How to Care for Automobile Battery Terminals

Corrosion and buildup around the battery terminals under the hood of your car is a natural thing. The fumes from the acid in your battery cause this ugly corrosion, and it must be removed routinely. Buildup around the battery terminals keeps them from being recharged efficiently by your alternator and may leave you stranded.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Crescent or socket wrench Coca-Cola (2 liter bottle) Battery terminal spray

Clean Battery Terminals

1. Visually inspect your battery terminals and posts whenever you are under the hood of your car. Whether you are checking the oil, adding coolant or windshield wiper fluid, check out the battery. If you see corrosion building up around the terminals and battery posts, it won't be long before you turn your key and get no response.

2. Remove the battery terminals from the battery posts with a crescent or socket wrench and soak them in Coca-Cola for a few hours. The acid in the soda will remove the corrosion and buildup around the terminals, leaving them looking nearly brand new.

3. Pour Coca-Cola on the battery posts and scrub them down with a scouring pad.

4. Reattach the battery terminals to the posts and use a battery terminal spray to coat the terminals and posts. This will slow down the corrosion buildup process.

Tips & Warnings

• Some automobile experts say you should coat the battery posts and terminals with petroleum jelly to reduce corrosion between cleanings. This is not advised, since the heat of the engine causes the jelly to liquefy and become an insulating barrier to recharging your battery as you drive.
• Be sure you carefully remove the positive battery terminal first and do not allow the wrench or tool you are using to touch the negative battery terminal at the same time. You could be seriously injured.

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