Starter?

[dave6666]

Enough of shoveling bags of stuff from Lowe's garden center, the new battery went in tonight. Car fired quickly and after a 30 minute drive I let it heat soak for a few minutes after I got home and it spun up quickly again.

I'm not going to call the opinion done yet, but it seems like a new battery was in order regardless. I'll take a looksie at the starter area and report back in a few. If nothing else, I want to test my Alan's with my 3 fan setup and relocate the temp sensor too. Car needs to be up in the air for that so I'll check the starter and continue pursuit of the perfect cooling system all at once.

 

[Ratical2]

Ain't it ridicules how many different types and sizes of fasteners you have to remove to get to the battery?

I feel famous. Fan club of at least one

Anyway, 1/2 pound or so of debris from the battery cover has been vacuumed up.

And, a new in wrapper Megatron awaits me.

Moments ago...

You must be registered for see images

Workin' ******* a LANDSCAPING project at Dave's right now

​

 

[costanZo]

Ain't it ridicules how many different types and sizes of fasteners you have to remove to get to the battery?

Yes, it is ridiculous.... I hate doing it...till this day I'll never understand why they ever decided to put the battery there. Someone told me once that the reason for having the battery located there was to add weight to the back of the car.

 

[dave6666]

LMAO yeah, but at least now I know which 6 nutdrivers/sockets/picks to grab before thinking I'm on top of it.

 

[Ratical2]

Yes, it is ridiculous.... I hate doing it...till this day I'll never understand why they ever decided to put the battery there. Someone told me once that the reason for having the battery located there was to add weight to the back of the car.

I can understand having the battery in the back of the car for weight distribution, but I don't understand having it on the driver side. It should be on the passenger side just Mazda did with my Miata.

 

[dave6666]

You know the worst part about that battery replacement was, when I turned the stereo on last night to go cruise for a bit, it didn't remember what song my CD was on. I'm positive when I parked the car a week ago it was on my favorite song. It was just plain awkward as compared to pulling a wheel and using half my tools to change said battery.

 

[costanZo]

I can understand having the battery in the back of the car for weight distribution, but I don't understand having it on the driver side. It should be on the passenger side just Mazda did with my Miata.

I don't really see it adding that much weight to justify the location of having to put it there. They should have just added more weight to the back somehow and had the battery positioned in a spot where its MUCH easier to access. Way better trade off in my honest opinion.

 

[Ratical2]

I don't really see it adding that much weight to justify the location of having to put it there. They should have just added more weight to the back somehow and had the battery positioned in a spot where its MUCH easier to access. Way better trade off in my honest opinion.

Never add weight to a car( unless to meet minimum weight req in racing)... move what you have to have to the most advantageous position.
Chrysler placed the engine as far back as possible to get as close as possible 50/50 weight distribution fore and aft. Chevy did it by putting the transmission behind the driver with the vette.

If you have a 200lb driver left of center line it makes sense to put the 50 lb battery right of centerline. Every little bit helps.

 

[costanZo]

Never add weight to a car( unless to meet minimum weight req in racing)... move what you have to have to the most advantageous position.
Chrysler placed the engine as far back as possible to get as close as possible 50/50 weight distribution fore and aft. Chevy did it by putting the transmission behind the driver with the vette.

If you have a 200lb driver left of center line it makes sense to put the 50 lb battery right of centerline. Every little bit helps.

I'd rather add a "little" weight to the car then have to take my rear wheel off to get at the battery, maybe that's just me, but I hate having to do that.

 

[Dom426h]

Costan, your being ridiculous. This is a Performance oriented vehicle. Weight distributions And Amount are Very important.

A "litle" wieght??? Were talking about 50lbs here. Try this experiment. Pick up a battery with your hands and start running, then make an abrupt turn. What did you feel? The same force you felt is what is applied to your vehicles tires.

Why the gripe about ease of access. You make it sound like your getinginto your battery every month or something. Honestly? What are you doing to your battery? and how often? In reality that compartment only has to be accessed every 3-8years or so to replace the battery.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Dave, Your situation as well as others has me convinced to either simply replace my vipers battery every 4 years reguardless of its state, or start stop by my local sears and testing my battery every 6 months or so to check her out. Without the CCA load test you cant accurately determine the condition of a battery soley on multimeter volt reading.
Just yesterday my 2004Dakotas Battery took a crap. Didnt have my multimeter handy to check the basics so i hooked up my batteryTender to it and the tender lit Green. Wrong. Took her to Sears and it tested bad likely due to a failed cell or two. That battery was the original and lasted me 8 years so i was pretty happy and replaced her with one of sears new Platinum AMG(Absorbed Glass Mat). These are supposed to be much more durable and resistant to cell damage similar to a gel-cell but newer technology from what i understand. Had the tech test it there on the spot before purchasing and it pulled a reading of over 1100 CCA. Not bad for a 880CCA spec...

DieHard | Automotive Batteries

Glad to hear your back on track Dave

 

[dave6666]

I'll go ahead and throw in an update here. And just to keep it front and center, repeating here that the starter did the grind thing once whereas the motor spun but it did not engage the flywheel. I've alway thought starter first when that happens, especially when the start right before that was fine and the start immediately after that was good. Batteries typically do not do good-bad-good right in a row, all by themselves.

Anyway, update... I drove out last night for some beverages and the car spun up with new battery enthusiasm just like it did right after the new battery was put in earlier this week. Drove it to the office this morning and once again spinning up well. Sooooooo, I'm starting to believe now the battery was bad, maybe with an intermittent problem or it was transitioning toward completely bad. Dunno, did not do an autopsy on it. The battery would have been 4 years old this summer. And just like I replace my 8 year battery in my Super Duty after 4 to 5 years, I think this one will now be on a 3 year PM cycle.

 

[costanZo]

Over the past 3 years that compartment had to be accessed 3 times.. and all three times were within about 2 years.. Last time was last May.. How much does the spare tire weigh? If it's close to 50lbs, they should have just threw the battery in the trunk and not even bothered with the spare.. not like anyone uses it anyway. As I mentioned, I already took the spare out and put a custom sub box for both my subs. I know this is a performance car, but other performance cars don't have their batteries behind the rear wheel on the drivers side lol.. Dodge could have found a better place haha

Costan, your being ridiculous. This is a Performance oriented vehicle. Weight distributions And Amount are Very important.

A "litle" wieght??? Were talking about 50lbs here. Try this experiment. Pick up a battery with your hands and start running, then make an abrupt turn. What did you feel? The same force you felt is what is applied to your vehicles tires.

Why the gripe about ease of access. You make it sound like your getinginto your battery every month or something. Honestly? What are you doing to your battery? and how often? In reality that compartment only has to be accessed every 3-8years or so to replace the battery.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Dave, Your situation as well as others has me convinced to either simply replace my vipers battery every 4 years reguardless of its state, or start stop by my local sears and testing my battery every 6 months or so to check her out. Without the CCA load test you cant accurately determine the condition of a battery soley on multimeter volt reading.
Just yesterday my 2004Dakotas Battery took a crap. Didnt have my multimeter handy to check the basics so i hooked up my batteryTender to it and the tender lit Green. Wrong. Took her to Sears and it tested bad likely due to a failed cell or two. That battery was the original and lasted me 8 years so i was pretty happy and replaced her with one of sears new Platinum AMG(Absorbed Glass Mat). These are supposed to be much more durable and resistant to cell damage similar to a gel-cell but newer technology from what i understand. Had the tech test it there on the spot before purchasing and it pulled a reading of over 1100 CCA. Not bad for a 880CCA spec...

DieHard | Automotive Batteries

Glad to hear your back on track Dave

 

[Dom426h]

3times in 2yrs... i feal your pain

A lot of performance vehicles with a Front engine mount the battery in the rear to help with weight distribution. Dodge took this a step further and mounted it as low as possible for a better center-of-gravity wich is

On some front heavy cars with front batteries people take matters into their own hands and relocate the battery to the rear.

A spare is considered a necessity in the automotive industry on non-runflat vehicles. I think it might even be federally mandated.
Many racers like myself ditch the spare for weight savings. Some drive to events with it in then remove and leave it in the paddock while racing. Its a personal choice.

 

[costanZo]

Yea, understandable.. but still... I don't know anyone driving a Viper who would put that spare on... most likely anyone driving a viper or any performance vehicle they care about have AAA or would get it put on a flatbed. As wide as our tires are.. lol that spare doesn't make any sense..

3times in 2yrs... i feal your pain

A lot of performance vehicles with a Front engine mount the battery in the rear to help with weight distribution. Dodge took this a step further and mounted it as low as possible for a better center-of-gravity wich is

On some front heavy cars with front batteries people take matters into their own hands and relocate the battery to the rear.

A spare is considered a necessity in the automotive industry on non-runflat vehicles. I think it might even be federally mandated.
Many racers like myself ditch the spare for weight savings. Some drive to events with it in then remove and leave it in the paddock while racing. Its a personal choice.

 

[plumcrazy]

the spare will get you home though. i dont remember the exact reason but that spare is an integral part of the crash safety if hit from behind. jonB can chime in on exact info.

PS: i took mine out years ago and replaced it with nitrous bottles

 

[dave6666]

Spare = crash structure on RT10 not GTS.

I do not carry a spare but I do have the SRT pump.

30# Saved

 

[costanZo]

I of course added more weight after getting rid of the spare and putting in my custom sub box with two subs lol

 

[JonB]

the spare will get you home though. i dont remember the exact reason but that spare is an integral part of the crash safety if hit from behind. jonB can chime in on exact info.

PS: i took mine out years ago and replaced it with nitrous bottles

d6666 has it ...... He remembers all my old posts!

The Spare Tire prevents the RT/10 Trunk Lid from becoming a guillotene blade in a rear-hit. It can come right thru the rear sport hoop assy! Crucial protection.

It also provides some obvious crash-absorbing protection in GTS, but not critical like RT.