I just recently purchased a 2000 Expedition Sport and it appears that it still has the original battery installed.

Being that winter is upon us, I want to make sure that it will start when needed for the wife and kids (ages 1 & 4).

There appears to be a lot of plastic shrouding around the battery. Any tips for removal? Or is there a diagram somewhere that I can reference?

Also, do I need to be concerned with how long the battery is disconnected because of the computer?

It does also have an aftermarket alarm (viper brand I think). Do I need to be concerned about that as well?

Thanks for any and all help/tips.

 

I have a 2000 F-150 and the plastic surrounding the battery is a big black box where the connecting point runs diagonally the length of the box. Either the tie down will be outside of the box (don't think it is though) and you can unscrew that or just lift the portion that is facing the motor. Pull towards the motor if you are standing in front of the vehicle and just the top/right side.

For the alarm, if you have a battery backup then it might go off but you can tell if you find the siren and there isn't a battery on the back of the unit.

No your computer will not die if it does not have power. If it could you could never buy a new one. You might lose your driving habits that it has learned after a certain amount of time. But otherwise I don't know for sure.

Since I couldn't help much with the rest, here's a tip. If you end up with an optima battery...don't lose your factory holddown screw as it comes with trim pieces to fit the factory box.
Good luck to you.

 

As far as I know, just changing your battery won't hurt your computer or your alarm, the alarm most likely will go on once you connect the new battery, so have the alarm control on hand, and you will have to leave your engine running for about a minute for the engine to "re-learn" his idle mode. I have no idea how the battery on the Expys is located, so I can't help you with that, on my truck is plain and simple.

 

I would change the battery on principle for the added reliability you will get.
There is an easy way around the loss of computer and alarm functions programing loss.
Plug in a power source from another battery or car through the cigar lighter then proceed to change out your battery. Nothing is lost that way and no damage.

 

auto part store sell a 9volt battery that plugs into the cigar lighter to keep all the memories alive like in the pcm and radio.
I need to replace my original battery in my 99. Its hard to believe its still good after all this time.