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I don't normally post in this forum, but thought I'd post today because I felt such pride!
My husband's van died last week - battery was dead as a doornail because the back door was left open for 24 hours. No amount of attempting to charge would bring that battery back.
My husband is currently immobile due to knee surgery, so I had talked to a neighbor whose husband works on cars to see if he could change the battery.
While waiting to hear back from the woman, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I went to Costco, bought the battery, and replaced it myself.
It was surprisingly easy and only took 5 minutes. I'm disgusted that all these years I've been paying $50-60 for my car shop to do it when they told me it was due for replacement.
From now on I'll just say, "No thank you," buy a battery and do it myself!
Did you take the battery to the auto shop and have it tested to make sure it was actually dead before you replaced it?
Did you take the battery to the auto shop and have it tested to make sure it was actually dead before you replaced it?
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Good point. A deep cycle charge may have brought it to life. A jump or quickie charge won't touch that in the least.
To the OP - learn to change wiper blades as well unless your auto parts store will do it for free; most do. Oil is next and I can do mine at night in my driveway with just the motion detector lights on. Have before and no doubt will again. It's a Chevy SB and they are as easy as it gets; IMO. Light bulbs are too easy. Test them once a month to see if you need to replace any. Have some spares on hand in case you need them as they go out at the most inopportune times.
I can understand your pride of accomplishment, that is a big deal. I know men who get this blank look on their faces when I try to tell them at my job how to do tasks like this, so it is nice to see that a female was able to figure it out by herself.
Good job. Pretty soon you will have grease under your fingernails from all the car repairs you will be doing ! Welcome to the club.
How much did it cost for you to buy the new battery?
Was that $50 paid to the garage the cost of installation + the new battery?
The battery was $70.
In the past when I've had to have a battery replaced (which has been more than a couple times on my 9+ year old car and at least 3 times for my husband's van), it was usually done as part of a larger maintenance visit. The $50 I quoted was not a real quote at all. I honestly don't know how much my shop charges for that one task. As I said, it's normally done as part of a larger maintenance visit.
Did you take the battery to the auto shop and have it tested to make sure it was actually dead before you replaced it?
No - but we tried multiple methods to try and get it going. We tried my husband's portable charger, as well as mine (these have worked in the past when we've helped other drivers with dead batteries). Neither worked. Then we hooked up my car directly, figuring that would definitely work. But with the jump start from my car we still couldn't even get the LIGHTS to come on in the van. That's how dead that battery was.
Good point. A deep cycle charge may have brought it to life. A jump or quickie charge won't touch that in the least.
To the OP - learn to change wiper blades as well unless your auto parts store will do it for free; most do. Oil is next and I can do mine at night in my driveway with just the motion detector lights on. Have before and no doubt will again. It's a Chevy SB and they are as easy as it gets; IMO. Light bulbs are too easy. Test them once a month to see if you need to replace any. Have some spares on hand in case you need them as they go out at the most inopportune times.
I've done wiper blade changes before on my car. My husband has done the lightbulbs on his van, too. He may have replaced one of my headlights, too, I think. That kind of stuff we've been comfortable doing.
It's the engine stuff that always makes us nervous. *lol* However, now I'm energized and most likely WILL tackle something like an air filter change if we determine it's needed!
I wish more people would learn that they could do this stuff themselves. I tore down and fixed a cooling system on a Hyundai using youtube videos, lol.....
Good for you OP.
Surprisingly, many maintenance items are relatively simple and easy. It is all about do you want to get your hands dirty or not. I have been taking my car to the shop for all things due to the lack of a working space. Now that I have a garage, I have started investing in tools so that I can try to save some money doing things DIY.
While having "basic car repair knowledge " is a very GOOD idea, some of the things to stay away from are..........BRAKES, and computer controls. Brakes, because they are a safety system. Computers because simply shorting out a terminal can cost you a week's pay, to fix.
Some community colleges have short courses on car maintenance , for beginners, that cover the basic stuff like how a gasoline engine works, how brakes work, and so on. Its not a training program for future technicians, it is a way for beginners to learn how NOT to get ripped off at the garage, or dealership.
Cars today are complicated, even the cheapest ones. My 2009 Cobalt has NO owner repair or adjustment items, at all. I can replace the air filter, and the cabin filter, but I wouldn't touch anything else. Why would I ?
Jim B.
Toronto.
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