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1990 Eclipse - Battery close to hood

Not really a question - just a comment......

Why in the fricking world did they design it so that the hot battery terminal comes within 1/16-inch of the hood??? Battery was dead the other day, then I recharged and then dead the next day. Turned out the hot terminal had worn a hole in the rubber boot and was intermittently touching the hood. I looked at point where it touched the hood and there were 50 million little black spark marks where it had been hitting it over the past few years.

What a lousy design! Otherwise a nice car.

Reply to
Fred
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Battery and hood, neither should move when secured properly. You should pay close attention to the belt that holds the battery. It might be loose. Most of the car has battery close to top-front for easy reinstallation.

Reply to
morshedbashir

Has it occurred to you that maybe you have a bigger (ie taller) battery than the engineers specified? With the standard battery the terminal has about 1" clearance.

Stewart DIBBS

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Reply to
Stewart DIBBS

"Has it occurred to you that maybe you have a bigger (ie taller) battery than the engineers specified? With the standard battery the terminal has about 1" clearance."

Once again, Mr. Dibbs comes through with the correct answer (even when posed as a question!)

Fred is lucky he didn't burn his car to the ground.....

Reply to
simpleton

Actually..... yes, SIMPLETON, it is lucky! Although that smell of arcing contacts really brought back memories of mom's home cooking!! All that was missing was the possum patties grilling on the exhaust manifold! YUM!!!

Welp! The battery was the right one -- the case had shifted SLIGHTLY. But even with properly installed, there is less than 1/2-inch clearance. If you have one of these cars, be sure that the rubber boot on the postive terminal is securely fastened. And your seatback and tray table are in the full upright and locked position.

Good car, but lots of design uh-oh's.

Fred

Reply to
Fred

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