The battery is an essential component of an automobile. You do not have to be an automobile mechanic to perform simple maintenance on your car’s battery. In fact, there are some simple things that someone with very few mechanical skills can perform on their car’s battery.
One simple battery maintenance task is to clean the battery posts and cable terminals, the cable terminals is where the end of the battery cable attaches to the battery. You do this task by applying a water and baking soda solution to the battery posts and terminals and scrubbing away the corrosion with a brush. Automotive parts stores sell special brushes for this job or you can use an old toothbrush. Before applying the baking soda solution, remove the terminals from the post, this will allow you to clean the posts and to clean the inside of the terminals that make contact with the battery posts.
Side Posts Problems
Some car batteries have side posts. One problem you may encounter with side posts is the terminals loosening up. Side posts have battery bolts that screw into the side of the battery, when the bolts loosen up the connection between the battery and car can be lost. When the connection is lost, then the bolts have to be tightened again. If the bolts keep coming loose, then you can either buy a new battery or perform a DIY fix. A quick fix for this problem that works sometimes is to find a bolt the same length as the terminal bolts but slightly bigger and replace the bolts on the terminal. The bigger bolts may stay tightened better than the old bolts.
If this does not work, a more radical solution is to use a few drops of Lock tight on the bolts. Lock tight is an adhesive that glues the bolt to the inside of the battery. If applied correctly, this will keep the bolts from loosening. Lock tight can be purchased at your local auto parts store but make sure to buy the blue Lock tight. The blue is for bolts you may have to remove and you may have to take the bolts out someday.
Using these solutions can prolong the useful life of your car battery and help you save money on simple car maintenance.