So, I thought I had a bad starter, but then I rethought the symptoms, and it turns out it was the battery. (How in the hell a battery with two bad cells can run everything except the starter without an issue, I'll never understand.)

Then it turns out the battery that came with the car was the wrong size (which I suspected when I saw the CCA was less than the battery on my Aurora 3.5), so after I got it swapped out for the correct one, I found that said correct battery doesn't actually fit in the battery tray for the car. The top of the battery bumps against the inside of the bumper, which prevents it from droppng into the tray. (Which, I suspect, is why the previous owner put the wrong size battery in.)

The battery seems to be wedged into place and not going anywhere now, and the car starts and runs. But, I'm nervous that a serious bump will shake off a terminal and leave me without power in the middle of traffic. (It cut out on me once while I was tightening it.)

What is the secret to this process that I'm somehow missing?

(And yes, this one absolutely IS the correct battery.)

 

*bump*

 

The battery probably didn't have enough 'umph' to keep starting the car - starting the car is very taxing on a battery. Cold weather hurts it too and it's winter now so that can be the straw to break the camels back so to speak.

Yeah putting the batteries in can be a challenge. I always loathe changing out the battery in my w-bodies. Love putting batteries in my Grand Am or the Bonneville. On a side note, a family member had a 06 Uplander and I put a battery in that and it was a PITA; could have been that it was brutally cold and night so...

Can you take a pic? I don't have a MC nor a car in your year range but it's a w-body so it should go in with a bit of effort.

I'm sure someone with a 06-07 MC will chime in soon enough.

 

There's a block that holds the battery on the tray. Hopefully that has been removed first.

These cars are a very tight fit for the battery, I usually take the fuse box cover off slightly (just unscrewing the bolts) and trying to move that out of the way slightly.

They are a contortionist movement, I have to put it in sideways and flip some to get it into place.

Much easier on my 2000SS than my Father's 2006SS.

 

Good info Chibi. Nice to know the comparison.

 

Oh, I had to take off the two bolts and move the fuse box entirely out of the way to get it in.