Wife has been having some electrical issues with her Suburban.
Bad battery. So I go buy new. What a craptastic design this thing has. The battery is way back in the far passenger corner tucked under the wiper cowl overhang.
There is a big power distribution box on the top that has to be removed, then you have to remove, a support cross brace, the air box so you can move the coolant tank.
Took me about an hour it was balls hot and was in full uniform.
Then to top it all off there is a perfectly good battery tray in the front drivers side of the engine bay with nothing in it and easy access.

The good part the battery was 10% off and had a $20 mail in rebate so I saved $50.

I could probably do it in about 30 minutes now that I know what all needs to be done and where the fasteners are.

Chevy Corvette... Buick Century... Chrysler 300... Cadillac Allante... Simples.

The next level of pain-in-the-assery goes to the Toyota Previa. The battery is underneath the damn thing.

You'll also have to pull the seats out to change the spark plugs.

Take rear driver side wheel and tire off, take half of the inner wheel well off,unbolt the battery hold down, then use one hand to lift and pull the battery out. 1996 Dodge Viper

Personally think that they(all of the car makers) design all of today"s vehicles to force the buyers to bring the cars/trucks back for specialized service because the work is more complicated/ time consuming/ special tools and if the owner messes things up trying to do it themselves then they must come to the dealer.Don"t have some of the specialized tools needed. Plus they use the "shop rate book" for how much they can charge the customer as well as payment for the mechanics. If book says 2 hours and it takes takes the mechanic 3 hours only payed for 2 hours but if he can get it done in 1 hour payed for 2 and then able to move onto other jobs but the customer will be charged by the book so you are paying for the mechanic but mechanic is working on another vehical. ........... ..........................................drill sgt.

Oh Batteries... I don't miss those. I worked for AAA for a while doing mobile battery installations. GM uses the same setup for their diesels and gas engines so that second battery tray is for the second battery in a diesel (I was always confused why they wouldn't use that spot for the first battery then if it happened to be a diesel then throw the second battery underneath all that crap).

Saturn skys, pontiac solstice, dodge viper all have to remove fender to get at battery

Chrysler is a huge fan of removing the wheel/inner fender to get to battery (sebrings, journeys, earlier 200's)

Ford escapes from 2012ish-maybe current? havent seen newest years, but you have to remove the windshield wipers, cowling, bunch of other things because they jam them right up against the firewall. You could remove air box and a bunch of things to get from the front, but it was always easier for me to go through windshield wiper way.

Newer Jeep grand cherokees are under the passenger seat, which isn't terribly difficult to do except when your battery completely dies and your passenger seat is a power seat because you have to be able to roll the seat forward and backwards to get to the compartment the battery hides in.

I got very good at swapping batteries so none of them are extremely difficult after doing a ton of them, but for your average Joe it definitely seems like a scam to get you to go to the dealer. Autozones, o'reilly's and other parts stores won't install these batteries like they will with the easier ones so it leaves people to paying a mechanic to do it.

Dang dude, $300 for a battery?

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
Dang dude, $300 for a battery?

$250 on sale. I only buy the best batteries.
Northstar X2 Power AGMs
AGM so no worries about corrosion or exploding (wife’s better in the Highlander exploded a few years back that was a nightmare). Plus AGMs handle the constant drain and all the electronic goodies these new vehicles have nicely. AGMs are also better for constant vibration (not a huge deal for the wife’s vehicle but my trucks going off road it is nicer).
It is a cranking battery and a deep cycle battery so when these little buggers leave the lights on and the battery drains completely there is no damage to the battery.
For this particular setup factory cold cranking amps is 720 this has 840 or 860 can’t remember off the top of my head. The amp hours are pretty high on these as well.
They also provide a 5 year full replacement warranty.

The one for my Tundra is $350 but the previous owner replaced the battery just last year so it will be awhile before I swap that one out.

Not so much of a pain to get to, but I hate with a passion the side post batteries, GM still uses them in the Express vans. A holes

"Over-engineered for style" - as a member once said, and I have stolenadopted - vehicles are a huge pain in the ass, needlessly so.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
Dang dude, $300 for a battery?

$250 on sale. I only buy the best batteries.
Northstar X2 Power AGMs
AGM...

Very familiar with Northstar and AGM batteries.

I also know the warranty and Northstar customer service are top notch.

As I recall, my GTO has a 26R battery and, from an Interstate Battery distro center in Miramar, that battery was in the low $200 range. That was 12 to 18 months ago.

I have had good luck with Northstar batteries in the past. But just bought two group 27 AGM elite's, installed them in a boat (after carring it 200' through a yard, onto the boat, into the center console and installing it) and it was bad right out of the gate. Showed fully charged on a volt meter, but as soon as you hit it with a load tester it dropped to 6 volts.....had to then re-installed the 1 good battery of the 2 old ones because none were in stock, then 2 weeks later install the new replacement Northstar.......so don't feel so bad.....I spent 1.5 additional hours swapping batteries that I shouldn't have had to. LOLOLOL Lesson learned, load test every battery before I install it.

When I commuted 100 plus miles per day in metro Detroit I strapped a gallon jug of washer solvent in the battery tray up front and ran a siphon hose out the top and into the washer reservoir. Well worth it in the winter.

My wife's Jeep Grand Cherokee has the battery under the front passenger seat. I'd really like to meet the engineer who designed that, and their boss that approved it.

On my 2017 Subaru Outback, no problem getting the battery in and out. Problem is doing so screws up the power windows. This is apparently normal and you have to research the magic bullet that makes it right again.

The battery for my 2015 GMC Sierra is in the same location.
The headlight on that side is a PIA to change as well.

I can't recall the details but I recall it being a PIA in my BIL's BMW 335D. It was in the trunk and there were various covers and brackets to remove, then some kind of computer sat on top of the battery which incorporated the battery leads. After it was replaced and put back together he had to get it to a service place that had the interface to program the car to "accept" its new battery.

Most parts stores will do the swap for you gratis, when you buy the battery from them right there in the parking lot, you can hang out, chat, and watch or stand inside in the AC and wait.

Black, your's is like my Silverado, with all that crap in the way. Even makes it a PITA if you have to jump start someone...

My wife had a BMW X5 (very briefly), and when I needed to change the battery, it was under the spare tire area on the back of the car. And when the rear hatch strut got stuck halfway up, and the angle of the hatch precluded me from climbing through the back of the car to get to the battery compartment... yeah, what a pain.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Most parts stores will do the swap for you gratis ...

On most cars, they say in the fine print. I doubt if they'd do a complicated one like that, let alone one that has to have wheels and fender panels taken off.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Most parts stores will do the swap for you gratis ...

On most cars, they say in the fine print. I doubt if they'd do a complicated one like that, let alone one that has to have wheels and fender panels taken off.

You never know until you ask, Imagine the hidden wheel well mopars are off the list.

On the topic of WTF was that engineer thinking when he designed this... Ever change a lightbulb on a Cadillac STS? You have to remove the front bumper, both wheel wells it's a nightmare...