[Vwdiesel] messing with VW batteries

[brian gochnauer]

Lee,
Pointed a 35k BTU forced-air propane heater at the front of the car in the
driveway and went to work.
Took your advice and used a 12v 17ah battery I had sitting around for odd
uses and connected it to the cables while I removed the main battery.
The same place you push (button) to get big overall cover off, also releases
the chunk of plastic (elec. conn.) on top to tip out of the way.
Put in a group 35 Redtop OPTIMA (sprial) battery, I've heard both good and
bad.
Works very well right now! I've never had it start that quickly even it the
summer months.

 Merry Christmas and may all your glow plugs light.

Thanks to everyone,       I too enjoy this list ;)
Brian (Iowa)



On 12/22/08, Lee McFarland <maple92 at earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> Brian,
> I didn't want to take the time to post to the list this morning, several
> experts will probably post later and I'm far from an expert.
>
> My experience (2002 Golf TDI) - yes there is quite a bit of plastic around
> that battery.  At Iowa outdoor temperatures it's going to be rough.  You do
> not want to disconnect the battery.  There is too much electronics in the
> car which will need to be reset, possibly even the power windows and the
> anti-thief portion of the radio.  A year ago I changed the battery in my
> car.  Just before making the disconnection, I hooked up a 9v duracell after
> making sure nothing was using juice, including putting the driver window
> down so that I would not open doors during the transplant - remember you
> have interior lights for nighttime convenience.  The switch wasn't bad if
> you are reasonably warm while doing it (again cold plastic and I don't work
> well below freezing).  Once the new battery was in, the duracell was
> disconnected.
>
> Good luck,
> Lee
>
>
>