is there a way for me to swap my battery without loosing power? Can i start the car then pull the old one out and put the new one in if im careful enough? If not.... im a member with racv will they do it for me or do i have to make up an excuse to get them to come out then ask? Cheers
Why? I assume your new battery is flat? If the positive terminal touches ANY part of the chassis, motor, anything really, then your going to monster your fusible links. I wouldn't recommend it, actually I'd advise against it.
The car wont run without power attached. Cant imagine why you 'need' it? What happens if you leave your lights on one day and the same thing happens? Ive got mine setup so i can plug it into a wall socket and take out the battery and keep the motor running.. but I cant imagine any circumstance that would require it. RACQ wont normally do it. It would be possible if you keep the jumper leads attached to the cars wires as you carefully put the battery in and out. Taking into account the increased risk of a short with live wires moving about in a battery change, that would be your best bet.
My current battery is starting to die, its been getting slower at starting the car over the last few weeks and im sure its going to be on its way out soon! The alternator is new and this battery is over 6 years old so im going to change it now while its still going before it decides to die on me when i need it! Dont really want to mess anything up guess ill just do it with the car off, i just dont want my immobiliser or anything to start playing up if it looses power!
There is no way I would do what you want to do. Silly idea from start to finish. How 'critical are these 'magic settings you have?
not critical at all really. I was asking the question purely because i didnt know it could be that bad to swap it out like that and also because i cant be fkd changing radio setting, clocks and immobiliser all back if i didnt have to to start with ! Knowing i cant do it now i wont, hopefully everybody can sleep better at night!
How about a trickle charger connected to the cigarette lighter socket. Then disconnect earth, positive and remove battery.
You can wire in something to keep power to things to not loose settings, but you really don't need to. Reset your ecu while your at it
OK couple of things... Yes the car will keep running with the battery removed. My mate had a starion when we were in our late teens... the electrical system was ****ed and the only way to guarantee the car would restart was to disconnect the battery while running, then turn off the ignition. Something wrong with the alternator.... Is this a good idea? No. Even with the battery relocated to the boot we managed to burn a few things. With the positive terminal live it can short against any part of the body or motor. You don't need to keep the car powered, the only settings you will lose are clock and radio presets. The immobiliser should be OK provided you have the remote.
sweet should be right to do it with the car off then! What's this about resetting the ecu while im at it?
I just made up a little device to solve the problem of loosing radio stations and also having to pay the local dealer to get a code for the radio if you losse power when swaping batterys. ( the local honda dealer charges up to $20 for codes ). Just get a 9 volt battery and the terminal clip then join a 1/2 metre of cable to each lead with small bulldog clips on the + ( red ) and - ( black ) then connect the clips to the battery terminals before removing the battery terminals for swapping batterys and i also wrap the terminals with rags just to be safe. Works great. Cheers Dave
Yeah I use something similar but with a 12v deep cycle battery from Jaycar. Not super big, but big enough to run a radio off. I'm not convinced about those 9v batteries as many alarms and radio cut outs will trigger at anything below 10v.
It is annoying loosing radio and other setting when changing a battery! A simple tool to have is a plug ( wired battery positive to the central or end terminal) to fit into the cig. lighter outlet with a 10 amp fuse in the line. turn key to the accessories position with a 12volt battery connected , and using care not to allow the positive terminal to earth out changed the battery.
I thought that if you turn on the lights and let all power drain, then allow 30 mins or so everything reset's. So the ecu has a way of storing history even without power for extended periods of time? blah if so, face-palm, I always thought everything reset after extended time without power.
you can connect any extra 12v battery to the system, add the vehicles 12v power wire to the positive pole of the extra battery, then ground the new battery to the chassis. but yeh, its not fun grounding the power out, so if you attempt this make sure you cover the positive terminal with rubber or something which is not conductive whilst your changing the main battery.
Back to the ECU thing... I've never pulled one apart but, don't they use a Flash ROM type of EEPROM thingy... if so then it's written to the chip and you could stick it on a shelf disconnected for 10 yrs and it'd still hold the same settings! It's a pain in the proverbial about radio codes though... once you have the correct code for your radio write it down and keep it in the glove box!
I thought that had a small RAM drive which stored the customized settings, which lost it's settings once without power. Would be nice to know 100% either way though =]
i've done it in my old Z. dead battery and all i had was my mates car with his battery. chucked it in mine started the car then put my old battery in while running. the key is to have someone hold your terminals so they touch nothing.
