Yes, You Should Be Cleaning Your Car Battery Terminals, And Here’s How

If you’ve got a car that you love and care about, you’ve probably spent a good amount of time keeping the inside and outside of it pretty clean and respectable, right? Do you also pay much attention to the condition of your engine bay and the components within? Because keeping essential components like the car battery in tip-top condition can keep your beloved motor running better for much longer.

That’s because looking after the battery in your car is a simple way of looking after the whole car. Dirt, grime and corrosion can build up on your battery and its terminals, which can hit its performance and impact your rest of your vehicle.This means that it’s important to pay it some love and give it a good clean every once in a while. If that’s not something you’ve ever done before, here are a few handy tips on how to clean your car battery safely and effectively.

Your car battery can pick up all kinds of dirt and grime while sitting in the engine bay, and it’s good to keep that clean. More important, though, is monitoring anything that appears on the battery terminals as this can hit the performance of the cell.

Keeping the terminals clean can prolong the life of your battery as corrosion can stop it performing at its best. The buildup can reduce the battery’s efficiency and this can have a knock-on impact on things like your car’s lights and air conditioning, which may not work as well if the car’s battery isn’t performing at its best.

What’s more, the issues can spread into your engine bay, as battery issues can damage cables under the hood and could, ultimately, force you to replace the battery more often than you might normally need to. Paying your battery a bit of TLC could be good in the long run, then.

If the benefits of a clean car battery sound good to you, then cleaning them is pretty straightforward and can be done with things you probably have lying around the house right now. For the job, you’ll need protective gloves, baking soda, water, petroleum jelly, a rag, and something bristly like an old toothbrush.

After you’ve donned the gloves, you’ll want to mix up your cleaning solution, which requires one tablespoon of baking soda and one cup of water that is stirred together until it’s nice and mixed, according to Firestone Auto Care.

Once that is mixed up, make sure your engine is off and cool, and then disconnect the battery and give it a visual inspection. If you see a buildup of battery corrosion and grime on the terminals, then it’s time to get to work. If you spot any leaks or bloating of the battery case, then it’s best to get it replaced instead of cleaning it down. 

To clean the terminals, dip your old toothbrush in the baking soda solution and start scrubbing the terminals. You’ll need to put a bit of effort into this in order to dislodge the corrosion, and should also keep cleaning off the brush while you work.

Once you’re happy that the corrosion is all cleared away, rinse off the terminals with clean water from a spray bottle or use a damp rag to wipe everything down. Once everything is cleaned, it’s important to dry the terminals and the battery off with an old rag.

The final step is to dab a small amount of petroleum jelly on the terminals and reattach the cables. The gel will strengthen the connection, but using too much can hinder performance so use it sparingly. Now, you’ve got all the tools you need to carry out another simple maintenance task on your car.