How To Clean Car Battery Terminals. It can be hard to diagnose car problems. If your battery is ailing, you might hear a grinding sound or notice that the car is slow to start. But if you regularly maintain your car, you might be surprised by how many of these symptoms can be resolved by cleaning your battery terminals!
Regardless of whether you’re an experienced mechanic or a budding do-it-yourselfer, removing corrosion from battery terminals is easy and highly recommended. You won’t need any fancy equipment – just rubber gloves, safety goggles, and some everyday household items. It’s also a good idea to clean the rest of the battery while at it! In this article, I’ll give you step-by-step instructions on how to clean car battery terminals.
Put on rubber gloves and safety goggles
- Put on rubber gloves and safety goggles.
- Wear long sleeves, pants, and shoes to protect your skin from battery acid.
- Wear clothes that can be thrown away or laundered easily if they get stained by battery acid.
Unscrew the retaining bolts with a wrench and lift off the cable clamps
Although you can use any type of wrench, it’s best to use a socket wrench for this job. The sockets are designed for easy removal and installation of battery terminals.
To remove the terminal from the battery post:
- Put a socket over the nut at the end of your cable clamp, then turn it counterclockwise with a ratchet or wrench until it is loose enough that you can remove it by hand (see Figure A). This will prevent damage to your battery posts if they are not corroded or rusted tight in place.
Remove corrosion from the terminals
- Remove corrosion from the terminals. Using a wire brush, remove any corrosion that has built up on your battery’s terminals. Be sure to clean both the posts and clamps before moving on to step two.
Clean the battery posts
Use a wire brush to remove corrosion from the battery terminals. You can use a small metal brush on the posts, but don’t use one on your battery cables. Use a cloth to wipe away any remaining corrosion.
Coat the terminals and posts with petroleum jelly or terminal grease
- Coat the terminals and posts with petroleum jelly or terminal grease.
- You can use a paper towel, toothbrush, cotton swab or your finger to apply the petroleum jelly or grease.
Reassemble your battery
To reassemble the battery, simply reverse the steps you used to disassemble it. Make sure all cables are connected and secure, and that they do not come into contact with any other part of your car. If they do, they can short out against metal or each other, causing sparks that could damage your car’s electronics.
This will help the battery run better, and it’s easy to do
Now that you know how to clean car battery terminals, you can get started. This is a simple process and should take less than five minutes, but it will make your car’s battery run better. If the cables are dirty, they won’t connect properly with the terminals on your car’s engine block. This means that they won’t be able to transfer power from the engine to the rest of your vehicle as easily—which could end up hurting performance in general.
It’s also important not to forget about cleaning these cables if you live in an area where corrosion happens more often than other places (like mine). You might want to clean them every year or two just for good measure!
How To Care For Your Car Battery
Keep It Clean
The first step to prevent battery corrosion is to clean the post terminals, case and cable ends. Clean the Battery Terminals – If you’re going to check your battery, be sure to remove it from the car first so you can get at both sides of each terminal. Check for corrosion by spraying water onto the positive and negative terminals, then wiping away any residue with a clean rag or paper towel. Cleaning them should help reduce corrosion build-up that contributes to low performance or failure.
Clean Battery Posts – If there’s visible corrosion on either side of a connector post (either at its base or at its tip), use sandpaper or an emery cloth (the kind sold as nail file replacements) to scrape off any buildup before reconnecting all connections/electrical connections in reverse order (negative side first). Remember: always use caution when working around live electricity!
Clean Battery Case – This can be done by gently washing off any dirt with water and soap using an old toothbrush if necessary. You may want an extra hand here because it’s important not only not let moisture enter inside but also not scratch bottom surface where acid could leak out once again causing problems later on down road.”
Keep It Tight
- Keep the terminals clean and tight.
- Check electrolyte levels, battery cables, battery case and hold down strap for corrosion, damage or wear.
- Make sure there’s no leakage from the battery or around the case.
Keep It Cool
Heat is the enemy of a car battery. If you have a weak, old or worn out battery, it’s important to keep it at a reasonable temperature. Heat causes batteries to lose their power and can even lead to some nasty chemical reactions that will damage your battery beyond repair. While you may not be able to control the weather, there are things you can do in your vehicle or garage to keep heat from affecting your battery.
When possible, avoid leaving your car in direct sunlight for extended periods of time—this includes parking outside while running errands or sitting in direct sunlight on hot days (think: parked next to an open window).
Don’t leave your car idling if you’re going inside for just a few minutes—it’s better for everyone if the engine is off when parked but running! Also try not driving with all four windows open while stuck at a red light; this will increase airflow around the vehicle which can cause heat buildup inside and reduce range between charges
Be Aware of Leaks
If you find that your car battery is leaking, you should immediately disconnect it and take it to a mechanic for repair or replacement. You can also prevent battery leaks by regularly checking the condition of your battery and keeping it clean.
Keep It Charged
As a general rule, it’s good practice to keep your car battery charged to at least 12.4 volts. You can use an inexpensive charger that plugs into a wall socket and connects to the battery terminals by clamps or cables (these are known as “trickle chargers”). If you don’t have one of these available, you can charge your car with jumper cables connected directly between the two batteries in pairs (this is known as “jump-starting” the battery). Just be sure not to let these connections get wet or make any sparks that could ignite hydrogen gas from an overcharged battery.
If you don’t drive often enough for the alternator to fully recharge your battery before its next trip out of storage—that is, if there isn’t enough time between trips for the alternator alone or other sources of electricity coming off idle power accessories like lights or fans—you may find yourself having trouble getting started on cold mornings even after giving it some extra juice with either method above. This isn’t necessarily indicative of anything wrong; rather just something worth keeping track of so that you know whether it’s better practice in future cases if possible: charging up before storing away again might mean less hassle when trying again later!
Conclusion
Cleaning your car battery terminals is a simple task that requires nothing more than a few minutes of your time. By doing this on a regular basis, you can significantly improve the performance of your car and greatly increase its lifespan. It’s also an easy way to save money on costly repairs and will save you from the hassle of dealing with dead batteries in the future!