cowl.

Considering the cost of the new battery at Autozone, $160 - $210, and the time involved to replace, $129.99 at the dealer was good to me.

 

[festerw]

Took me 1/2 hour to find the battery in a new Jeep Cherokee. It's under the passenger seat with jump start posts under the hood. Wandered around the darn thing for awhile before I admitted defeat and got the manual out.

I just replaced the battery in my 2011 Durango. Same place and it's actually pretty easy to get out of there. Original battery almost celebrated its 11th birthday. Price wasn't too bad, about $180 at Napa.

Crazy thing was it still started the car just fine, earlier in the week it threw a bunch of codes when I tried to remote start it. Some misfire codes and some immobilizer codes, stuck a meter on the battery and it was reading 11.2v 30 minutes after shut down. On crank it dropped to 7v. Should've vacuumed but it was 15 degrees in the driveway.

 

[zrock]

out of all places to buy batteries i found walmart to have the best... Every battery i have purchased out of their has easily lasted 10 plus years where the battery's from napa and other places i was always lucky to get a few years out of them.

 

[enordy]

I just looked up what I paid at the dealer to replace the battery in my '14 Escape. $129.99.

I was already at the dealer for the annual inspection, so it wasn't even an extra trip. It was 2019, and the build date on my Escape is 2013. Asked about the price to replace the battery after checking the cost of a new battery at Autozone and checking the procedure.

The service DVD has the airbox way with removal of the air filter housing. Others, as mentioned above, remove the wipers and the cowl.

Considering the cost of the new battery at Aurtozone, $160 - $210, and the time involved to replace, $129.99 at the dealer was good to me.

It's almost like they want to encourage "learned helplessness" in people by making the "value-added proposition" too hard to refuse. I suspect most people here are skilled, common-sense people, but what's the carrot for the younger generation to become a little more self-sufficient? Sigh....

 

[ABMax24]

If I can get 6 years out of a battery I consider myself lucky. I have started buying replacements at Costco, I can replace both batteries on my diesel for under $350, and the warranty is awesome if they don't make it past 2 years, bring them back and get new ones free.

 

[kborndale]

All car batteries are made from 3 manufacturer's that sell them to the many other companies that put their brand on it so the Walmart battery you buy may be the exact same battery as a diehard or a napa.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

It's almost like they want to encourage "learned helplessness" in people by making the "value-added proposition" too hard to refuse. I suspect most people here are skilled, common-sense people, but what's the carrot for the younger generation to become a little more self-sufficient? Sigh....

Oh, that's simple. (And I've had this conversation with my employees) when you start out, you're pretty poor. No real work place experience leaves you at the bottom of the organization. But slowly you learn skills and your wages increase. To off set this, young kids have diapers, stupid expensive day care, etc. The beater car you drive finally dies and you have to get another, somehow you find a mortgage... its rough. Then, late 30s to early 40s, you somehow rise high enough to get on top of everything. You find you have furniture that you're happy enough with. Your vehicle is reliable. Since the kids are in school, daycare isn't as bad. You start thinking about saving for retiremment.

It's a right of passage that allows you to learn to prioritize what's important.

The lack of disposable income will keep the young learning how to change batteries, air filters, etc. Before I got my first car I knew nothing of auto maintenance. My first set of mismatched wrenches came from the pawn shop at $1 each. Before I bought my house, I pretty much knew nothing about houses. I had plenty of mechanical ability, but it wasn't realized.

The more things change, the more things stay the same.

Matt (45) whose wife threatens him daily that spending money will screw up her plan to retire in 10 years.

 

[bholler]

Oh, that's simple. (And I've had this conversation with my employees) when you start out, you're pretty poor. No real work place experience leaves you at the bottom of the organization. But slowly you learn skills and your wages increase. To off set this, young kids have diapers, stupid expensive day care, etc. The beater car you drive finally dies and you have to get another, somehow you find a mortgage... its rough. Then, late 30s to early 40s, you somehow rise high enough to get on top of everything. You find you have furniture that you're happy enough with. Your vehicle is reliable. Since the kids are in school, daycare isn't as bad. You start thinking about saving for retiremment.

It's a right of passage that allows you to learn to prioritize what's important.

The lack of disposable income will keep the young learning how to change batteries, air filters, etc. Before I got my first car I knew nothing of auto maintenance. My first set of mismatched wrenches came from the pawn shop at $1 each. Before I bought my house, I pretty much knew nothing about houses. I had plenty of mechanical ability, but it wasn't realized.

The more things change, the more things stay the same.

Matt (45) whose wife threatens him daily that spending money will screw up her plan to retire in 10 years.

Every generation says the same thing about the younger ones. And amazingly every generation ends up the same. Some lazy ones. Some hard workers that work well with their hands . Some hard workers who work better in an office etc etc.

I didn't know how to rebuild a motor until I did one. Or build a piece of furniture. Or install a chimney liner etc. Lots of people just need to be given the opportunity and they can do it

 

[bholler]

And yes we have a 2014 escape and the battery placement is absurd. I never had to reset anything after changing it though

 

[PaulOinMA]

Supposed to reset the BMS. Check at fordescape.org.

Batteries are very heavy for size. Moving more to center helps handling to try to get closer to 50:50 weight per axle. Sports cars move them more to center of vehicle.

Some vehicles move them to rear for space saving up front and weight distribution. It was in the rear in my '66 Austin Mini Cooper 970S. It's in thr rear in my wife's 2004 Audi TTq roadster.

At least it's really easy to get to there.

 

[bholler]

Supposed to reset the BMS. Check at fordescape.org.

Batteries are very heavy for size. Moving more to center helps handling to try to get closer to 50:50 weight per axle. Sports cars move them more to center of vehicle.

Some vehicles move them to rear for space saving up front and weight distribution. It was in the rear in my '66 Austin Mini Cooper 970S. It's in thr rear in my wife's 2004 Audi TTq roadster.

At least it's really easy to get to there.

Our Miata has the battery in the rear as well. It's very easy

 

[bholler]

As far as working on modern cars in some ways I find it easier. Yes you need a computer with the right software to diagnose it. And some companies make that really difficult. But if you have access all the diagnostics are done for you. Untill you start having electrical gremlins then it's a nightmare

 

[peakbagger]

Back in the good old days Toyotas came with basic tool kits stashed with the jack. It was just a couple of wrenches, screwdrivers, jack handle and that was about it. The owners manual for my LJ 70 has a lot of maintenance procedures that could be done with the basic tools. My new Rav 4 Prime has no tools except a screw in tow hook a jack handle and a jack. The manual has instructions to remove about half the bulbs, the rest of them are "See Dealer". They do not publish a service manual or a CD, the only way to get to Service Info is a $400 a year subscription to website or 48 hours of access for $20.

BTW, the 12 volt battery that runs the usual electrics in rear fender well. Its not much bigger than

Yes, it gets incredible mileage and does all sorts of stuff but 10 years down the road my guess is the electronics will be the death of it. Lot to be said for a Unimog, EMP resistant and no digital electronics (just miles of copper)

 

[PaulOinMA]

Bummer that you can't get a service CD. Helm has great ones for our 2012 and 2014 Ford Escapes.

Helm Inc-Your Source for Factory Authorized Service Information

Helm Incorporated's online bookstore provides factory authorized automotive & motorcycle technical publications: Ford, General Motors (GM), Honda Motors, Honda Motorcycle, Suzuki, KIA, Isuzu, Hyundai

www.helminc.com

I always used to buy paper service manuals for VWs from Bentley Publishing. They have lots stuff for many manufacturers

Bentley Publishers Home - Bentley Publishers - Repair Manuals and Automotive Books

Still have the service manual for my VW Jetta SportWagen TDI. Need to sell it.

VW - Volkswagen Repair Manual: Jetta: 2005-2010 - Bentley Publishers - Repair Manuals and Automotive Books

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Last year, maybe year before I got rid of my Chiltons and Haynes books. I can find most of it on youtube now.