Battery Box Torq Bolts Fix

[redtanrt10]

Those battery box torq bolts can be a real hassle to deal with. If you take a ****** set with a torq drive it is a real workout. Using a power drive over and over can tear up the heads. Between myself and DC I'd bet the cover has been off over 15 times. When I went to put a Battery Tender on last week I stripped another head and had to take it out with vice grips. These bolts go for something like $4.50 each from the Dodge dealer.

Here's a fix to make it easier and not tear up the heads,

- Pull the clips off and use a 6mm tap to clean the clip threads. Those factory clips are slick to stay in place but they really seem to fight the threads on the torq's.

- Clean the threads of the torq's if needed, using a 6MM bolt

- Spray the Torq bolts with WD-40.

Results are amazing, I started all the bolts with a hand tool and then decided to just keep going. Less than 1 minute to do all 5 by hand.

 

[ViperDave]

- Spray the Torq bolts with WD-40.

Vasaline works good also, either put it on the bolt to make them run better when screwing them in, or use elsewhere when you go to a dealer for a new bolt

 

[Viper Specialty]

Use a drill. The constant torque makes it simple. Doing it by hand is a pain. The clips are designed to be a "locker" so they cant loosen up.

 

[redtanrt10]

Hey Dan, I don't disagree but, if you do them over and over, real easy to tear up the heads and that clip distorts the threads. Spend a few minutes prep them after 1st removal will eliminate future issues.

 

[Flexx91]

As Dan said, use a drill with the correct torx bit and you shouldn't have any problems. If you're constantly pulling off the panel to change out batteries, then the main focus should be purchasing and installing a battery that will last..

 

[Martin]

I personally like the idea of a battery disconnect switch - that way you can work on your car without disconnecting the battery (or worrying that you're going to fry a chip, deploy the airbag, etc.).

 

[VIPER GTSR 91]

Plug your battery tender into the power adapter in the center console with the optional cigarette lighter plug from Deltran. Cheap and works GREAT. You should not have to be getting to the battery so many times. And yes, the bolts Dodge uses are very cheesey and difficult.

 

[Flexx91]

Or you can simply attach the pigtail harness supplied with the Battery Tender to the battery terminals and connect it to the leads through the rear fascia.

 

[redtanrt10]

Plug your battery tender into the power adapter in the center console with the optional cigarette lighter plug from Deltran. Cheap and works GREAT. You should not have to be getting to the battery so many times. And yes, the bolts Dodge uses are very cheesey and difficult.

GTSR, if you leave them stock yes. I'm on the orginal battery and I'd estimate between me and DC the battery has been disconnected 15 times or more to do mod's. Even taking out the seats require the batttery to be disconnected.

 

[Husker]

Plug your battery tender into the power adapter in the center console with the optional cigarette lighter plug from Deltran. Cheap and works GREAT. You should not have to be getting to the battery so many times. And yes, the bolts Dodge uses are very cheesey and difficult.

GTSR:

I'm a bit confused on this arrangement, maybe I'm not understanding you correctly.

You're stating... plug the "power adapter in to the center console with the optional cigarette lighter"

So where does the power to the cigarette lighter come from?

Last time I checked it comes from the battery. So that means you're charging your battery with the same battery. This will only lead to draining of your battery due to the resistance in the electrical circuit of system.

 

[ACR steve]

The wall to the tender , then tender adapter into the cigarette lighter

 

[Husker]

OK...that clears things up.

Thanks

 

[pure zen]

Or you can simply attach the pigtail harness supplied with the Battery Tender to the battery terminals and connect it to the leads through the rear fascia.

Did mine the same way. Haven't seen the battery since going to this way,,,over 18 months ago..

 

[Herc]

Wonder if you could rig up dzus fasteners to replace the bolts? I went with the pigtail on the battery.

Herc

 

[Bookie]

Why does it seem that nobody hooks the trickly charger to the remote battery hook up under the hood. Isn't it much easier than unscrewing those long bolts.

 

[Martin]

Seems like there are a couple of different issues here. One is if the battery cover had to be opened because the battery went dead, and the other is that it had to be opened to disconnect the battery for modifications. I'm guessing it was because of modifications - these cars have so many fiddly computer chips on them that it's crazy to do anything without disconnecting the battery. In that case, the thing to do is install a battery disconnect switch.

The main thing that worries me about doing things like tapping/cleaning the threads on the access box is that they installed that hardware for a purpose. That's a VERY corrosive environment, and I believe they're using hardware that's heavily coated to survive the environment. If you remove that coating, you're asking for a fastener that's going to either break or just spin in a few years when it's all corroded out.

I just put a little bit of anti-seize on the fasteners, and use a cordless 1/4" driver and it's no big deal.

 

[Urhuckleberry]

Why does it seem that nobody hooks the trickly charger to the remote battery hook up under the hood. Isn't it much easier than unscrewing those long bolts.

I agree! It seems the issue is disconnecting the battery to work on the car. I would be interested in installing a battery disconnect switch....