Battery removing
- Thread starter alma45
- Start date
shelbyelite
PERMANENTLY BANNED
- May 10, 2007
- 1
the front spoiler does not have to be removed. The front trunk liner / tub has to be removed to gain access. Then there is just one bolt that holds the battery in place ( plus the terminals ) then the battery can be removed. Be careful not to put pressure on the fenders with your elbows, etc , as you could easily dent the front fenders. I have seen this happen many times. Other than that, you should be good. Some people like to hook a battery charger, etc , to the car as not to lose power to the cars ECU. Hope this helps.
I removed my battery uneventfully. Let me be the litmus test for what's easy - if I can do it, anyone can. I did it exactly as described by Shelby.
I did not hook a charger up to my car while I removed it, and did not have any problems. I can not say whether that will always be the case, or whether one should.
I replaced mine with a new OEM Ford battery and am happy with it.
I did not hook a charger up to my car while I removed it, and did not have any problems. I can not say whether that will always be the case, or whether one should.
I replaced mine with a new OEM Ford battery and am happy with it.
fjpikul
GT Owner
Losing power to the ECU means it has to reset itself the next time you drive. This takes a while, while the cars re-tunes itself. You also run the risk of the gauges not resetiing properly (look for dead battery posts here). Depending on how you drive, it may take as long as an hour to reset and the car will act funny.
Indy GT
Yea, I got one...too
Frank is mostly right (as usual)...
The ECU has built in memory as to how the car is driven and has some adaptive logic. I am not quite sure what paramaters are taylored to how we drive our cars but there is some "learning" by the ECU once reset. Perhaps one of our Team Members might expand.
But it does take a while (maybe 50 miles or an hour of driving) for the ECU to reacquire.
So a question for Shelby.
I take it you hook up the battery charger to the battery cables. Then disconnect the cables from the battery keeping the charger clips on the cables and remove the battery then? And the charger then keeps alive all the "programed" stuff within the electronics of our car?
The ECU has built in memory as to how the car is driven and has some adaptive logic. I am not quite sure what paramaters are taylored to how we drive our cars but there is some "learning" by the ECU once reset. Perhaps one of our Team Members might expand.
But it does take a while (maybe 50 miles or an hour of driving) for the ECU to reacquire.
So a question for Shelby.
I take it you hook up the battery charger to the battery cables. Then disconnect the cables from the battery keeping the charger clips on the cables and remove the battery then? And the charger then keeps alive all the "programed" stuff within the electronics of our car?
Indy GT-- I am probably the guy who told Shelby about using a battery charger when you change batteries. Do just as you described. I originally did it so I would not lose all of my radio station presets when I changed batteries, but in the last few years, it makes even more sense due to all the computers cars now have to keep them from having to re-learn all their parameters. Just my way of trying to keep things as simple as possible.
Howard
GT Owner
Use the original power outlet on the dash for the battery charger input. That way you don't have the difficult job of keeping aligator clips on the battery terminals while you are removing them from the battery. I wonder how much voltage and current are supplied by the charger when it is not looking into the load of a battery? It may be safer to use a 12 volt battery plugged into the power outlet.
Howard
Howard
Howard,
if I'm not wrong, the power outlet is switched off unless you have the key
in "RUN" position. Is'nt it?
Thanks.
if I'm not wrong, the power outlet is switched off unless you have the key
in "RUN" position. Is'nt it?
Thanks.
Indy GT
Yea, I got one...too
My thoughts were along the same line. How much current is necessary for stay-alive. I cannot imagine it takes much current and a 2-10 amp battery charger with a taper charge I am sure is sufficient. I like the battery tender apporach as well in the power plug. Althought this transformer has much less current capability it still may be sufficient to keep alive all the programmed stuff in our electronics.
And I think our power plug is always "on" independent of ignition switch position. It would have to be to take current to keep the battery topped off during hybernation.
And I think our power plug is always "on" independent of ignition switch position. It would have to be to take current to keep the battery topped off during hybernation.
Howard
GT Owner
Yes, power outlet plug is always "on". I know the Battery Tender type maintainers have the voltage and current to supply the hibernating car with all it needs under normal circumstances, but they were designed to look into a battery and to vary voltage and current according to the battery's needs. What do they do when there is no battery, when all they see is the minimal load of the computer? Maybe they get fooled into cycling down the voltage or current to insufficient levels. For the short duration of a battery change, I'd just use another battery plugged into the power outlet.
Howard
Howard
SYCO GT
GT Owner
Anyone else use this method? Sounds easy to employ. Just plug the factory included interior power outlet charger into the outlet and swap the battery.
But I wanted to check first. My battery arrived at Sears and am going to pick it up this week and do the swap. Would like to avoid losing the ECU or Tune from memory.
Derry
GT Owner
Though I have not done it in the GT, for my other cars I have always plugged into the power outlet (used to be known as lighter socket) with a male plug and a 9 volt transister battery on the other end. Never lost radio stations or other presets.
While this is all true, it is all 99.9% not detectable by the driver. There are at least a hundred if not a thousand procedures in the shop manual where Step 1 is to disconnect the battery. Never once is there any mention - anywhere of maintaining voltage for any reason. Perhaps this concept was perpetuated by the makers of the 9V cigarette lighter adapters when they became popular 10 years ago. By far the worst side effect is the loss of your radio stations.
I'll make a $100 wager for anyone that wants to take it. I will either disconnect your battery or not and would absolutely defy anyone to be able to detect one way or the other through a driving experience. Unless the radio preset thing really annoys you, don't worry about the gauges or anything else. When a procedure (such as battery replacement, LOL) calls for disconnecting the battery, just trust that the Ford engineers really knew best.
THamonGT
GT
Just this past weekend at a show in reliant stadium in Houston I had to disconnect my battery due to fire code in the stadium. I tried everything possible in excuses to get out of disconnecting my battery to no avail. I disconnected the negative side of the battery and worried about it the whole weekend. On Sunday at the end of the show I reconnected negative side and then checked my headlights before starting with no problems. Left the stadium and drove about 40 miles to my building with NO problems whatsoever. I drove to Texas City varing my speed from time to time and could not tell any unusual driving mode. It ran perfectly wiothout a problem. My GT turned 5 years old on Sunday so because of the Battery Posts recently I ordered a new OEM Ford battery on monday and will put it in when it comes in. I guess I am lucky as I have had no problems with Gauges having 4,500 miles on my GT. I still rub my lucky silver coin often that helped my sell my Ford dealership three years ago this week so maybe it works! I'm not going to take a chance on my 5 year old battery though. Tomy PS You should have seen me driving 40 plus miles to the stadium in 2nd and 3rd gear trying to get to a 1/4 tank of gas. (another fire code issue).
This is my only regret... owners need not worry about it!! Probably half or more of the GTs that we modify here will have the battery disconnected for safety reasons. The last step before letting the owner to pick up the car is to re-connect the battery. Never once has anyone ever reported an anomoly or a difference in driving/running. Please, don't worry about it!!
BlackICE
GT Owner
Kendall is right I doubt if anyone can tell the difference unless you datalog the long term fuel trim or adaptive table of the returnless fuel pump. To my knowledge these are the only things that are learned and saved while the engine is off.
To be on the safe side just don't do any extreme driving just after disconnecting the battery.
SYCO GT
GT Owner
Remove & Replace:
Negative cable disconnected first on the old battery, and reconnected last on the new battery install, correct?
Negative cable disconnected first on the old battery, and reconnected last on the new battery install, correct?