VERY EASY. Make sure you have a 10mm open end wrench to get to the bolt under the 'fender'. The rest you can use a socket set (forget size, prob 10mm as well). It helps to have a battery terminal wrench so you dont have to cram something to loosen the battery cables, but I believe that is a 7mm bolt. First disconnect your NEG cable and then your POS. Then I believe there is a 13mm bolt holding down the battery near the firewall. Use a socket extension 10" long should be good to get to it. Slide the battery out, slide a new one in and presto, reassemble in reverse.

I bought my battery from Wal-Mart. It was the MAXX75 for like $60-70. It has a 3 year warranty and there is practically a Wal-Mart in every hole in the wall town in the US and they are generally 24/7. All it really means is that if the battery dies and Im out somewhere, I can get it replaced FAST. Hell, if you trust the guys at Wal-Mart, they will install the battery for you for free providing you get the car there. Good luck

ADDED:
I think there are like 4-5 10mm bolts in the wheel well and then another 10mm bolt under the foam rubber right infront of the leading edge of the drivers door that holds on the 'fender'. Dont have a digicam or Id take pics for you. Once you get started, you'll see those bolts.


[Modified by VetteNoob, 10:32 PM 7/27/2002]

 

I don't think I'm gonna do that because A) I DONT trust the guys at wal-mart and B) I need to get everything (by that i mean alternator/starter) checked as well.

thanks!

 

Actually, it is quite easy. A 5/16 wrench to remove the battery post. Remove the positive(red) terminal first . Remove the battery retaining bolt at the bottom, I think it is a 1/2. And depending on your year vette, there may be a couple of obstructions in the way. But I am sure that you could figure it out and remove. Make sure that you install the postive cable first on the new battery. Then the negative last.

Good luck.

Anybody have a similar year car that can help her?
Or she could try jumping the car again and let it charge for 30 minutes to see if it will hold enough charge to get it started and down to the battery place.

 

Personally I'd remove the negative cable first. It gets exciting if you do the positive side first and accidently touch the wrench to a ground. Been there, done it. :eek:

 

Not trying to argue with you here, but the manual says to disconnect the NEG first and then the POS cable.

You have 3 bolts on the wheel side of the fender, 1 on top near door edge and 1 inbetween fender and rocker panel. You can take the alternator to an autoparts store and they will test it for free. Id help you do this if you were in Texas. hehe

 

do you have an Autozone or an auto parts store nearby that can check your alternator? The alt is actually easier to remove than the battery on our cars BTW. They could check it for you. Another thought is to disconnect the vette's battery completely from both terminals and run jumpers to it from a idle-ing vehicle(or a battery charger). After awhile of charging, disconnect jumpers and reconnect to the vette's cables. Observe polarity :D . Try starting.
(for the sake of conversation, a good alt should keep all systems on a car up and running normally even if battery were removed while engine is running)
anyways, your symptom description reminds me of my last alt replacement(#4): I was in Santa Barbara. Car started OK, began driving home(60 miles/60 minutes) about 45min into it and 15 mi from home, car's dash started going dim, engine started misfiring/sputtering. I didn't see the idiot light on the dash cuz I had my g/f's picture there :rolleyes:
Alternator died, totally discharged battery. Car died completely.
It was the alt of course.
OK Marthpodi, you have alot of guys waiting to see what happens with your car! Tell us how it goes. :cheers:


[Modified by 89 Paul in Cal, 11:28 PM 7/27/2002]

 

Boy do I feel stupid! In my last post, I said to disconnect the positive cable first. I really blew it. I meant the negative. Thanks guys for pointing my error out. I had to go to the drag strip and I guess my mind was occupied elsewhere.

 

ok, thats him, and he - thanks ;)

alright, first of all - thanks for helping me out here, everyone. I need to get the battery replaced and the alt. checked. The best way for me to do this, I think, is to take it down to Sears and have them replace battery/check alt. However, how should I get the car down there? As I see it, there are two choices, 1.) Try jumping it again, this time letting the booster battery stay on longer (this wont drain the booster battery will it?) and then trying to start the car first turning off the booster car (how does this work, exactly? just switch off the other car before trying to start mine?) or 2.) Push starting it and driving it over (I've never done this before, is this a good idea? What exactly should I do and how hard will it be?) IF there are any other options, please let me know

Will keep you all posted

Thanks,
marthpodi

[EDIT] - Forget push starting it, thats a bad idea. I'll try one final time to jump start it and then, if that doesn't work, go buy a battery and install it - drive it over to have it checked.

One question, how should I jump start it, I've tried 2 diff. ways, none worked. I need to keep the booster battery hooked up for longer, and I need to turn off the boosting car before trying to start mine. Will this drain the battery of the boosting car? And at what point should I turn off the other car?


[Modified by marthpodi, 11:44 AM 7/28/2002]

 

ttt

 

If you dont mind spending an extra $20 or so, you can go to Wal-Mart and buy a cheap battery charger and let it charge for 2-3 hours (enough to start the car). That way, you dont have to jump it. This is also good for trickle charging the battery over night when you park the car, providing you have a garage and dont live in an apartment complex.

 

Charging your battery might work, but a 7 year old battery may not charge up and the battery is the cause of your no start. Also, jumping a battery will not provide enough current to start your car if the car battery is not contributing current also. The best advice you have had so far is to buy a battery, replace your battery and drive it to somewhere to have the alternator checked.

 

ok, thanks.

 

Plan:

1.) Buy new battery (750 CCA?) and install per directions in Hayes Manual

2.) Start car and use voltmeter to check battery (should be >13)

3.) If not > 13, remove alternator and have it checked.


A friend of mine who works at Eckler's said it might be a starter issue - how can this be diagnosed?

Also, if there is anything I should know/do/be careful of with the plan listed about, please let me know

thanks,
marthpodi

 

ttt

 

DON'T DISCONNECT THE BATTERY WITH THE ENGINE RUNNING on a computerised car!!!!!!!
This was fine in the old days when we didn't have computers and it was a valid test of an alternator. Nowadays it can spike a computer and that will give you MORE to fix.........
when removing the fender to put the battery in ther you will need a tor-x bit for the screws in the fenderwell..........and I hope you don't have ground effects on the rocker panels.
also ........even though I just said NOT to .........sometimes a battery will be SO DEAD that the only way to jump start it is to remove the neg cable from the battery and put the negative jumper cable to the engine rather than the battery. this takes the battery completely out of the loop. then with the jumpers still connected and the jumped car running reconnect the negative cable..........BEFORE disconnecting the jumper vehicle.