How Do I Change a battery in a Ford Focus?

"How hard can it be?" you say?  Well... not as easy as it could be - is the answer.  This is best done by two people. However - I would recommend not to employ some spanners from Halfords to do it! Here are the steps on how to do it yourself

1. Find your radio code - if you don't have it, then once you change the battery you will be soundless!
2. Unclip the top of the battery container (only one clip) and the side clip
3. get a 10mm socket and loosen the nuts around the terminals. Be careful not to loose them, or you will be screwed.
4. The metal harness securing the battery in the car is held on by a 10mm nut which is down the side of the battery container, A little hard to get at, but not impossible once you part the container a little. Again, be careful not to loose this nut!
5. Unclip the metal harness
6. Take off the terminals - you may need to lever the negative terminal off with something, a spanner or screwdriver will do it. You can also buy terminal pullers to make it easier.
7. Take out the battery (easier with two people)

8. Insert new battery
9. If its slightly smaller in length you will have to position it so the wires that connect to the ECU fit ok when the battery container is secured.
10.Reattach the terminals and tighten the nuts
11. Replace harness and tighten nut to secure
12.clip back the battery container covers

If you follow the above you should be done in about 20 mins!

Smart battery charger will save you money!

Thanks to the icy mornings this week my 6 year old car battery decided it had finally had enough,and failed to start the car this morning. (cold weather wreaks havoc with older batteries)

My car flicked the headlights on and off in protest, which is a fabulous way of conserving energy for starting the engine. What did Ford think when they designed the car that way? "i know, when the battery is low, lets make the car turn the headlights on and off, wasting valuable volts that could be used to turn the engine over!"  Thanks Ford!!

A new battery from Halfords is £120, but it might be able to get it cheaper "somewhere else"

A few years ago i bought a RING - Portable power Powerring Smart Battery Charger.  This can not only rapidly charge a battery, but reconditions the battery to provide it longer life,even for deeply discharged batteries! This process can take about 20hrs to complete but it works.  I used it on a car battery a few years ago, and that battery lasted a further 6 months before having to be replaced.

So if you want to save some money and get your car working for a bit longer - check it out.  I bought mine for about £30 a few years ago: http://www.ringautomotive.co.uk/product_list.asp?cat1=7&cat2=31&cat3=167