Battery Replacement

[89Suburban]

This how-to is for replacing the battery in your SB. Believe it or not, there may be some lurkers in here who have never done this.

First remove air cleaner intake tube from radiator support if so equipped.

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Then you can remove the bolts holding the battery terminals on. They take a 5/16" socket. And lefty-loosey. I usually take the negative(black) cable off first, then the positive(red) cable.

On trucks with the fresh air intake duct mounted to the radiator support, you may have to remove the battery hold down and move battery slightly to access the bolt head on the positive terminal because of limited clearance to get a ratchet and socket on it, unless you prefer to use a wrench.

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Removing the battery hold down bracket, you will need a 1/2" socket. There is no nut on the bottome side, unless somebody before you stripped the threads in the battery tray and put one under there. Lefty-loosey.

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You can now remove the battery. Inspect the batery tray for rust or loose fasteners. As you can see mine has a lot of surface rust. I blew off the loose stuff with an air gun, then coated it with rust converter, and a coat of rust resistant primer. This isn't a show truck so I wasn't worried about the primer paint job on it. I can always remove it at a later time to paint it to match the engine compartment. The main thing is to treat it so the rusting stops.

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Old battery is on the left, comparing to the new one on the right. I got a slightly larger size for extra capacity.

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When installing the new battery, make sure the lip on the bottom of the battery slips under the lip in the rear of the battery tray.

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Next install the battery hold dwon clip. You also might want to coat the threads on this bolt with a lubricant or anti-seize.

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Next install the battery cables, starting with the positvie(red) one first. Check the contacting face of the battery cable connections for corrosion and wire brush clean if necassary. They also make a spray that will eat any corrosion off the terminals, or you can use a water/baking soda mixture. After terminals are installed, you can spray a coat of battery protector film on the terminals/cables. I would have done this and showed pics, but I left mine at home. Also, be very careful how much you tighten the terminal bolts, the soft lead on the battery posts can strip very easily. Just snug the bolts.

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Lastly, install intake tube. All done.

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[RetroC10Sport]

To add: if you do this to a computer controlled truck, you will have to do a relearn for the ECM.

Start truck and let idle in drive for 5 minutes with e-brake on or sit in it with your foot on the brake pedal if your e-brake does not work.

 

[89Suburban]

Yes, and I did a 1 hour tour of the local snow covered back roads and the highway to "re-learn" her.

 

[nxtlevl]

Yes, and I did a 1 hour tour of the local snow covered back roads and the highway to "re-learn" her.

...Can't let them forget what tire spin is all about.......

 

[davbell22602]

To add: If you use special 5/16 ratchet wrench you don't need to remove the the air cleaner intake tube.

 

[RetroC10Sport]

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