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Battery removal

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battery
12K views 27 replies 10 participants last post by  exsailor 
#1 ·
Hi,

I can't for the life of me seem to remove the battery. I want to put a trickle charger on it and get it ready for the already here Canadian winter.

I removed the negative, then positive terminals, but the battery won't bulge, and I can seem to locate any hold down clamps.

I don't think it's rocket science... but maybe I'm wrong?
 
#2 ·
10MM(may be 12, can't remember) bolt, smack dead center on the bottom front. Use an extension.
 
#5 ·
I had to pull mine a long time ago for the intake, used anti-sieze on that bolt back then and have not had a problem since.
 
#4 ·
you could do what alot of us do and Neanderthal it out :D
j/k
I think it's 10mm too. Either way, Bob is right. If you shine a flashlight right in front of your battery you'll see the clamp. My battery tray broke so I'm using a fabricated setup from Home Depot.
 
#7 ·
Literally every bolt that hasa been removed over the last almost 8 years of ownership has been wire brushed and anti-siezed to make removal easier down the road. When you live in the salt belt, that's just "normal". Also why the Swift will never see another winter road.
 
#9 ·
Just a technicality, but it's a 12mm bolt, not 10mm...but who cares really, if you've got a 10, you probably have a 12...

I hadn't heard of them rusting out before Felix, that is very strange. I figured the plastic undercarriage stuff would prevent the salt from getting in there. But I suppose, like mentioned, if you go CAI, you remove a lot of the protection.
 
#10 ·
Salt gets everywhere. When I pulled the front fenders off the first swift, it had ate away parts of the upper structural member that had never seen the light of day.
 
#16 ·
I'm going to try doing that. It may have to wait for a little while. I have a thesis I am trying to write too. :eek: :help:

04 Elantra with the original Solite? Time for a battery.
Yes? I had thought that is was longer than 5 years. Since you went straight to the heart of the solution from writing 04 Elantra, I must ask how long do the batteries normally stay alive for?
 
#14 ·
Thanks for all the help.

It was 10 mm to take of the terminal clamps and 12 mm to get that bolt. Speaking of Neanderthals, I didn't see it because I couldn't find it in the dark... go figure.

I have another problem now... or perhaps I'm just too stupid to open the hood of my car and should never try it again...

I took it out and tried to top of the charge in it, as I make many short drives at times and thought that the alternator might not have had enough time to replenish the battery.

What happened yesterday was that the car wouldn't start. After many, many panicked minutes and a call to a Canadian Tire mechanic I took out the battery and charged it with a trickle charger. It seemed like the battery was depleted.

What could have caused this after I topped it up recently? Loose connections? Did I knock some wiring loose? I have a mf solite battery in there and I think it's sealed, so I didn't check the fluids.

Any ideas?
 
#15 ·
04 Elantra with the original Solite? Time for a battery.
 
#17 ·
2-? years. Most Solites here in central Indiana are good for about 3 years. The wide range of temps we have here (-20 i the winter to 102 in the summer) kill batteries fairly quick. More moderate climates that see the "normal" temps you might get 4-5 years.

REgardless, 5 years is a LONG time.
 
#18 · (Edited)
what do you mean by "topping it off"?? Even short trips are usually enough to charge up a battery... If you're ever worried, let it idle for 5-10 minutes. When I left the lights on on my old 89 Civic one winter's day, after I boosted it, I left it running in my driveway for 30 min and it started up fine the next day and lasted at least another year until I sold the car.

They must have made a good batch of solites in 2004. No problems with mine, even after 4 harsh salty winters and 5 hot humid summers in Montreal.
 
#19 · (Edited)
what do you mean by "topping it off"??
I mean checking the charge to make sure that everything is ok. I read somewhere that trips less than 20 minutes isn't enough time to keep the battery charged. You can leave you car idling? I'm sure here we are ticketed for idles greater than 3 minutes.
http://www.toronto.ca/transportation/onstreet/idling.htm

I was doing some research into battery types to get. I really don't know what to buy. Mtlelantra, it's fortunate that you still have your solite in there, but would you know what batteries are good for our climate (I'm in southern Ontario)? Or would anyone have any suggestions for a decent battery for Toronto, Windsor, New York, Michigan winters?

Is sealed better than not sealed?

Should I just go into a Partsource/Canadian Tire and ask them on their computers?
 
#20 ·
I think people in Quebec don't care about idling. Since I didn't have a charger and needed my battery charged at the time I didn't really care that much. Hell, my old neighbor ran his gas snowblower every hour during snowfalls which probably burned more fuel and spewed more CO2 than my 30 min idling.
If you're really worried, just go for a drive!

I had the mid-range Canadian Tire battery (not the Eliminator, I guess the 72) in the old Civic, I installed in 97 or 98, spent 6 years in Calgary, another 2 years in Montreal before I sold the car and it was still good. It had a prorated 72 month warranty (free if it died before 2 years)... I dunno what you people do to your batteries (BOB!) but I've had awesome success with batteries lasting a long time...
 
#23 · (Edited)
I think people in Quebec don't care about idling. Since I didn't have a charger and needed my battery charged at the time I didn't really care that much...If you're really worried, just go for a drive!

I had the mid-range Canadian Tire battery (not the Eliminator, I guess the 72) in the old Civic, I installed in 97 or 98, spent 6 years in Calgary, another 2 years in Montreal before I sold the car and it was still good. It had a prorated 72 month warranty (free if it died before 2 years)...
I'm not really worried at this point anymore. I'll just go and get another battery. I hope they don't say some junk like they have to install for the warranty to apply.

My Solite went after 3 years of brave service. I have a Walmart battery in it now (one of the higher end ones) and it's done well (3 years now).
Got just about 3 years out of mine.
No joking BobMs. 5 years seems to be great for this type. Jay and songee, I hope you get at least 6 years of service in your batteries now.
 
#25 ·
I don't think Canadian Tire is that anal about battery warranties. Like I said, I didn't need to use my battery warranty cuz it lasted way past the 72 months, but it had the little pop-out month/year thing on the battery when you purchased it. So long as that was intact, you didn't need a receipt or the warranty certificate. My parents had a set of Canadian Tire AW+ tires back in the day that wore out at ~60k and they had a 100k treadlife warranty. The store actually just gave a prorated cash refund because it was their own branded tires (normally you just get a prorated discount on a set of replacements).

I did the ol' Canadian Tire patented "parking lot repair" when I got the new battery... got a boost to start the car, drove to Canadian Tire, popped the hood, took out the old battery, brought it up to the counter, got the new battery, installed it in the parking lot and drove off. In hickville, quebec, I saw some dude change his oil in the Canadian Tire parking lot once...
 
#26 ·
That might have been me :D Acutually...

I put in my underdrive crank and water pulleys in, in a Autozone parking lot in the Bronx... during the time I took doing it, 2 guys came through and changed their oil right beside me. :)

Gotta love the Bronx.
 
#28 ·
I bought a Nascar Advantage at Canadian Tire, wich is their best conventional battery. It comes with 4 years free replacement, 3 years power assistance, and 10 years pro rated warranty. Hopefully, it will last for the rest of the useful life of the car.
What size did you get? Does it fit the 04 without any mods?

Tks
 
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