Charging the battery on a 2009 Vibe

[vhoward1122]

I am assuming that it is the safer thing to do would be to disconnect the battery cables from the battery before charging it. Don't want to risk damaging the onboard computer. But, is there a certain procedure to removing the battery? I noticed this device in the local auto parts store that lets you plug a 9v battery into your cigarette lighter socket so your onboard computer doesn't loose power while the battery is out. How would that work in the vibe since the key has to be in the "on" position for the cigarette lighter to work?Can I just remove my battery, charge it over night, then re-install the battery and still have my car work properly?I'm thinking that it might be time to just replace the battery as it will be three years this coming March that I have had the car. I have noticed that the first start of the day is a little sluggish. All the rest of the day are fine.

[zionzr2]

Best to take it out to charge....Disconnect neg. side first then Positive.Reinstall reverse order.After reinstall let idle for a couple minutes so that the computer can re-learn everything. While its doing that you can reset the clock.

[vhoward1122]

That's what I did. I let it charge until the charger said it was charged and switched to trickle charge. Cleaned everything up and it is working fine now. Starting is still not as snappy as when it was new. I probably need to just take the battery out every other month and give it a good charge anyway as the short around town drives I do don't give it enough time to charge the battery.Plus it has been cold the last few mornings. It even snowed 3 inches here on the Oregon coast which is rare.

[jake75]

Hard to believe my 2009 Vibe will be two years old in January. My 2003 Vibe OEM battery was 5 years old when I replaced it in Oct. 2007 with one from Costco @54.99 because I didn't trust it to take me through another winter. I'd guess that battery is $69.99 today.I just popped the old one out, put the new one in, and never was concerned about reprogramming etc. If that Vibe had to relearn anythign it didn't take long.

[j42.snyder]

Compared to my previous car ('02 Sunfire), the Vibe's never sounded too enthused about turning over when cold. Maybe the starter's just a smaller unit or something.I would measure the voltage at the battery when it's been sitting for an hour or so and see what it's at. It should be around 12.6V fully charged - although with short trips anything over about 12.2V is probably fairly normal. Much less than that, and I'd suspect a bad cell.I've trickle charged batteries in a car with it connected many times with no issues. I wouldn't worry much about disconnecting it. I'd only consider that if using a large "shop" charger - like 40A or higher, as they may develop higher than normal voltages. Any smaller charger I've used usually peaks no higher than 16V when connected to the battery - which any electronics in the car should be able to take without issue.If you don't have a volt meter, many shops will do a load test for a minimal charge. Just make sure you take it for a decent run prior to going there to make sure it's as fully charged as it's going to get. That should be the most accurate way to know its health. That is, as long as you trust the shop...Too bad the lighter outlet was switched in our cars, or you could use a small solar charger on the dash to keep it up. That's assuming a life lived outdoors of course. I use those on the battery for my "hobby" car as well as my boat, and never need to do any additional charging.

[vhoward1122]

My battery was dead this morning. I got out the charger starter I use only in emergencies and jump started my car. Took my car to the shop where they put the battery on this machine that took about an hour and a half to run a test on it. Had to charge it first. Turned out the battery had a bad cell and would not hold a charge. The shop did not charge me for that test. I bought a new battery rated for 670 CCA instead of the OEM batteries 356 CCA.Well, it has that snappy start now. The shop also tested my alternator and did some kind of test that was supposed to detect if there was a short in the wiring that would put an abnormal drain on the battery. Everything checked out fine.