Malcolm R
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2002
- Messages
- 25,081
- Real Name
- Malcolm
I just ordered one of these to try and get more exercise in my day since the gym is closed:
I’ve had good luck with my 2015 Charger- I’ll let it sit for 2, even 3 weeks, and she fires right up with no problem. I’ll put a battery in her next yearA word of warning to those of you staying at home and not using your cars very much -- still get out there and start them up occasionally. This is especially important for the newer vehicles with all the electronics that run even when the car is shut off -- those electronics drain your battery.
We've been driving my wife's Buick Encore mostly for errands around town, but I have tried to use my GMC Acadia at least once a week (plus it's the vehicle we take back and forth to northern Michigan to my parents home). Even with that, my battery was dead yesterday when we were heading to pick up a take out order from our favorite micro brewery (have to support our local businesses). The AAA road service person who showed up today said he's replaced 6 dead batteries already this month from people who have not been starting their vehicles and charging the battery.
I was cognizant of this from an incident with my mother's 2017 Ford Escape this past winter. After my father passed away in December, she was staying with us in southeastern Michigan and her car was sitting unused in their pole barn in northern Michigan. When we went to start it (it had been a month since it had been driven), it was completely dead. Up there, the company doing the AAA road service did not carry spare batteries, nor have a very good jump start device. Plus, chipmunks had built a nest in her air intake (luckily they didn't chew any wires). We had the vehicle towed to the local mechanic up there who has been servicing my parents cars for 30 years (if you are ever in the Roscommon / Houghton Lake area of Michigan and need a mechanic, go to Lonnie's on M-18). All this when she had only about a month left on the vehicle lease!
seems to me you don’t get much more than 6 years out of a battery, no matter what).
So frustrating.
I know I’m going to half to go over there tomorrow and I know I’ll have to take a mask for him because I’m sure he doesn’t have one.
In the continuing adventures of my 79 year old dad.
He is still going as if things are normal.
Just goes to Lowe’s too often.
Today he calls and tells me he took his pool pump apart and can’t get it back together.
He has this crappy old pump on his in ground pool that I’ve told him needs to be replaced and continues to break down and stop pumping.
A couple weeks ago he calls me and asks me over because the pump wasn’t pumping.
I reluctantly went over and tunrned it off and on a couple times and it worked just fine.
Today he calls and wants me to come over because he can’t get the bracket and the O-ring back together and needs an extra set of hands to do it.
His wife can t help due to a broken leg and is basically chair bound.
So despite me telling him that I can’t come over unless it’s a real emergency and numerous times asking Him to just get a new pump he can’t help himself and takes it apart and can’t re-assemble it.
So frustrating.
I know I’m going to half to go over there tomorrow and I know I’ll have to take a mask for him because I’m sure he doesn’t have one.
Yeah, pretty much. The battery in my 2014 Grand Cherokee went 6 1/2 years. The fun part is, it costs about $250 and is nearly impossible to replace. I watched a video and decided I didn’t have the agility or upper body strength to even do it, so another $75 to have a mechanic do it.I'd say 6 years is pretty good for a car battery these days. Most are already a year or more old by the time they even make it to an actual car, even if the car is brand new. Conversely, I've never had to replace any of my motorcycle batteries. Probably because I keep them on trickle chargers.
Wow- under the front passenger’s seat? My other vehicle is a 2017 Grand Cherokee. I’m pretty sure the battery is where it’s supposed to be- under the hood (it’s in the trunk in my Charger )Yeah, pretty much. The battery in my 2014 Grand Cherokee went 6 1/2 years. The fun part is, it costs about $250 and is nearly impossible to replace. I watched a video and decided I didn’t have the agility or upper body strength to even do it, so another $75 to have a mechanic do it.
Seriously, look at a video showing how to replace that thing, which is UNDER the front passenger seat.
I’d double check that. If there are jumper posts in the engine compartment, then it’s under the seat.Wow- under the front passenger’s seat? My other vehicle is a 2017 Grand Cherokee. I’m pretty sure the battery is where it’s supposed to be- under the hood (it’s in the trunk in my Charger )
Yes I’ll have to look more carefully. How does the video explain how to remove the battery? Do you have to unbolt the seat?I’d double check that. If there are jumper posts in the engine compartment, then it’s under the seat.
You slide the seat all the way forward, then you can barely access a plate from the back seat that's removed to get to the battery, which is about twice the size of a regular battery, and there appears to be very little room to maneuver or grip the battery.Yes I’ll have to look more carefully. How does the video explain how to remove the battery? Do you have to unbolt the seat?
Sad that the days of the “shade tree mechanic” are no more- even though I can’t do/have no interest in doing auto repairs, I didn’t mind changing my own oil, swap out a battery- I even replaced aYou slide the seat all the way forward, then you can barely access a plate from the back seat that's removed to get to the battery, which is about twice the size of a regular battery, and there appears to be very little room to maneuver or grip the battery.
A few months after I got the car, I was just looking around under the hood, because like to know where things are when I need to replace the air filter, check the oil, add washer fluid, etc. I saw the jumper posts and started looking for the battery. After a lot of digging around, I deduced it wasn't there, which is when I looked up the video.
Is it selfish of me that I’m glad that their hospitals have been trying to keep them protected and away from it as much as possible so that they be in good health to provide care for any emergency surgeries that still do have to happen?
Yeah, pretty much. The battery in my 2014 Grand Cherokee went 6 1/2 years. The fun part is, it costs about $250 and is nearly impossible to replace. I watched a video and decided I didn’t have the agility or upper body strength to even do it, so another $75 to have a mechanic do it.
Seriously, look at a video showing how to replace that thing, which is UNDER the front passenger seat.