changing a battery?

myothercarisaferrari

How difficult is it? (bearing in mind I am a girl who no knowledge of cars....!:rolleyes:)

bryanb

Heavy work, check the car handbook as sometimes radio/alarm codes etc are lost. Also computer settings, depends on the particular car. But you can always use the Ferrari!

vaio

If you have the radio code it it’s a “one spanner” job.

Batteries are heavy, remove earth first and replace it last to reduce the chance of big sparks and don’t even think about doing it with any rings on your fingers

If you don’t have the radio code then it’s a “two spanner” job as you will need to connect another battery via some jump leads to your battery leads so the radio doesn’t lose power whilst you change the battery. If you have to do this it’s pretty much essential to have two pairs of hand to hold things.

Mark_Hewitt

myothercarisaferrari wrote: »

How difficult is it? (bearing in mind I am a girl who no knowledge of cars....!:rolleyes:)

Check if you have your radio code, or indeed if you need a radio code. Many cars such as my Fiesta don't have them as to remove the radio would require you completely disassembling the entire dashboard, and then it would only work in other Fiestas.

You really just need an adjustable spanner. There is usually a brace at the top keeping the battery in place, take that off, then take off each of the contacts, on the battery, being careful not to touch them together or to other metal parts, then put the new battery in and screw everything back into place.

10 minutes job, as others have said car batteries are really really heavy, just slightly more mass and nuclear fusion would start...

myothercarisaferrari

radio code?!

think I will call the RAC man out....

Wig

Depends on the car. Looking at your car battery will give you an idea of how difficult it is going to be. Some of them are concealed under all sorts of things that have to be removed. Some are out in the open, if you have one in the open that you can see, look to see the size of spanner for holding the terminals on (usually 10mm) then if there is nothing obviously holding the battery in place (like a bracket going over the top of it) look down at the base of the battery, there very often a bolt there going down holding a small almost flat piece of metal which in turn is securing the battery to the car. Usually these are 13mm bolt hex heads and require a 13mm socket a socket extension bar 10 - 12 inches and then a socket wrench or socket bar to exert the force on the socket to undo it.

Mark_Hewitt

myothercarisaferrari wrote: »

radio code?!

think I will call the RAC man out....

If you have one it will usually be on the back page of your manual, or somewhere like that. What sort of car do you have?

atrixblue.-MFR-.

myothercarisaferrari wrote: »

radio code?!

think I will call the RAC man out....

rac wont recode the stereo just change battery. if you have the cars documentation i.e the handbooks look in the radio book to find the code. if it's there then a 10mil or 13mil spanner for the battery points and a 13 mil socket on an extension for the battery holder if its at side of the battery at the bottom holding it down or it may have a bar allong the top secureing it in! done in five mins then recode the stereo with the handbook instructions and code. if you have a digital interior clock dont forget to set this too. you may have to refind and programe radio stations after your done also if the stereo hasnt got them pre coded.

Mark_Hewitt

Most radios will have a small battery backup for exactly this purpose too. My last car (also a fiesta) had a radio code but I managed to take the old battery out and put a new one in and everything started again without any problems.

(Turned out in the end I had a starter motor problem and the battery was fine! doh!)

bryanb

Whoever sells you the new battery would probably fit it for you. Assuming you can get the car to them.

Wig

myothercarisaferrari wrote: »

bearing in mind I am a girl who no knowledge of cars

Never mind how difficult it is why do you want to do it?