Car battery

bouicca21

Feel free to fall about laughing at my ignorance ... but I can't get into my Nissan Micra with the 'magic' key and I am pretty sure this is because the car battery is flat.

So I need a new battery. But in order to get it to a garage I need to get the RAC to come out and jump start it. They will offer me a new battery and fit it for just over £70 - which is fractionally more than if I could get the wretched thing to a Nissan dealer, with all the risk of it conking out on me during the 5 mile journey.

I think I could buy a battery way cheaper - but then I'd have to know what to buy and fit it myself. I haven't a clue how to do this, but people tell me it's easy. Do I need any equipment to do it? Presumably a spanner - but I only possess one and s*d's law it will be the wrong size.

Do I take the old battery out and take it with me to the local garage?

Jeez, I feel like a gender stereotype - but honest we just did cooking and dressmaking when I was at school in the dark ages. Car engines are a total mystery to me.

ILW

I would get the AA to supply and fit based on your knowledge, you will probably need to recode the radio as well.

They will also check that it is the battery causing the problem.

Inner_Zone

Put the cars registration number in here and get a price for battery, don't forget the 20% discount code:

http://www.eurocarparts.com/

And compare with the RAC price. Check out Micra owners websites or a Haynes manual for info on changing a battery. Don't forget you may need the radio security code whom ever changes the battery.

mad_rich

First up, Is the car battery flat? There are checks you can do, and if it is, it might respond to a good trickle charge.

What are the symptoms? Have you checked the key battery?

Changing a battery is relatively easy, but you do need to know what you're doing. And be prepared for things not to go as planned (weird things can happen to your alarm, immobiliser, car radio etc when you take out the old battery). Sometimes it's nice for this to happen at a garage, so it's their problem, not yours.

You can get a price for a battery which will fit your car by going to eurocarparts.com and putting in your reg number. There's a 20% off offer on their home page. See how that compares to the prices you've got elsewhere.

mad_rich

Just to add. Here's some step-by-step advice from the RAC on how to change a battery, but do check it is knackered.

http://www.racshop.co.uk/car-battery/how-to-fit-a-battery.html

You normally won't need anything more than 10mm spanner for the terminals. The battery will be held in place with some sort of clamp, which often needs a screwdriver, or a socket set with an extender (link for illustration, not necessarily recommendation).

There's a video of somebody changing a battery in a Nissan Micra here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SO6llO4F-Lg

It's not great quality (and he has removed the + terminal before the -, whereas most people would suggest you remove the - terminal first and replace it last), but it shows you.

bouicca21

Many thanks for all this advice. I'm tempted to try - the battery RAC would sell me is about £74; eurocarparts sell the same one with the voucher for just under £40, plus I can quidco it. There is a branch nearby, it's in stock and my spanner is a 10 cm one!

And yes, I've changed the battery in the key fob and I know how to reset the radio (that one's easy, that kind of stuff I can do!). I am going to watch the video again and then try to get the battery out - assuming that if I can do that, I can reverse the process and put one in. If I can't then its pay the RAC after all.

Inner_Zone

bouicca21 wrote: »

Many thanks for all this advice. I'm tempted to try - the battery RAC would sell me is about £74; eurocarparts sell the same one with the voucher for just under £40, plus I can quidco it. There is a branch nearby, it's in stock and my spanner is a 10 cm one!

That's one big spanner. Though you has a Micra not a steam engine?

bouicca21 wrote: »

And yes, I've changed the battery in the key fob and I know how to reset the radio (that one's easy, that kind of stuff I can do!). I am going to watch the video again and then try to get the battery out - assuming that if I can do that, I can reverse the process and put one in. If I can't then its pay the RAC after all.

Are you sure you not confusing retuning with the security code?

bouicca21

Oh you're right - I have my millimetres and centimetres mixed up. It's a 10 mm spanner. Sigh, I should have known I'd do something stupid. But I do know the difference between retuning and resetting the radio. I have all the original documentation including the code.

fivetide

bouicca21 wrote: »

Oh you're right - I have my millimetres and centimetres mixed up. It's a 10 mm spanner. Sigh, I should have known I'd do something stupid.

Don't beat yourself up. It was a typo more than anything. Some people just can't help but point out the mistakes of others!

:beer:

mad_rich

Watch the video, but ignore him when he takes the positive terminal off first!

It's:

negative off
positive off
replace battery
positive on
negative on

Oh, and don't worry about a little spark when the cable touches the battery terminal. This is normal. It may make you jump though! Just make sure you don't let the two terminals touch each other (via a spanner, for example), and try not to touch the body of the car while you're doing it.

Don't necessarily go for the cheapest battery. They'll all fit your car (if you've put your reg number in) but one with a higher AH (battery capacity - how much it can store) and CCA (how much oomph it can pump out when starting the engine) might be worth the few extra quid, particularly if your car is older and has developed a few ailments over the years.

Good luck!

Oh, also check https://www.carparts4less.com, which is a sister company to Eurocarparts. They tend to be slightly cheaper, and include delivery.

Inner_Zone

fivetide wrote: »

Don't beat yourself up. It was a typo more than anything. Some people just can't help but point out the mistakes of others!

:beer:

If you bothered to read my post you would have seen it was a harmless jest. And I had tried to help the OP in this thread unlike yourself.