Underhood Battery Quick-Disconnect?

[Grimsey]

I'm looking at buying a 2004 LeSabre from a friend. It'll sit for months at a time in a parking lot, so I'd need to install a battery quick disconnect on the negative terminal.

I realize the battery is located under the rear seat. For quick and easy access, is there a way to install a quick disconnect under the hood?

I haven't seen the car in person so I'm not sure how the negative cable is routed.

Thanks.

 

[RD_Atlanta]

I have (3) LeSabre's plus some other cars, many of them sit in a garage. I chose to install an intelligent battery charger such as Link. I connect it to the main battery post under the hoods on the LeSabre's. I personally think this is the better way to go, by maintaining the batteries, I get some really long life-spans from my batteries.

 

[Grimsey]

I have (3) LeSabre's plus some other cars, many of them sit in a garage. I chose to install an intelligent battery charger such as Link. I connect it to the main battery post under the hoods on the LeSabre's. I personally think this is the better way to go, by maintaining the batteries, I get some really long life-spans from my batteries.

The car will be sitting in an airport parking lot. Unfortunately, I can't use a battery maintainer as there is no outlet available.

I have used a negative battery disconnect on the previous vehicle for the past 15 year with with great success. Unfortunately, the previous airporter needs to be replaced.

 

[jotzgr]

Word of caution: Batteries aren't what they used to be. I used to regularly have even "cheap" batteries in vehicles last 10 or 12 years. Now, 3 or 4 is some sort of a miracle. Doesn't matter what brand you get or how much you spend, IMO. Most fail a couple weeks after the supposed warranty is up, like clockwork. How they do that I have yet to figure out, but it's almost a guarantee. Any battery that sits for 6+ months without any kind of charge may not have enough juice to start the car. I've had brand new batteries sit in my garage unused and without some kind of trickle charge, they have to be charged to use them. You might be lucky and get one that doesn't apply to, but nowadays, I'd err on the side of caution to avoid being stranded.

 

[Homer Jay]

If the lot has good sunlight exposure, a quality solar trickle charger may be a good option to offset standby loss.

 

[Grimsey]

Folks, I've kept a car in this parking lot for 20 years. I've been down the road of solar maintainers, jump packs, etc.

I've gone months at a time without using the car. Solar maintainers, jump packs etc, have never been reliable and are inconvenient in foul weather.

For more than 15 years, I've kept the battery disconnected at the negative battery terminal under the hood. Since using this method, I've never once had a dead battery. It takes mere seconds to connect/disconnect, which is very convenient in inclement weather.

I appreciate the suggestions but a quickly accessible under hood battery disconnect is what I need.

Without having been able to look at the car to determine what's needed to install an engine bay disconnect, I've passed on the opportunity to buy the car.

 

[jotzgr]

The only additional step to disconnecting the battery under the rear seat is lifting the bottom seat cushion, which is a matter of seconds, just pull up on the front edge of the seat. There are no latches or anything that requires tools. Then it's no different than disconnecting a battery terminal under the hood. The battery and terminals are easily accessible once the seat is lifted.

 

[DrivenDaily]

A battery stored for months with no connections will slowly discharge due to internal parasitic draws. Small, yes, but not zero.

A "toy charger", aka battery maintainer or float charger, keeps your battery at a level that makes it ready to use immediately at any time of the year.

Also, if you have OnStar, it has its own internal battery to keep it alive while the car's battery is being changed. If that On* battery dies, On* is gone as well.

Today's cars are just computers on wheels. They need to keep their systems alive every bit as much as you need to keep breathing while you're asleep.

 

[ulycyc]

Many to chose from here. 2004 GM cars are not as bad as newer cars not having a battery hooked up. You will lose some settings like radio, comfort and possible factory alarm and remote settings. Also the pcm will have to relearn. That will take a few starts and driving around

Amazon.com : battery side terminal quick disconnect

 

[02LTD2.0]

As far as losing OnStar if it's the original analog unit then it doesn't work anyway!!!

 

[JGBuick]

As far as losing OnStar if it's the original analog unit then it doesn't work anyway!!!

Correct! I disabled mine and it 100% eliminated a battery draw that was causing issues when I left my car parked for months. Once I did that, no problem.

 

[02LTD2.0]

Correct! I disabled mine and it 100% eliminated a battery draw that was causing issues when I left my car parked for months. Once I did that, no problem.

Same here. I purchased my car during the pandemic at which time I was on furlough from my job. I would have a dead battery about every week or week and a half. Once I disconnected the OnStar I never had a dead battery again. My theory is that it was trying to send out a signal but wasn't getting a response.

 

[JGBuick]

Same here. I purchased my car during the pandemic at which time I was on furlough from my job. I would have a dead battery about every week or week and a half. Once I disconnected the OnStar I never had a dead battery again. My theory is that it was trying to send out a signal but wasn't getting a response.

I believe that's correct! Older hardware also. Probably taking a lot more power than today's tech. I'm glad we disconnected!