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I went to take Sherry's TBird to get it washed. At least, I tried to. When I got in it, the battery was stone dead. Oh, well... I had been meaning to swap out the battery in that car with a new Optima red top I had sitting in the shop.
The TBird battery is in the trunk and the original battery had a vent hose on it that tied into a rubber hose on the car body to vent the gasses. Whoever had the car before us put an unvented battery in and I knew I needed to get that out of there. Optima requires no vent, so I figured that was easy..
So, I open the trunk, remove the floor and take the battery out and sit it down behind the car. I get the Optima, bolt it in, reinstall the floor and close the lid. I got in the car and started it and put it in reverse. I hear a crunch and the car quits rolling. OOPS old battery is now under the right rear lower control arm, supporting the car just high enough so it won't roll, just after the rear wheel dropped off of that 1-1/2" high step where the door to the garage is. BIG PROBLEM. ....BECAUSE>>>>... The TBird was parked in the part of my garage where there is only one single door, and the car was now stopped in exactly the right position so I could NOT OPEN THE DOOR! Car would not move forward or backward and no room to open the door... Yep, Friday the 13th all right!
I cannot open the door and I cannot put the top down to get out because Sherry insists on having the hard top in place because she likes the portholes more than she likes top-down driving. I am stuck, and no one else is home. Luckily after climbing into the passenger seat I was able to get enough room to crawl out the passenger door. It is hard enough to squirm out of that car even with the door wide open, much less when it will only open about 6 inches. What a PITA!
The battery top posts were supporting the weight of the car, holding it up under the right lower control arm, and the battery sides were bulging out considerably.
I am very thankful that the battery WAS DEAD or it would have melted the aluminum control arm. Try explaining THAT!
So I got the jack out and raised up the car enough to get the battery out. Luckily it did not crack and leak acid. Luckily it did not melt the control arm or catch fire.
Then I had to crawl back into the car the same way I got out...
I found out WHY it was dead... The dashboard lights dimmer switch was turned all the way as high as it would go which put the interior lights in the ON position, just like a Mustang switch does when you rotate it. I had fiddled with the dash lights to get them brighter when I was driving the car the previous weekend. FORD has not fixed the too-dim dash lights from 1965 to 2002. I must have left the switch rolled too far to the bright position.
So, here is my question... Considering the battery sides were bulging way out, do you think it would be safe to recharge the battery? It is fairly new. It would work fine in a Mustang if it was charged. OK,
quit rolling on the floor and give an intelligent response...
The TBird battery is in the trunk and the original battery had a vent hose on it that tied into a rubber hose on the car body to vent the gasses. Whoever had the car before us put an unvented battery in and I knew I needed to get that out of there. Optima requires no vent, so I figured that was easy..
So, I open the trunk, remove the floor and take the battery out and sit it down behind the car. I get the Optima, bolt it in, reinstall the floor and close the lid. I got in the car and started it and put it in reverse. I hear a crunch and the car quits rolling. OOPS old battery is now under the right rear lower control arm, supporting the car just high enough so it won't roll, just after the rear wheel dropped off of that 1-1/2" high step where the door to the garage is. BIG PROBLEM. ....BECAUSE>>>>... The TBird was parked in the part of my garage where there is only one single door, and the car was now stopped in exactly the right position so I could NOT OPEN THE DOOR! Car would not move forward or backward and no room to open the door... Yep, Friday the 13th all right!
I cannot open the door and I cannot put the top down to get out because Sherry insists on having the hard top in place because she likes the portholes more than she likes top-down driving. I am stuck, and no one else is home. Luckily after climbing into the passenger seat I was able to get enough room to crawl out the passenger door. It is hard enough to squirm out of that car even with the door wide open, much less when it will only open about 6 inches. What a PITA!
The battery top posts were supporting the weight of the car, holding it up under the right lower control arm, and the battery sides were bulging out considerably.
I am very thankful that the battery WAS DEAD or it would have melted the aluminum control arm. Try explaining THAT! So I got the jack out and raised up the car enough to get the battery out. Luckily it did not crack and leak acid. Luckily it did not melt the control arm or catch fire.
Then I had to crawl back into the car the same way I got out...
I found out WHY it was dead... The dashboard lights dimmer switch was turned all the way as high as it would go which put the interior lights in the ON position, just like a Mustang switch does when you rotate it. I had fiddled with the dash lights to get them brighter when I was driving the car the previous weekend. FORD has not fixed the too-dim dash lights from 1965 to 2002. I must have left the switch rolled too far to the bright position.
So, here is my question... Considering the battery sides were bulging way out, do you think it would be safe to recharge the battery? It is fairly new. It would work fine in a Mustang if it was charged. OK,
quit rolling on the floor and give an intelligent response...
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