hey all
sorry if this is in the wrong forum… wasn’t too sure where to put it
anyways
i’m quite the noob when it comes to cars… but then again we all gotta learn some where
i noticed my car battery has some corrosion and such on it, particularly where u attached the + & -.
in order to get this stuff off, so i can wash it down and such
what safety precautions should i take, so i won’t end up fryin my own a$$? o and one of the attatchments is pretty much covered w/ this bluish stuff so IF i need to dismount one of the connections to break the circuit, how do i get around this safely?
it all depends on how bad the corrosion has gotten…you can judge whether or not its gotten bad enough to replace a whole battery cable end or not, but if its damaged or broken, anything like that, i’d recommend definately replacing it…usually the corrosion is the worst on the positive terminal, so what you want to do is take off the positive one first, completely get off all the corrosion, etc. with a wire brush and/or battery cleaner, also clean off the positive battery post…then leave the positive remaining off the battery and do the same to the negative…and whether or not u need to do any cleaning of the hold down, bolts, etc, you can do this now as well…then once you have it all cleaned up, install the positive cable end back onto the positive post first, then once that is tight, put back the negative and you’re all done…
by no means do you need to use water to clean off a battery (you can if u want, but it wont help much), follow what i said and you’ll be all set
there are special battery post cleaners you can buy, for example if you go to Sears auto or something of that nature, they have them there, only like $4 or so, it has the wire brush that is made to clean the battery posts and cable ends…so its all up to you
you can wash the battery off with water, don’t worry, however its not the most effective way. in fact part of what is in your battery is water.
i recommend going to the autoparts store and buying a battery terminal cleaner. Its a really neat tool that cleans both the post and the terminal on the wire. its pretty trick. to clean the connections properly you’ll need to disconnect the wires. Don’t worry about doing it properly, its hard to do wrong. Just loosen the bolts and pull them off. Of course you’ll have to reset any settings on your stereo and reset your clock. Also, when you start the car afterwards let it warm up all by itself (don’t give it any gas), that way you’ll reset the ecu properly.
also, if there is excess battery acid all around you can neutralize it with baking soda and water.
if your battery is a servicable battery, you should check the water level and fill with distilled h20 as needed.
You can go to your local auto parts store and pick up a can of post cleaner for about 3-4 bucks. If you are hurting for $$$ you can use a mixture of baking soda and water. the Baking soda acts as a base and will naturalize any acidity left in the residue on your posts, i would also recommend investing on those green and red battery washers they sell it will slow the process down. I hope that helps.
You can also use Coca-cole or any dark cola to clean the posts with. It’s more effective than baking soda/water mixture!
Just don’t get it everywhere, because it’ll be sticky. Put some on a rag and just give it a few wipes. Then use an old barbecue brush or steel wool to get the crud off. Then you can rinse with water or whatever, and dry. repeat for both posts and terminals. DONE!
thanx for all the great tips u guys
very appreciated!
i’ll have to put em to the test w/ in the next 2 weeks when i gett chance… damn skool lol
anyways
so more or less
when cleaning the battery posts and such there isn’t a huge chance of me electrifying my own ass just by touchin the posts or whipin it down? cuz you guys didn’t really mention anythang that has to be watched fo majorily, cept for + mount first then -., so i’m hopein i’m right lol…
Hahahaha, I read in one of those DIY magazines once that if you put a couple L of coke and let it sit, the acids in it will get the stains out of the toilet.
