We continue with our series of articles answering frequently asked questions pertaining to your car battery. In this article, we will deal with the issue of corroding terminals on car batteries.
My car battery has one more corroded terminal and my car won’t start. How do I clean them?
The corrosion on the terminals of car batteries is the likely reason why the car isn’t starting. However, they can be cleaned easily and here is how.
- First, make sure you have the engine turned off.
- Loosen the negative battery cable first with a flat-head screwdriver and lift it off the battery terminal. Then place the negative cable away from the positive terminal and any metal.
- Now remove the positive car battery cable the same way. Make sure you don’t let the positive and negative terminals make contact with each other.
- Take some Coca Cola or baking soda and water and pour it on the car battery’s terminals and cable ends.
- Using a toothbrush, scrub the battery terminals and cable ends firmly until you see the corrosion is removed from them.
- Now pour some water on the battery terminals and cable ends to wash the Coca Cola or baking soda off completely.
- Let the battery terminals and cables dry for a while.
- Apply a slim coat of Vaseline to the battery terminals for lubrication.
- Take the positive battery cable and slide it onto the terminal and tighten
- In the same way, take the negative battery cable and slide it on the correct terminal and tighten.
Here are some important precautions you should note and be aware of while carrying out this procedure.
- The battery terminals referred in the above guide are the two posts on the top of the car battery that the battery cables connect to.
- In order to make sure you don’t get an electric shock, make sure you remove the negative battery cable before the positive.
- In order to prevent an electrical short in the car, do not place the removed negative battery cable on any metal part or component of the car.
- While replacing the cables after the drying, make sure the positive battery cable is connected first.
- Do not let the negative and positive battery cables touch in order to prevent an electric shock.
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