How to replace the car battery on a Suzuki Jimny

By Martin Pretorius 

Not all car maintenance tasks are difficult enough to have you running to the dealership. Sometimes, you can save a lot of time (and money) by just doing it yourself. Here, we’ll show you how to replace a Suzuki Jimny’s car battery in a few easy steps.

1.Turn the car off: it’s an extremely bad idea to have the engine running (or even to have any power consumers active) when you disconnect the battery, as it may easily cause (invariably expensive) damage to car’s electrical system. 

Simply turn the ignition key all the way counter-clockwise, and then remove the key. It’s also a good idea to put the key outside the car, in case the car decides to lock itself when you re-connect the battery.

2. Open the bonnet for access to the engine bay.

3. The battery is located on the driver’s side of the engine bay, roughly above the right front wheel.

4. Flip open the positive terminal’s insulating cover (red plastic, marked with “1” on the image) by inserting one of two fingers underneath the small end, and lifting the hinged cover up and out of the way.

5. Now release the battery terminals (marked with “2” on the image) with a 10mm spanner. You don't need to unscrew the nuts completely, just enough to loosen the cables' grip on the battery. Take great care that the spanner doesn't touch anything else while it is touching either battery terminal, or you may see the sparks fly.

6. Next, lift the cable connections from the battery. They may be a little bit stuck, but some wiggling will dislodge them easily enough. Don't use a screwdriver or anything else to lever them off the battery, as this may cause other damage. Move the cables away from the battery itself, to clear the way for the battery to be extracted upwards.

7. Finally, release the mounting bracket’s nuts (marked “3” on the image) with the 10mm spanner. You will find that the bracket’s side supports go all floppy once you’ve loosened them enough, which will allow you to unhook the bracket from its two locating points at the bottom of the battery. Remove the bracket and put it aside.

8. You can now lift the battery out of its tray and replace it with the new battery, taking care to orientate the terminals correctly: Positive (marked with “+” on the battery) goes closest to the windscreen, and negative (marked with “-” on the battery goes closest to the headlights.

9. Re-assemble the battery mounting in the inverse order of removal, and re-connect the terminals, after double-checking that you did in fact orientate the battery correctly. Always make sure that the mounting bracket is securely hooked onto the battery tray.

*If you are still unsure how to perform this task, on feel uncomfortable working with electricity, we’d still advise you to rather consult a professional. AutoTrader SA accepts no responsibility for damage that may result of performing this DIY operation.