Disconnecting the battery positive lead - any issues to be concerned with?

Hi all,

Am wading through my todo list removing seat belts and had a problem with the solenoids on both front seat belt retractors getting warm, almost too hot to touch.

So as a last resort, I disconnected the POSITIVE lead on the battery.



Are there any issues doing this that I should be aware of? Am I going to lose or upset any of the programmed settings?



It may be disconnected for a month or two but if that length of time creates a problem then I can always reconnect it and run my battery tender.

Please let me know what I am running into?

Rodney

IIRC you are supposed to disconnect the negative, or negative first if doing both.

The only problem I've had with disconnecting my battery is having to reset the clock afterwards. You'll likely lose your seat settings too.

Jack the R wrote:

IIRC you are supposed to disconnect the negative, or negative first if doing both.  

The only problem I've had with disconnecting my battery is having to reset the clock afterwards.  You'll likely lose your seat settings too.  

Thanks. I will remember that for future use. Clock and seat settings are no big deal. Gather the reverse is true, to connect the NEGATIVE last?
Rodney

That's how I was told to do it by forum owner AA. I keep the negative terminal on my lawnmower battery disconnected when not in use, haven't had any problems with it.

Incidentally, I keep my Riviera on a trickle charger when not in use. It's really good at running the battery down. The Optima Charger I use came with a plug-in lead that attaches to the battery, so you don't have to mess with alligator clips. Unfortunately the passenger side window must be left down to charge the battery.

Jack the R wrote:

That's how I was told to do it by forum owner AA.  I keep the negative terminal on my lawnmower battery disconnected when not in use, haven't had any problems with it.

Incidentally, I keep my Riviera on a trickle charger when not in use.  It's really good at running the battery down.  The Optima Charger I use came with a plug-in lead that attaches to the battery, so you don't have to mess with alligator clips.    Unfortunately the passenger side window must be left down to charge the battery.    

Thanks for that. The battery tender (trickle charger) was one of the first things added. Picked up the Positive post under the hood and a ground stud nearby. Lead is permanently attached and I just plug and unplug the charger as required. Did that on my other Buicks and worked well. Certainly increases the battery life in my opinion.

Rodney

The tender ought to increase the battery life - it spends long enough "conditioning" the battery before it begins charging.

I thought about going to the terminal under the hood. The charge cable might even be long enough to reach into the trunk. I can't think of a place where I could put it that wouldn't involve opening anything though. Well if I removed the antenna I could put the trickle charger cable in that hole . . .

Jack the R wrote:

The tender ought to increase the battery life - it spends long enough "conditioning" the battery before it begins charging.

I thought about going to the terminal under the hood.  The charge cable might even be long enough to reach into the trunk.  I can't think of a place where I could put it that wouldn't involve opening anything though.  Well if I removed the antenna I could put the trickle charger cable in that hole . . .    

Under the hood was easy for me given the POSITIVE terminal there. I didn’t want to be fiddling with the door open running a lead under the rear seat. And so far it seems to be working as the fully charged lights always come on once the initial charge finishes.

And with a thick cloth on the hood latch prevents that from closing making you always remember to unplug it. Suppose I also used to it with the other Buicks, only adds a minute or two to the starting. Besides it won’t be used everyday!

My battery also recently died. I usually keep it disconnected ( only the positive terminal ) but started getting lazy and thought once ..." if I'm restarting the car once a week ,it shouldn't be a problem to keep it connected all the time "... Then started noticing, each time I was starting the engine the actual ignition started getting harder and harder. Now the battery is dead . 1 year old.

stan wrote:

My battery also recently died. I usually keep it disconnected ( only  the positive terminal ) but started getting lazy and thought once ..." if I'm restarting the car once a week ,it shouldn't be a problem to keep it connected all the time "... Then started noticing, each time I was starting the engine the actual ignition started getting harder and harder. Now the battery is dead . 1 year old.