Changing Battery

[Dana1020]

I have a 2000 Chevy Venture that needs to have it's battery replaced. Does this require you to go to the dealership or can it be done at home? Thank you.

[jclaar]

If you have some basic mechanical knowledge, it can be done. It's not as easy as removing 2 nuts and popping a new one in. I would suggest purchasing a Haynes manual for your Venture. It tells you how to do everything to your minivan including changing a battery. This can be found at any autoparts store. I believe if you purchase a battery at Advanced Auto Parts, they will do it for free.

['97ventureowner]

If you or someone you know has a Sam's Club membership, their tire center will replace your battery for free if you buy one from them, I know looking at the battery in the vehicle looks kind of difficult to change. If Sam's Club does it, I'm sure B.J.'s might also, and Wal Marts that have the tire and lube centers in the store, (in my area only one Wal Mart has this and it is quite a distance from me, so I don't know if they do.) I found the price of batteries at Sam's Club to be very good, and if their willing to install it for free...hey.. like Martha Stewart says," It's a good thing."

[umina]

I just replaced my battery a few days ago, took 20 minutes or so. Yes, your hands WILL get dirty, but its not a big deal. I checked around and Walmart WILL NOT replace this battery, as it is not in "plain site" under the hood. The same went for Costco and Sams Club here in Idaho. I wasn't about to pay a tire place 20-30 bucks to install it so I did it myself. It was waaaay easier to replace than my 97Lumina battery. Heres what you do:

1. You will have to remove the round cross bar brace that goes over the battery area. There are two bold up front, and one in back. To get to the one in back, remove the plastic cover that covers the wiper motor (it just pulls up off of some metal clips). This is easiest done if you have both a short and long extension for 3/8" drive ratchet.

2. Once the bolts are removed, there is a small screw at the front of the fuse box assembly that must be removed (I think I had to take off the box cover to get this if memory serves correctly). Then twist and pull on the cross bar brace, it should slide out of the fuse box assembly..

3. You should now be able to move the fuse box around (you can't take it out of the vehicle because its all plugged in and I didn't want to disturb the electrical connections). Just twist it up and sorta out of the way.

4. You should now be able to get at the negative battery terminal and remove it (I did this with a 1/4" drive ratchet). You will find it helpful to unplug the electrical connection (the only one I could see, its down next to the negative terminal, and disconnecting it gives more slack to the fuse box assembly.)

5. Move the fuse box assembly some more and remove the positive terminal. Using a ratchet and extension, unscrew the battery brace (same size socket as used to remove the cross bar brace) on the back bottom of the battery. Remove plastic piece.

6. Have an assistant gently hold the fuse box assembly back out of the way while you tilt the battery and remove straight up and out of the car. Installation is reverse of removal. Just be sure to plug back in any electrical connections you unplugged. It is not neccessary to unscrew the ground that goes to the passenger side of the hood, but doing so may give you more slack if you need it and have no assistant.

Its not as hard as it sounds, I just wanted to provide as much detail as possible. Remember, this only took me 20 minutes tops. Oh, and I had to "unlock" my radio after this was done, but found the procedure, dealer code, and 1-800 number to "cheat" the system and get an unlock code. Let me know if you need this info, I found it searching this forum.

['97ventureowner]

I guess if you don't want to change it yourself, you should call around to the auto parts stores to see if they do it for free w/ battery purchase. Here in NY, Sam's club does it for their members. I wonder why that policy varies from state to state. My '97 is still going strong (original battery) after 7 years. I know many GM owners who still have their original AC Delco batteries in their vehicles after 8 or 9 years. At least when it comes time to replace mine, after reading umina's post, it seems easier to replace than it looks.

[umina]

Yah, its really not all that difficult. My battery failed because of a faulty voltage regulator ground screw in the alternator. This caused the lights to flicker for who knows how long before I got the van. it was a $5 fix, but I'm guessing it killed the battery over time.

[GMCritic]

Thanks for posting this! It was really nice to have the steps in my mind before attempting to replace the battery. Took about the same amount of time (20 minutes). It's important to be carefull when pulling out/putting in the battery since there are so many wires.... one could easily be pulled out if you're not carefull.

[cindyangelgirl2000]

Originally Posted by umina

I just replaced my battery a few days ago, took 20 minutes or so. Yes, your hands WILL get dirty, but its not a big deal. I checked around and Walmart WILL NOT replace this battery, as it is not in "plain site" under the hood. The same went for Costco and Sams Club here in Idaho. I wasn't about to pay a tire place 20-30 bucks to install it so I did it myself. It was waaaay easier to replace than my 97Lumina battery. Heres what you do:

1. You will have to remove the round cross bar brace that goes over the battery area. There are two bold up front, and one in back. To get to the one in back, remove the plastic cover that covers the wiper motor (it just pulls up off of some metal clips). This is easiest done if you have both a short and long extension for 3/8" drive ratchet.

2. Once the bolts are removed, there is a small screw at the front of the fuse box assembly that must be removed (I think I had to take off the box cover to get this if memory serves correctly). Then twist and pull on the cross bar brace, it should slide out of the fuse box assembly..

3. You should now be able to move the fuse box around (you can't take it out of the vehicle because its all plugged in and I didn't want to disturb the electrical connections). Just twist it up and sorta out of the way.

4. You should now be able to get at the negative battery terminal and remove it (I did this with a 1/4" drive ratchet). You will find it helpful to unplug the electrical connection (the only one I could see, its down next to the negative terminal, and disconnecting it gives more slack to the fuse box assembly.)

5. Move the fuse box assembly some more and remove the positive terminal. Using a ratchet and extension, unscrew the battery brace (same size socket as used to remove the cross bar brace) on the back bottom of the battery. Remove plastic piece.

6. Have an assistant gently hold the fuse box assembly back out of the way while you tilt the battery and remove straight up and out of the car. Installation is reverse of removal. Just be sure to plug back in any electrical connections you unplugged. It is not neccessary to unscrew the ground that goes to the passenger side of the hood, but doing so may give you more slack if you need it and have no assistant.

Its not as hard as it sounds, I just wanted to provide as much detail as possible. Remember, this only took me 20 minutes tops. Oh, and I had to "unlock" my radio after this was done, but found the procedure, dealer code, and 1-800 number to "cheat" the system and get an unlock code. Let me know if you need this info, I found it searching this forum.

Hi! My name is Cindy and I am hoping you can help me. We just followed your instuctions on the battery change. EXCELLENT instructions, Thank you! I think we might need the procedure you mentioned to "unlock" the radio. Could you please let me know? This is my first entry here so I am not quite sure how to use this site. My email is [email protected]. We have a 2001 Chevy Venture WB Edition. Thanks so much if you can assist! Cindy

[momma_griff]

Originally Posted by umina

I just replaced my battery a few days ago, took 20 minutes or so. Yes, your hands WILL get dirty, but its not a big deal.

Thanks for posting this information. My husband had thought this through already, but he convinced me that this we the correct way to go after seeing your post and the responses. I just couldn't believe that you have to remove a brace to get out a battery! :-0

[bdhunter]

Originally Posted by momma_griff

Thanks for posting this information. My husband had thought this through already, but he convinced me that this we the correct way to go after seeing your post and the responses. I just couldn't believe that you have to remove a brace to get out a battery! :-0

Just had a battery replaced (terminal actually broke out of battery causing acid leakage) and I thought my favorite electrical shop was kidding when they said that a battery change pays a flat rate hour for GM mini vans! I guess that's the price you pay when a vehicle is designed and built by computers...

There's one piece of advice to any who try this (which is easy once you get all the junk out of the way and can actually SEE the battery)... get a 'circuit saver' (usually a 9 volt battery with adapter) and plug it into one of your power outlets before starting anything else, so none of the computers (including the radio) lose any of their settings.

One other thing the shop did - REMOVE THE IGNITION KEY AND FOB FROM THE VEHICLE! - Many horror stories abound of security systems locking vehicles (even closing all windows) because the computers 'thought' they were being tampered with.

My happy ending... because it was the first ever GM mini done there, they only charged 1/2 hour labor.

[chuckster1]

Excellent advice. Confirmed what I thought I needed to do to remove the battery on my 1999 Chevy Venture. Easy 20 minute job. Thanks!

['97ventureowner]

Welcome to AF! Glad the info you found here helped you. In the future however, please refrain from resurrecting old posts,( the last response to that thread was over 18 months ago.) If you have anything new to contribute please start a new thread and link to the old one if relevant. It is outlined in AF's guidelines here:
" A Good Thing To Know"
Thread closed.