becareful where you place the battery terminals. Dont place the positive terminal or contact it with the negative. Some cars have electronic gadgets you may need to save the memory 1st before uyou change the battery. Best is to leave to the mechanics, to save $50 bucks you may ene up damaging your electrnic equipment.

I am not sure you should be encouraging things like this. In your case it wasn't that hard(though you did need help to remove it), but some cars are more difficult and like Paul said, it can be dangerous. Just because you didn't make a mistake or have a corroded terminal that needs more tools, or parts, it doesn't mean one of your readers won't. You could easily get in a situation were the car won't start and you have to pay to have it towed to a repair shop, then repaired.

I think once every 4 or 5 years, you can pay an extra $20-40 for a Professional to do it right. They also test and verify your problem is actually the battery.

What is with you people, are you all from the city??  People, grow up, if you can't rely on yourself, who can you rely on??  This long of an article to explain how to change a car battery and people afraid to get their hands dirty??  What happened to good old American grit??  Has it gone overseas like many of our jobs have??  People get a grip, learn more, read more , be informed about your country and about what it isto be American.

Paul Becker has some good advice.  I once welded a 10mm wrench by not following this basic rule, and I've worked on cars for 40 years.

If the neg cable is still connected, the entire chassis of the car is (electrically speaking) equal to the neg side of the battery, so if you are removing the pos cable and accidentally brush the wrench against the bodywork or engine or any metal grounded object, the wrench will complete the circuit, and  you will have instant fireworks.  It is (electrically-speaking) a dead-short.  A fresh battery can arc somewhere around 500 to 1000 amps or more.  Most homes have 100 amp service by comparison, so it's a lot of current there.   When removing the neg cable, the only care is not to contact the pos clamp while loosening the neg clamp.  Once that clamp is off, tuck it aside carefully, sometimes the cable has a "memory" and try will bend back towards the battery post it was just removed from.   Then remove the pos cable, only being careful not to brush the neg post with the wrench.  

Bottom line is, don't complete the circuit with your tool, there's a LOT of power stored in that black box.  

Susa, that's an old myth that batteries discharge quicker on the ground.  Not true, try it yourself and see.    And I haven't ever seen a battery sitting on the shelf that wasn't charged.   Batteries are shipped from the factory dry (without acid), the acid is added by the retailer and the battery is charged before sale.  If you get one that's discharged, take it back!

I was out of state, had a dealer diagnose my car problem as a shot alternator, $565.00 they wanted for a rebuilt and instalation less diagnosis.

I went accross the street to a parts dealer and bought  a rebuilt for $85, installed it myself in 1/2 hr. It would have taken 15 minutes but I put 1 bolt on before I should have and could not get the belt on, had to take it out and start over.

Now, I ask you, if a MD can't figure out how to do this, then shouldn't I make $200 an hr. as a carpenter working on his house?.

In some cars the radio is protected against robbery. You need to prepare the radio before you undo the battery's wires. You prepare the radio by punching a code that should be obtained from the dealer, otherwise your radio will never work again.

i have worked on cars  and trucks  all my life and  have  saved  a small fortune,taught my sons to do this as well,,for example i have never paid for a brake job , and i am 52, i do my own,the local Ford dealer told my mother they would  replace her brakes for about 220.00, my son  and i did it  in less than an hour,,cost 40.00..i changed my oil last evening,cost was 11.53 and  i only use castrol gtx  very expensive  as oil  goes,get out  from in front of the tv people , and do it yourself,,,it 's kind  of sastifying too,,

What a flashback!

I remember back in the 80's I drove big passenger vans, all of them old and used. I learned how to take the engine cover off, how to change flats, how to change all fluids, and how to change the battery. My vans were mostly Fords:

FIX OR REPAIR DAILY

Today, I would prefer if you shoot me  rather than ask me to do any of these things.

Boy, times have changed.

great job.not only saving money,you helped alot of people.

You need to be very careful when you lift out your old battery: battery acid could be all over it and all over your clothes! My favorit jeans - full of holes - can attest to this sad fact! So hold the old battery away from you or hold it by it's handle if it has one.