Hi all,

I recently replaced the battery on my 88 240DL wagon, and ran into some trouble because the auto shop recommended the positive/negative terminals in opposite locations than the battery I had installed, and I went with them, only to score up the new one and find that it didn't fit. Details below, but long story short I made it fit. My question is this: which side are pos and neg SUPPOSED to be on? The jumble of wires under my hood made me question whoever had done work in there previously, and leaves me unsure of the original arrangement.

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Car story: replacing the battery I run into trouble.

Frustrating process, but ended well. As to car repair, I'm a beginner/intermediate fellow... can't do anything but the simplest, most direct stuff, like checking and filling tires, checking oil levels, power steering levels, fuses, and simple interior work. I went to replace my car battery, which is supposed to be easy (two bolts undo two clamps, redo), and it all went wrong. The old battery was of the "wrong" spec according to the computer so I bought the recommended one with the positive and negative terminals on the other side. After removing the old one and marking up the new battery by installing it ( = can't return it), I found that the positive clamp didn't reach the positive post on the battery. I needed help and now my car didn't run. Doh. Called my dad and we talked a bit about it. We were both frustrated but he was great with me. The clamp that wouldn't reach was made up from three different wires from various areas: perhaps if I could reach the other end of those connections I could undo something and re-route it through the bay and get summore space. Also, the positive and negative wires were all jumbled together in a stupid way. So I found a bolt deep within that I could undo... pause to praise old cars with lots of space on the inside. Means even I can get to the bolts and work on them. Found the bolt, found the ratchet piece that would fit, undid it.... then saw that I had undone the wrong one, my bolt was 2" over to the left. Doh. Redid the bolt, took out the correct bolt, freed a cable (this was the negative ground to the engine block), and rerouted a few wires. Okay. Put the bolt back in. Streeeeeetch and...... not far enough. Almost. So I took out the power steering reservoir (2 screws) and moved some things. That helped a little. Put the reservoir back. Dropped a screw inside the engine somewhere. Fished around with my black tar pit of a hand and eventually found it. Replaced two screws. I had to undo one more piece holding a few wires together in a neat bundle, and finally it fit! I put the positive end on the battery and reconnected the final thing I had undone (another bolt).

Snowing the whole time, of course. And since my analog clock don't work no mo' when the battery is unplugged, I could see from it that the job took 45 minutes. Dad was a good help and mostly I'm just glad that in the end it worked. Phew. I'm a little better at trouble-shooting under the hood than I thought. Didn't cut myself once, this time. Usually I end up with at least one grease-filled slash from a stripped bolt.
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1988 245 DL