How to Change a Battery
The battery in a car is the life blood of the starting circuit. Without it, the car sits, unable to propel you down the road on your way to your destination.
When the battery finally requires replacement, most drivers can change it on their own. A few tools and a little instruction on safety and how-to will have the new battery bringing your car to life again.
The safety precautions. There are only two basic things to remember. A battery is lead-based which makes it heavy for its size. If you cannot lift it over the fender and control it, do not try this task yourself.
The second thing to remember is you are holding stored electricity. Care must be taken when working with metal tools around the terminals (the posts that stick up on top post batteries). Side post batteries also pose similar risks, particularly after the cables are in place.
Do not store tools on top of the battery while working, especially if the posts are on top. It is very easy to accidentally knock them against the posts setting off a spark shower and getting many hearts pumping much quicker.
Some batteries may have protective sleeves or trays that they rest in while in the car. Transfer these items to the new battery before inserting it into the car.
Exercise caution when placing the battery in place. Verify if the battery hold down clamp is in the back hole for ease of installing once the battery is sitting in the proper location.
If you did not remove the old battery, if the cables are the same color (for some reason) or it is difficult to otherwise determine which cable is positive and which is negative, simply follow both cables to where the other end is bolted. The positive cable will be bolted to the starter or starter solenoid which the negative cable will be bolted to a stud on the car's frame or possibly the engine block.
Once you have determined which is which, mark one for future reference.
Orient the battery (put the positive post closest to the positive cable in the car) and set it into place in the tray.
With the battery in place, connect the clamping device. This device prevents the battery from moving in the car during travel. Bumps and turns that move items inside the car can also move an unsecured battery.
Typically a hold down clamp consists of two threaded bars that look like a long letter "j".
The tip of the bar hooks in holes front and back of the battery and a cross member slides over the top of the bars. Then a nut is threaded onto each bar to tighten the cross member tightly to the battery, securing it.
Once this is finished, the cables can be attached. NOTE: it is possible to hook the cables first, but they may interfere with installing the clamp components.
Cars sold in the United States have a negative ground system. Negative grounded systems use black color coding to indicate the negative wire and red indicates a positive wire.
Some German cars may use brown for negative/ground. Refer to the manual for your particular car if you have anything different from what has been described here.
Verify the correct cable (positive or negative) is being connected to the correct battery terminal. Devastating results will happen if these cables are incorrectly connected.
Most top post batteries require the use of a small wrench to tight the terminal clamp to the post. KEEP the metallic wrench away from the sheet metal of the car when tightening. It is possible to complete a circuit by wrench touching the post and metal on the car at the same time causing sparks and possibly cosmetic damage to the surface touched.
If there were protective sleeves over the clamps when you began, slide them back down the cable to cover the cable and battery post.
That is it in a nutshell on how to replace a vehicle battery.
