How to change your battery the right way

The girlfriend's car is getting harder to start, and this is due to the battery being over five years old or so, which is about all you will get out of a battery on average.  A battery is not that difficult to change out, but if it is done the wrong way, you can do some serious damage to your car.  Here is the right way to change the battery in your car.  I am using a 2006 Accord for this demonstration but you can apply this principle to any car or truck.

Step one is to locate the battery in the vehicle.  Typically this is under the hood, but in some cars it can be in the trunk or under the back seat.  If you just happen to drive an older Dodge Viper, it is actually behind the rear bumper under the car.

Step two is to remove whatever hold down assembly being used to hold the battery in place.  In this case, it is a metal bracket retained by "J" bolts.

 Once you get the retaining bracket out of the way (It's the metal thing in the center of the battery) You can remove the NEGATIVE cable.  If you cannot readily identify the negative cable, you can look at the battery itself, which will have markings on it, typically POS and/or a + sign for positive and NEG and/or a - sign for negative.  Remove the negative cable and mark it if necessary.

In this case the negative cable is the one on the right.

The positive cable comes off next, and in this case it has a red cover to identify it.  Once this is done, the battery can be removed.  This battery has a cover that goes around it, which is easy to remove.

The installation is the reverse of removal, but something you need to remember is that the negative cable is the first to be removed and the last to be installed.  Also, do not ever connect the cables backwards (positive to negative and vice versa) because you will do damage to the vehicle, like frying the alternator, and the battery could potentially explode.

So, how can you tell if your battery is getting weak?

Listen to the engine start.  You should have an idea of what it is supposed to sound like on a typical day.  When the battery gets weaker you will be able to hear the delay in getting the car started.

You can also have the battery tested at an auto parts store, some of which will do this for free.

Lastly, make sure that the alternator is working at capacity, which is typically at 14 volts or so at idle.