How to Remove Corrosion from a Battery Terminal

Check your battery terminals for corrosion often.

The chemicals inside a car's battery can cause the terminal posts to corrode. This is especially true if you don't drive your car for long periods of time. Then, when you go to start your car, the engine won't turn over. Before going out and spending a lot of money on a new battery, try cleaning your battery terminals to see if that's the cause of your starting problem. You will only need a few household items to remove the corrosion.

Things You'll Need

• Adjustable wrench
• Gloves
• 1 tbsp. water
• 1 tbsp. baking soda
• Toothbrush
• Water
• Paper towel
• Petroleum jelly

Instructions

1. Put on gloves to protect your hands. Loosen the battery cables with an adjustable wrench, then remove them from their terminals. The red cable leads to the positive terminal and should be removed first. Remove the black (negative) cable next, making sure that it doesn't touch the positive one.

2. Make a paste out of 1 tablespoon of water and 1 tablespoon of baking soda. Apply the paste with a toothbrush to each terminal post. Allow the mixture to foam up and eat away at the corrosion on the posts for at least 10 minutes.

3. Scrub the posts with the toothbrush to clean away the paste and any remaining corrosion.

4. Rinse the posts with water and dry them with a clean paper towel. To help prevent future corrosion, rub a generous amount of petroleum jelly on each post.

5. Place the black cable on the negative post, then attach the red cable to the positive post. Tighten the cables with the adjustable wrench until they're snug on the posts.

References

• Battery Stuff: Battery Tutorial