GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

The battery on my daughters 03 is in need of replacement. I am old school mechanic with little experience on these newer cars with lots of electrics. Is there anything special other than the usual safety precautions that need to be done when replacing he battery? Anything need resetting other than the radio channels maybe???I know it sounds lame, but she does not need any new headaches right now.ThanksRobert

nope nothing special. if she has the stock radio it will hold the stations and i think the time as well.Remove hold down.Disconnect the negative then the positive, remove the battery.Replace with a new one.Replace the hold down.Reconnect the battery positive first, then negative.Crack a beer and pat your self on the back. lol

^^ +1

I have an 05 vibe and put an Orbital spiral battery in. It is the best battery I've ever had. I bought mine because I got a great deal on it, but you might want to check out Exide's spiral battery as well. Orbital just dropped the prices on their batteries which should like a good thing until you find out that they dropped the warranty from 3 years to two. They still have some of the older batteries on the shelf at auto parts stores with the three year warranty, and its probably worth the extra $20-30.

You will need to reset the time on the radio after the battery is disconnected. I have had to reset mine every single time.

Quote, originally posted by mcgyver554 »I have an 05 vibe and put an Orbital spiral battery in. It is the best battery I've ever had. I bought mine because I got a great deal on it, but you might want to check out Exide's spiral battery as well. Orbital just dropped the prices on their batteries which should like a good thing until you find out that they dropped the warranty from 3 years to two. They still have some of the older batteries on the shelf at auto parts stores with the three year warranty, and its probably worth the extra $20-30.I think "Orbital" is Exide's trademark for their spiral battery.Obviously a good battery but IMO a $60 84 month battery from Costco is more than adequate for 95% of users.

Have both a Vibe and a minivan in which the battery failed late on a Sunday night. Walmart was the only place open at that time. So far their batteries have been fine.

Man the batteries we get in at our local wal-mart are pure crap luck you.

The key step in the process that Keith wrote is the last one. Without the crack of the beer, the battery may not work right

re: "Obviously a good battery but IMO a $60 84 month battery from Costco is more than adequate for 95% of users."...exactly, most sealed batteries today only last about 3 years, especially here in the southwest were summer temperatures cause the water (H2O) in the electrolyte to evaporate out much faster than normal (of course, winter cold temperatures aren't good either).

Quote, originally posted by Old Tele man »re: "Obviously a good battery but IMO a $60 84 month battery from Costco is more than adequate for 95% of users."...exactly, most sealed batteries today only last about 3 years, especially here in the southwest were summer temperatures cause the water (H2O) in the electrolyte to evaporate out much faster than normal (of course, winter cold temperatures aren't good either).How exactly would it evaporate if it's "sealed" I've had my original battery since 2004 and it's been in 100+ temps it's whole life?

...Why, because they're not actually 100%-sealed, or they'd explode....YOU can't put fresh water into it, but the water-vaper isn't supposed to escape, but it actually does.

I thought you could add distilled water to them?

...don't know if it's an AZ or EPA-federal thing (battery acid and lead hazards), but ALL the local batteries available here are sealed, except for the "comercial vehicle/farm" ones, which don't fit our '04 or '09 Vibes....I've been in AZ since 1956 and just about every battery (DieHard, GM, Prestolite, Napa, K-Mart, Exide, etc.) have lasted only about 36-42 months. Even buying the largest size that'd fit the tray didn't seem to buy any extra life...and the cars run gamut from Pintos (small) to Astro Van (big)...some without a/c, most with (adds lots of extra 'heat' into the engine compartment during summer driving).

I have noted in reading CU Reoprts that many batteries seem to be available in "South" and "North".

...to my thinking they should be labeled HOT(summer) and COLD(winter). ha,ha.