A why & a How question about battery

[blucruzer]

I kind of hate to start a new thread just to ask these questions but I did a search and must have read more than a dozen battery and battery replacement threads and none of them answered my questions.
I've got a 2001 with around 51000 miles on it that still has the original battery in it. I've never had a battery last that long in any other vehicle and, with winter coming up, commn sense says I should get that sucker replaced now before it gets really cold--'cause that's when it will fail if it's going to. But I'm kind of curious to see just how long the old battery might last.
Anyway, while fiddling with the airbox cover the othe day I noticed that the positive battery cable had some corrosion on it so I cleaned it up and, when I started the car the next time, the trip odometer had reset to zero (no surprise there) and the radio was tuned to 700AM, (not one of my settings) but when I pushed one of the buttons found that all of the radio stations were still there. I expected that I would have to reset all of them. But my question is: what keeps the main odometer reading in the computer--does it have some kind of hard drive or something (can you tell that I don't know diddly about either computers or cars with computers in them?)
Second question: why do they provide the remote positive battery terminal behind the air cleaner box? Is it because the front extension on the air cleaner box (on my N/A engine) covers the positive terminal on the battery or do they put the seemingly useless extension on the air box for the purpose of covering the battery so old, unsophisticated farts like me won't put a charger or jumper cable directly on the positive battery terminal?
Oh, and a third, unrelated question--while reading threads looking to see if my questions might already have been answered elsewhere, I saw a picture of the engine compartment of a turbo model. Will the top of the air cleaner box on a turbo model fit the bottom of the air cleaner box on a N/A engine? I know it would be pretty easy to just cut the front part off of mine and cover it with something but, if it would fit, the top off a turbo air cleaner box would look nicer.

[darkpt06]

Personally i would get a new battery on the car. if you have winters like i do here in cleveland, then get a new one just to be safe.

first question: you may have not had the terminal off long enough to drain the computers charge. maybe..

2nd question: idk lol

3rd Question: personally if your looking into making your intake look better, get a k&n intake or some other OEM intake system, you get looks,preformance,and sound from it, i love my K&N, it was kinda expensive but well worth it.

But i think there all the same casing just different filters inside. but im not 100% positive

heres what mine looks like

[blucruzer]

Yeah, I'm sure you're right about replacing the battery. I'll probably go out on Christmas Eve to start the car and find the battery dead and wish I had replaced it. I think I'll stop by my favorite garage this Friday and see if they can check on its condition. I guess keeping the car in a garage and out of the hot sun during summers might have helped the battery to live longer but except for cleaning the terminal last week (and the dealer did it once a few years ago), I haven't added any water or anything.
I've looked into cold air intakes but don't think I want to add one--if I tried to explain why it would probably take me 1000 words and nobody would want to read it anyway. But you have a nice looking unit. Is the scoop on your hood open to the engine compartment?

[Sharkstooth]

I would definately change the battery soon with that many miles on it because you know it will be a day when there is a bad snow storm and then your car doesn't start and you are stuck.In the Camaro that i had previously,I would have to replace the battery every two years.Good luck.

[darkpt06]

Originally Posted by blucruzer

But you have a nice looking unit. Is the scoop on your hood open to the engine compartment?

Thank you. and no,i would like to but i have a hard time cutting into a $700 part that i would have a hard time paying for a replacment if i mess it up lol.

[edsidders]

If I had a battery that lasted that long I would go buy 1 lottery ticket and then a new car with the winnings....

[Mal]

And from the other side of the isle. Why replace a perfectly good battery? Has it given you any reason not to trust it? My first lasted 137,000 miles and 8 years. It also gave fair warning by not starting right here at home but continuing to run the car.

As far as the memory, there are all kinds of memory that require no power to maintain so some do and some don't.

The remote start connections do indeed provide a place that is easier to access rather than under the intake but it also is further from the battery decreasing the risk of a spark setting off any hydrogen that is a normal by product of battery charging.

[lmmegt]

Leave your lights on for half an hour or however long you feel a battery should still be able to start your car. I switced to OPTIMA after only 3 years, because the lights left on by accident ran the battery too low to start the car in a short time period like that.

OPTIMA Rocks!

Or better yet the latest hole grail of batteries is the ODYSSEY ...... aka Sears DieHard Platinum.

Odyssey Batteries VS. Optima Batteries

[freetobejbp]

Get you a Delco are a Die Hard. I had a Delco battery that lasted 7 years! And i have had other Delcos last almost as long.

[darkpt06]

it really depends on where u live.

face it if the temp around you dsnt get any lower then 50. your battery should last awhile

like here in cleveland. it can be like -20 windchill in the winter, couple days streight. so the batterys around here go quicker then batterys out in cali and places that dnt get bs cold like around here haha