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Replacing my battery...

mikeyk101

By mikeyk101
in Troubleshooting & Recalls

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mikeyk101 Senior Enthusiast

mikeyk101

Posted
Posted

I am getting ready to replace my battery. Its still the OEM and not really having any problems with it. But the truck has a build date of Dec 2015 so it is approaching 6 years old. I know it's days are numbered and would rather replace it while the weather is still decent. I just purchased a Interstate H7 (94R) from Costco. 

 

So I recently saw this thread where the member started having issues after he replaced his battery.

 

 

I would like this to go as smooth as possible. In one comment by @elcamino, he mentions that some knowledgeable folks he is acquainted with highly recommend keeping power to the vehicle during the swap. That does make sense. However, the problem I will run into is that I don't have access to a spare battery. However, I have seen the little device that uses a 9v battery that plugs into the dash powerport that is supposed to keep power to the ECU. I also found several devices on Amazon that plug into the OBD2 port on one end and then have either a set of alligator clips on the other end or a adapter to plug into another vehicles powerport. Here is one example:

 

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07L4CQNB2/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_K0Y546VN3Y1WK4ETB9FR

 

These are also supposed to keep power to the ECU during a battery swap. Not real expensive and would only take a couple days to get it delivered. 

 

So any thoughts on either method? Am I overthinking this or would this be a good thing to do? I am in no real hurry so I just want to have my ducks in a row to make this as painless as possible. Not happy with doing the actual removal and replacement but it seems pretty straightforward even though it will be time consuming...

CrawlSlow Enthusiast

CrawlSlow

Posted
Posted (edited)

Just replaced my battery recently.  Had it unplugged for approximately 2 hours. Took it off, did my routine shopping, bought a new battery and installed about 2 hours later. No issue so far. 

 

Take your time, don't yank things around. What I did, removed air box/MAF, removed coolant tank, unbot all the cords connected to the top fuse box (its all label with matching numbers). Slide the battery out and slide in the new battery. Reinstall everything. 

 

Edit. Forgot to mention about the harness connected to the fuse block. Removed that as well.

Edited by CrawlSlow
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mikeyk101 Senior Enthusiast

mikeyk101

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Posted
1 hour ago, CrawlSlow said:

Just replaced my battery recently.  Had it unplugged for approximately 2 hours. Took it off, did my routine shopping, bought a new battery and installed about 2 hours later. No issue so far. 

 

Take your time, don't yank things around. What I did, removed air box/MAF, removed coolant tank, unbot all the cords connected to the top fuse box (its all label with matching numbers). Slide the battery out and slide in the new battery. Reinstall everything. 

Ok, good to know. So yours is an example where there were no issues with completely disconnected battery and no backup power provided to ECU. That makes me wonder if the OP in other thread had some other unk issue that led to the problems he experienced and them showing up after battery change was just a coincidence.

 

 

CrawlSlow Enthusiast

CrawlSlow

Posted
Posted

Food for thought;

 

-Why do people recommend disconnecting battery to reset the vehicle?

 

-Why touch both negative and positive cable together to drain power to all electronics?

 

-When purchasing replacement electronic parts, is there a battery pack attached to provide power?

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CrawlSlow Enthusiast

CrawlSlow

Posted
Posted

Take your time to do it right. Don't force any wires/parts out of the way. Do it right.

 

Key points to most issue; 

Time = money

To get more money = fast repair

Fast repair = takes shortcuts

Take shortcuts = owner headaches

 

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CrawlSlow Enthusiast

CrawlSlow

Posted
Posted

I can see why there's confusion.  When updating module(s), you would need to provide power to the vehicle as some module takes 30+ minutes to complete. You don't want your battery to shutdown in the middle of an update. I had update multiple modules before. One time I got a low battery warning in the middle of an update.  I had to connect a jumper cable from my truck to a running vehicle just so there's power. The truck can not be running when updating modules. 

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mikeyk101 Senior Enthusiast

mikeyk101

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  • Author
Posted (edited)

Well it's done. Easy Peazy! I had some time to kill this morning so I dived in. I followed most of your advice except unbolting all the positive connections. You are correct and they are all labeled but I was feeling a bit lazy so I only unbolted the main positive from the battery. I just used a bungie cord to hold the whole thing out of the way. Battery was easily slid forward and out just like you said. Hardest part I think was getting the airbox lined back up to snap it back in. Bonus was no extra or broken parts!!!

 

I was a little worried when I started it back up as the radio station was now on 87.9,  a blank station, and just assumed that I lost all the presets. But nope, they were all still there. Temp was at 32⁰ but wasnt too worried about that as I have dealt with that before. I went through all the settings and they were all still the way I set them. I did get the "Open driver's window all the way and close it" message. I did that and that warning went away. I also noticed that the tpms for all the tires showed "--". I took a short drive of about 4 blocks and one by one, the tires pressure showed up. So for now we will call it good. Thank you @CrawlSlowfor the helpful advice and encouragement...

Edited by mikeyk101
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mikeyk101 Senior Enthusiast

mikeyk101

Posted
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Posted

Plenty of space. Good thing because the OEM battery didn't have any handles and would have been a bear to twist around and out...

20210924_093035.jpg

mikeyk101 Senior Enthusiast

mikeyk101

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, jagabom (Esquire) said:

Mikeyk101, did you disconnect the positive or the negative first?

Thanks

Jim

Positive, then negative. Then reinstalling, negative first, then positive.

 

 

Just to add, I know all the guides say to remove the negative first and then the positive. Doing the positive first and being careful just made getting to the negative easier.

Edited by mikeyk101
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