Hey peeps I bought a battery today for my tl and thought it would be easy to install, after I overcame my electrocution fear lol, anyone know exactly how to start or maybe a DIY for installing a battery?

Thanks

 

your concern should be the radio code, make sure you have your radio code ready and switch your radio to AM.

replacing battery is easy. remove neg cable, remove pos cable, replace old battery with new, connect pos cable, connect neg cable. that's it.

 

I will add:
clean inside the battery cable ends with sandpaper or a $2 terminal cleaning tool
Clean the new battery terminals too- you want shiny metal for best contact

Install those $1 green (pos) and red (neg) felt things -they go under the cables,install first then cable,tighten cable connectors..prevents probs later

ALWAYS!! SAFETY Warning
NEGATIVE cable comes FIRST OFF.... and goes back LAST ON
that prevents your body from becoming the easist path to ground--no electocuation dangers

Make sure the POS battery terminal has its rubber cover all the way back on--thats another safety thing to prevent `Hot` side from contacting other metal/ground...

as said above- radio security code- make sure you have it before disconnecting battery- you have to input it afterwards--its a security lock to prevent theft

 

be sure wrench doesnt contact other metal as you tighten POS cable

after install is complete- take a 45 minute freeway drive,, without headlights or stereo --ac on low fan if needed is ok

That allows the alternator to bring the battery up to its 100% charged state, then get some experience being used and refilled by alt with normal driving

I say no headlights at first because thats a lot of power to run--let the alt slowly and gently bring the battery up---they are not at 100% off the shelf

After the drive- go to the parts store for a free systems ck- make sure everything is right--then you can motor on without concern

 

I've never known of anyone getting electrocuted replacing a car battery. Explosions, yes, but no electrocutions. Sulphur smell is bad. Avoid making any sparks.

 

I don't believe it's possible to be electrocuted by a 12v battery. 12 volts is not enough to overcome the resistance of a human body [about 1 megohm]. Disconnecting the negative first makes it impossible to cause a short circuit unless you touch the positive with a wrench while it's contacting the negative. Once the neg is disconnected, you can disconnect the pos without worrying about touching sheet metal, etc. with the other end of the wrench.

 

In addition to the radio code, I also write down the radio stations, as I don't always remember the frequencies for all of them.

Why switch to AM?

 

its not the volts that kill you....... its the AMPS
and there are close to 700 of them sitting there in the battery

Ever seen a wrench that hit pos terminal to any metal part- not just the neg terminal?
it burns a hole right into the metal

 

That's because the resistance presented to the battery by a wrench is very low, especially in comparison to a human body. Without enough "pressure" (voltage) the amperage cannot flow through such a high resistance (your body). You won't electrocute yourself with a 12v car battery.

 

OK I trust your background,, or at least bsing skills~

(now) I know to be careful around ANY electricity--some of it can mess you up (experience)

So,, I may exaggerate the ~deathliness potential~ of certain jobs--
better you work extra safe than ride in the ambulance!

 

I try not to BS a safety topic... was just ohm's law. But, I agree, you won't go wrong by being extra careful dealing with electricity.

 

Can't be electrocuted by a 12v battery. You can put one hand on the negative terminal & the other on the positive terminal without anything happening (of course don't be soaking wet/sweating/etc...). Yes it's the amps that can kill you but you need a closed circuit for current to even exist. Your body is "essentially" an open circuit in this scenario.

Just don't go sticking house keys in an electrical outlet...like I did in my younger days.

 

show me someone with little experience changing the battery.. during these warm summer months..
and I can imagine some sweat on the hands

probably the biggest concern is shorting out the battery when you drop the wrench and it welds itself to the terminals

totl'd you know I meant red ink towards you right? just kidding someone I know has brains about safety~

 

Exactly. If you disconnect the negative first, you can hit any metal on the car with the wrench on the positive and nothing happens.

 

Kind of off topic but good trick to know nether the less:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tHJ0NSjZnM

 

Awesome! I did it today and it was'nt so bad.
Only problem now is my mirror is not going up automatically when I hit it , and it was doing this when my battery was bad too, and now its just like that?

 

Your mirror "is not going up automatically when I hit it..."- Not sure what you mean when you "hit it"-? Do you mean the pass. side mirror doesn't tilt downward when you move the shifter to reverse?? If so it's because the mirror adj. switch isn't in the middle position.

 

never mind got it reset it was my passenger side mirror "when I press the button"

 

Hello, so does that mean my 2000 3.2 TL also has this feature of side mirrors shifting down when I change the gear to reverse? I never knew that! Will check today on my way home.