A Bit of Basic Car Battery Bathing

Remember the lowly car battery?  Not the sexiest part of a car with all those modern conveniences in new cars, but a pretty important part none-the-less.  If the battery isn’t working, nothing else happens.

Next chance you get to open the hood, take a peek at those two posts on top of the battery.  You may have to pull back the rubber covering, and if you see white powdery looking substances, you are getting corrosion.

This battery is having major corrosion issues

This is perfectly normal, and you haven’t done anything wrong.  But, you do have to get it off of there.  Before you do anything, be sure to protect your eyes.  There’s a chance some nasty stuff will fly around and you don’t want that in your eyes.  A cheap face mask is also a good idea.

Step 1 is to remove the terminals.  Depending on your battery, you’ll probably have to get a wrench or pliers to do the job.  Start with the negative side, and loosen the nut on the wire connecting the terminal.  You shouldn’t have to turn it too much for it to easily slide off.  If the corrosion has things stuck, try to gently wiggle from side to side to get it to move.  Be careful, because if you pry or pull too hard, you could pull the terminal right off, and that will mean a new battery.  Next remove the wire on the positive side the same way.

Step 2.  Cleaning. There are many options at car parts stores that you can purchase and they all work quite well.  They are mostly just baking soda and water, so there’s nothing wrong with mixing up your own batch.  Put the mixture on the terminals and the wires so it saturates well.

Step 3 requires a simple wire brush that’s not too stiff, and also not too big.  Scrub off the terminals and the wires until the corrosion is gone. 

Step 4.  Put the positive wire back on the terminal and tighten up the nut, then do the same for the negative wire. 

You’re done!  Good job! Of course, we here at U.S. Automotive suggest a full electrical check every two years...this is more than just your battery. Schedule an appointment for the electrical check-up today!