2001 Chevy Blazer

Today's maintenance task on my 20-year-old Chevy Blazer was replacing the rusty battery tray.

The battery died a few days ago. 3.5 years into a 5 year warranty. It took Firestone 5 frigging hours to replace it, while I waited in the lobby. Some kind of mix-up at the warehouse, with the delivery driver, etc. Meanwhile, I read a book. Took a nap. Read the newspaper. Took a nap. They felt so guilty about the long delay, that they gave me the battery and labor for free.

I've known the battery tray was rusty and giving out, so I figured this was a good time to fix that too while I'm on battery stuff.

Before. That one corner is so rusted out that it's about to collapse in that direction under the weight of the heavy battery. My previous quick-fix was to replace a missing bolt with a plastic zip tie.



The missing bolt threads into a missing "U nut". Surprisingly, the first auto parts store I visited had these available. I just had to match a bolt to it, which came from my lifelong collection of loose bolts stored in a mayonaise jar. They often come in handy. Of course, no two bolt heads are identical, each one being a different size, both English and Metric measurements. This must be a rule somewhere with the Society of Automotive Engineers.


The parts have been collected. A new battery tray. A pack of U-nuts on the right, in a variety of sizes. Anti-corrosion battery grease on left, for the terminals.



New battery back in place on the new tray. Done! Easy peasy! Ready for more adventure.

 

Great work! I painted mine last it was out to help prevent this problem.

 

I painted mine recently, I was trying to take it out and it's a real bear. I might have to go with a new tray next time I'm working on the battery. My 87 seems to have an identical design as your diagrams, some of those bolts (rusted out) are a major pain to get a wrench on.