@Von Jones Can you take a photo of the battery area and where ends of BOTH cable end up and post them here? You may not even have to crawl under, maybe all the work can be done on top. Here is the general idea on just replacing the ends which might be all you need.
I had a car where the 'check engine' light was on for 5 years. No one ever knew why. My dad said some vehicles were set at a certain mileage to remind the owner to have a routine maintenance check. Apparently, mine got stuck. After my husband wasn't around, I finally decided just to be an Uber person and rent a car if I wanted to take a longer trip. For me, it was the best decision ever. I hate driving down the road and getting nervous over every weird sound or light. I hope you get this settled soon.
Bessie, The problem was oil changers or maintenance mechanics never reset the need maintenance indicator light. On my older car I tried to save a buck at the quicky lube places. When I took it in to the dealer, they told me the problem was these jackals never bothered to reset the indicator so I would come in again and they would sell me something I didn't need, then reset the indicator and I would happy. Well, with that knowledge of how these little jerks had been playing me, I went on a campaign to expose them by sharing this info about this indicator light that can make an old lady panic. I also have one on my furnace. I buy super filters that last 90 days and every 30 days I see change your filter. Now I just reset it instead of getting my undies in a painful twist and yelling at it calling it a liar. @Bess Barber I think you made a good decision. Keeping a car is expensive. I still keep mine and have others drive it to my medical appointments, etc. I still drive short safe back roads with caution. If it wasn't paid for and 10 years old with only 35.000 on it, I would sell it, but it is still like a new car and they offer me a 1/4 th the value.
I used to have a little Mazda B-2000 pickup, and it was the most awesome little truck ever, and we just never had a problem with it. I got it at about 50,000+ miles and drove it everywhere, and soon had almost 100,000 miles on the engine. One day, I was taking a friend up to Seattle for some business she had to take care of, and on the way home, my engine light came on . I was in a serious panic, you better believe ! ! The truck ran fine, I checked everything and couldn’t see anything that look like it was wrong, but I worried all of the rest of the way home. The next day, I went to the Mazda garage and asked them to check it. It turned out that the CE light came on every 50,000 miles, just to remind you to have everything looked over and do any necessary work. He reset the light for me, and we were fine until it came back on at the 150,000 mile mark . ‘This time, I was expecting it, so I noticed when it came on and just left it on. At about 190,000 miles it went back off, so that it could come on again at 200,000. I think that I was close to the 250,000 mile mark when I had to leave it with my ex-husband for a few months. I don’t know what he did to it, but when I got back home and went to get it back from him, it was dead. It would start (slowly) and barely drive, certainly not enough to make the 300+ mile trip back from western Washington to northern Idaho. Here it is , in the winter when I lived in Western Washington. I could actually go most places that a 4x4 went, because I put on four studded snow tires, and several heavy bags of grain or alfalfa bales over the rear axle.
I had that same pickup only mine was a yellow tan color. A railroad iron centered in back and studded tires and it never failed me until I was pushing snow with the bumper.
@Von Jones Items you will need Gloves Box wrench Wire brush Dry rag Battery cables Final treatment spray Step 1 Put gloves on. Take a deep breath and say, “I can do this, the girls on SOC are depending on me. Step 2 Loosen the bolt on the BLACK NEGATIVE battery cable FIRST with a box wrench. Wiggle the cable off the post. If it won’t budge, use a flat blade screwdriver inserted by the bolt to open it up. DON’T use a hammer as some recommend! Repeat the process on the red positive cable. Remove BOTH cables from the battery. Step 3 Follow the black negative cable to where it's grounded on the body of the Jeep Grand Cherokee near the wheel well. Remove the end of the cable with a wrench. Track the red positive cable to its connection on the starter solenoid on the front passenger side of the engine and remove it with a wrench. SAVE all washers, especially split washers and NOTE how you removed them. Putting them back correctly is important in getting a great long lasting connection capable of handling the amps needed to turn the starter. Step 4 Consider replacing your battery if very old. If not, neutralize acid with soda and clean off residue. Shine the battery posts with a small wire brush. Wipe off any residual dust with a clean, dry cloth. Attach the new positive cable first, reversing the process in Step 3. Tighten nuts solidly, but don’t get too crazy and strip the bolt stud as I have done. Just enough to compress the split washer that will ensure the connection stays tight. Put the negative cable on last and treat terminal with a protective spray. Start the vehicle and do a happy dance. Make a post on SOC of your victory. You can do it!!! Faye
I agree with what @Faye Fox says to do. I have never changed a bakery cable, but I watched Bobby do it (that counts, right ?) and he did about the same process. I have cleaned battery cables before with baking soda. What I do is take a quart jar, put in a couple spoons of soda and warm water and stir until it dissolves, and pour slowly, a bit at a time, over any lace that has the white corrosion, it will get clean and all of the corrosion will run off of the battery. If you clean the battery cables as the first step in the process (before you try to remove the old cables), then it might make it easier to remove the old cable. Also, I was taught that when adding oil, you should let the last couple drips from the can go over the battery posts, and that will keep them from getting corrosion on them in the future.
@Von Jones now now I know it sounds overwhelming, so maybe to just get by, replace the terminals on just the battery end.
For me very overwhelming. Well it seems easy to replace the terminals from the video, maybe but I think cleaning and tightening will do for now.
Actually, I see very few Seniors doing their own auto repair stuff, unless they've been a mechanic as a career. The same can be said about some home improvement things. Just can get too physical for them. Years ago, in my 20's, 30's and 40's, I could do some mechanic work on my vehicle, but brake jobs and taking an engine out and repairing it just wasn't my thing. My thing was basically desk work and in 1989, started computer work. I can check fluids, change air filter and a brake light, but the rest has to be done by a mechanic. With onboard computers in vehicles today, if a person messes that up, doing some type of repair, that repair is going to cost a whole lot more. We have had AAA (Auto Club) since 2005 and have used the towing benefit a number of times, as well as "on the side of a freeway" tire change.