Do I have to do anything special to charge my battery on my 1989 ford aerostar van? Still positive terminal to positive clamp and negative to negative? How do you recharge battery with Dual Range Battery Charger? Use 12V? Yeah, I'm a girl. I also need a cap for my brake fluid reservoir. Any online sources? Some want me to buy entire unit but I do not know how to do it and it costs $40plus. All I need is my cap! SAny advice?

Some models of Combo Van will need you to remove some pieces of body trim to get to the battery more easily. These are usually held in place with screws or 'push in' clips.
Loosen the nut on the clamp on the Negative, (black), terminal and remove the clamp. Next loosen and remove the red positive clamp from that terminal.
Next look down all four sides of the battery. Your looking for a bolt head and clamp holding down one edge of the battery. Unscrew this bolt until the clamp is loose. This should release the battery enough for you to wriggle it out. In some cases you might have to remove the clamp to get the battery out.
To refit, position the new battery the same way around as the old one. Tighten the clamp that's down the side to hold down the battery. Refit the RED (positive) terminal first and tighten the nut, then refit the BLACK (negative) terminal and tighten that nut as well. Refit any trim and test start the engine. Hope this helped?

disconnect the negative first. move it out of the way. then remove the bracket or clamp holding the battery. then remove the positive. reinstall in the revers order. if you did not use a memory holder you must reset all your options on your radio and so forth.

Check your Owner's Manual for any special proceedures regarding antitheft features that need to be addressed before disconnecting the battery. Always make sure the keys are OUT OF THE CAR before you start. Anything obstructing your access to the battery must be removed. Always remove the negative terminal of the battery FIRST. There will be a "hold down" feature that securely holds the battery in place- either a strap or bar across the top of the battery, or a claw type clamp that kinda bites into side of the battery at the bottom. You have to remove "hold down". Old battery out, new battery in. Alway attach the negative terminal to the battery after the positive terminal. (Negative cable- off first, on last)

no it should come off the same way as the positive cable, if worst comes to worst, cut it off at cable and replace cable end terminal

Ensure your Stratus's ignition is in the "Off" position, and turn off anything that uses battery power, such as lights, radio and heater blower. Park the booster car close enough to the dead car that you can connect the jumper cables to both batteries, but make sure the two vehicles aren't touching. Connect one red (+) clamp of the cables to the booster battery's positive terminal. Connect the other red clamp to the Stratus' "Remote Terminal." The terminal is located next to the air filter assembly, and is marked with a "+" and the word "Positive." Dodge uses these remote terminals to reduce the risk of explosion caused by sparks near the battery. Connect one of the black (-) cable clamps to the negative terminal on the booster battery. Connect the other black clamp to the negative "Remote Terminal" on the Stratus, located on the opposite side of the air filter assembly from the positive terminal. It is a marked with a "-" and the word "Negative."Start the booster car, if not already running, and apply slight pressure to the gas pedal to make it idle faster. Wait a few minutes and attempt to start the Stratus. If it cranks a little, but still won't start, continue charging the battery. Once the Stratus starts, leave it running and disconnect the jumper cables in reverse order of the way you attached them.

Assuming you have a battery charger. Do not plug charger in until after it is connected.
1. Open hood & locate battery.
2. Identify the positive terminal of the battery (usyally has a red cover or red marking.
The battery has side terminals (not posts like nonGM batteries)
4. Connect the + red clamp the the positive terminal wiggle it a little to get good connection.
5. Connect the negative black clamp to the engine block, a handy bracket on engine or the negative terminal on the battery. DO NOT CONNECT TO ALTERNATOR
6. Be sure connections are secure.
7. Plug in charger it should show charging. Leave it over night
8. Before disconnecting charger disconnect power to the charger.

THE FUMES OF A BATTERY ARE EXPLOSIVE DO NOT USE FLAMES NEAR BATTERY
DO NOT ALLOW SPARKS NEAR BATTERY!

recheck the connections at the battery and also (when deenergized) the connection at the starter which is positive.

Also check the ground from the negative battery terminal to the body or frame.

Generally, you can check and test alternator with this procedure...

1. Clean the positive and negative battery terminals to ensure a good connection with the tester's clamps.
2. Connect the positive and negative clamps to the appropriate battery terminals. The clamps must make firm contact with the battery terminals or the test results will be inaccurate or the tester may not work at all.
3. Turn the tester on and choose the option for "full charging system test." This will test your battery, starter and alternator and provide the most accurate picture of the problem.
4. Follow the directions on the tester's screen. These instructions will include cranking the vehicle after the battery test is performed, holding the engine at a certain RPM range and turning on certain accessories.
5. Read the results displayed on the tester's screen. The tester should scroll through the results, starting with the battery, then the starter and finally the alternator. An alternator test result showing diode ripple problems indicates a bad alternator.

Hope helps (remember rated this).

Step 2 Connect the positive and negative clamps to the appropriate battery terminals. The clamps must make firm contact with the battery terminals or the test results will be inaccurate or the tester may not work at all.

Step 3 Turn the tester on and choose the option for "full charging system test." This will test your battery, starter and alternator and provide the most accurate picture of the problem.

Step 4 Follow the directions on the tester's screen. These instructions will include cranking the vehicle after the battery test is performed, holding the engine at a certain RPM range and turning on certain accessories.

Step 5 Read the results displayed on the tester's screen. The tester should scroll through the results, starting with the battery, then the starter and finally the alternator. An alternator test result showing diode ripple problems indicates a bad alternator.

Read more: How to Test a Car's Alternator | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2079784_test-cars-alternator.html#ixzz0spTYveGJ

After 20 years of use, it would not hurt to replace not only the positive starter cable, but the negative cable from the battery to ground, and look for the ground wire from the chassis to the motor. An old connection can cause a lot of trouble. Never use those clamp on terminal repairs, always buy a good new cable.

• Loosen the battery negative terminal clamp.

• Use a terminal clamp puller to remove the negative cable.

• Loosen the battery positive terminal clamp.

• Use a terminal clamp puller to remove the positive clamp.

• Remove the battery hold-down hardware and any heat shields.

• Remove the battery from the tray.

• Install the new battery into the tray.
• Also install the hold-down hardware.

• Install the positive battery cable.
• Then install the negative cable.
• When installing a battery, be careful to observe the correct polarity. Reversing the cables destroys the diodes. Proper polarity must also be observed when connecting a booster battery, positive to positive and negative to ground.

Art courtesy of Delmar - Thomson Learning.

• Coat the terminals with corrosion preventative spray, then check the job by starting the car.