First Battery Installed

[Ski]

Re: First Battery Installed

The battery in the Bird died this week. I wanted to drive her to work this morning - it is beautiful weather. Long story short, $96 and change for a replacement at Plaza Ford (included a $25 credit I had there). She's back on the road. Yes, the battery is vented.

[islandtime]

Re: First Battery Installed

The battery in the Bird died this week. I wanted to drive her to work this morning - it is beautiful weather. Long story short, $96 and change for a replacement at Plaza Ford (included a $25 credit I had there). She's back on the road. Yes, the battery is vented.

A very happy ending!

[Gobird]

Re: First Battery Installed

John, you could have got that about $15.00 cheaper. All you had to do was drive down here to my dealer in Avon Park, FLA.

[CVCashmere]

Re: First Battery Installed

That C3 Corvette should of had vent tubes on the battery. I bought a set of the vent tubes for my Fiat Spyder in 1976 because it was leaking acid all over the battery compartment in the trunk.

Showed the idea to the Fiat Dealer rep and he thought it was the greatest idea ever. Then... they went belly-up!!

Mine was a real P.O.S... and I won't buy another one from Chrysler.

Thanks!

I was at a Jaguar dealership when they brought in a Jag sedan that had an exploded battery because it wasn't vented properly - It was in the trunk like the Tbird. Once you see the mess it made, it makes you a believer in venting. I have a friend with a 1975 corvette and it is mounted in a compartment behind the seat. His battery isn't vented - I don't know if it is supposed to be or not.

[rcjohny]

Re: First Battery Installed

I would like to know what kind of battery they put in some of the new cars, becouse alot of them are in the trunk or in the back, I have a chevy suv and the battery is under the floor in the rear with the spair tire, It has no vent tube on it, I wonder what the difference is. ////////////////////

[islandtime]

Re: First Battery Installed

I have a chevy suv and the battery is under the floor in the rear with the spair tire, It has no vent tube on it, I wonder what the difference is. ////////////////////

Um....Ford quality?

[Gobird]

Re: First Battery Installed

John, Don't know what it looks like but it could be out in the open. My MGB is under the back shelf of the car but is in the open air in a bracket. Now, my 69 Vette was in the same place but inclosed. The age of the car and design may make a difference in those but if in a newer car with sealed batteries they should be vented I would think.

[njmiket]

Re: First Battery Installed

We had our battery done at a local Ford dealer who just changed ownership. Susan had ordered the correct battery from the Ford parts department. ($105). When she got the bill they charged her $250.00 They told her that they had upgraded her to better battery. She told them to bring the car back in and put the proper battery back in. They complied and reduced the bill to the agreed price. While we are a local Thunderbird show one of the guys in the club checked the install job and found the vent tube was just thrown into the well. This is the last time we will use this dealer.

[Sandman]

Re: First Battery Installed

Just had mine replaced yesterday. $105 installed,7yr warranty at Sam Galloway Ford in Ft. Myers. Absolutely no warning,always started promptly except yesterday it was dead as a door nail. Did not loose any of my settings,like clock,radio,etc. Does anyone know how long the battery would have to be dead before that would happen?

[Gobird]

Re: First Battery Installed

Ron, Yours was dead enough to not start the car but kept the memories going on everything. Mine was the same way until I took it out of the car to trade it at the dealers. I then had to reprogram everything. I have no idea how long it would keep the memories after not being able to start the car.

[luvbird]

Re: First Battery Installed

I bought my 02 in November of 01 and still have the original battery. I use a battery tender in winter but not in the summer. I have always had good luck with Ford batteries.

[2Redbirds57/02]

Re: First Battery Installed

I bought my 02 in November of 01 and still have the original battery. I use a battery tender in winter but not in the summer. I have always had good luck with Ford batteries.

Same here Gary, I took delivery of my 02 in early Nov. 01 and the original battery is still going strong. I have never used a battery tender on it.

[Ski]

Re: First Battery Installed

Was planning to take the Bird to Cambridge MD yesterday (about a 250 mile RT) and it wouldn't start, not a sound. "New" battery installed 8/19/10 so I jump started it this afternoon and took it back to the Ford dealer. Three possiblilites I think.
1. New battery was bad.
2. Slow drain somewhere in the system.
3. It is not charging when driving.

I should know something by Tuesday. It was a disappointment, the weather was great yesterday and today.

[islandtime]

Re: First Battery Installed

Was planning to take the Bird to Cambridge MD yesterday (about a 250 mile RT) and it wouldn't start, not a sound. "New" battery installed 8/19/10 so I jump started it this afternoon and took it back to the Ford dealer. Three possiblilites I think.
1. New battery was bad.
2. Slow drain somewhere in the system.
3. It is not charging when driving.

I should know something by Tuesday. It was a disappointment, the weather was great yesterday and today.

We replaced the battery in the Shelby just weeks ago. Today, Charley took it to work...halfway there, the radio cut out, and when he arrived at his office the top wouldn't go up, the windows wouldn't work, and he had to lock it manually. The dash display said, "battery low", then that went out, as well as all other lights.

Took it to the dealer...at which point everything started working again, but they did say there was a "disconnect" inside the battery. Heck, it's Friday night...we won't see the Shelby until Tuesday at best, and it's going to be a gorgeous "top-down" weekend. Guess Charley will have to settle for being a passenger in a T-Bird. Oh - they also said it may be the alternator. I still say the Shelby is a L-E-M-O-N! I could get a couple of T-Birds for it (or a Kona Blue Metallic Mustang GT convertible that's sitting in the showroom)!

[MerlotBlue]

Re: First Battery Installed

Anyone ever own a rear engined VW Beetle. Over 21 million produced battery location
under the back seat no venting. Never heard of anyone having any problems. Maybe just
to many attorneys and engineers today (overkill). Just food for thought when I replace
my battery it will be vented.

Recently replaced the battery in my '04. Lucked out. Local NAPA store had a vented replacement in stock for $94.00 after the core charge refund.

The vent just seems like a good idea for a battery mounted in a trunk with weather strip.

Could it blow up? I suppose. It's a low risk thing where not only do gasses need to build up but a spark also would have to be part of the unfortunate mess.

I own an old Corvette with the battery compartment directly behind my driver's seat. It's not vented and it's a space barely big enough to carry the battery itself. You'd think with the 100s of thousand Corvettes built this way over two decades I expect you'd have heard stories if this was really such a big problem.

Still, that vent tube is a SUPER simple piece that adds near NOTHING to the cost of manufacturing both the car and the battery itself so why not just accept that it's a GOOD IDEA that probably should have happened all along for any car where the battery isn't in the engine compartment.

As for those beetles......... the one story I remember wasn't good.
The protective cover for the positive battery post wasn't put back in place. Seems like a "no-brainier" but like you said many millions of cars produced leaves lots of room for errors. That uncovered post was always in danger of grounding against the rear seat springs if left uncovered and YES I do remember a story of a beetle burned to the ground over the resulting fire.