How to Clean Car Battery Corrosion

If you’ve ever had to jump start your car and spend time under the hood, you might have been surprised by what you saw! Of course, corrosion on a car battery doesn’t just look bad. It can limit the effectiveness of your battery, create issues when you’re starting the engine, or cause one of your dashboard warning lights to come on. If you’re experiencing electrical issues on the roads near Jersey City, learn how to clean car battery corrosion with our service center.

How to Identify Battery Corrosion

Most drivers won’t notice car battery corrosion until they start to experience problems while driving through Fort Lee or New York City. However, any driver who’s interested in being proactive can learn the signs quickly and easily. Here’s how:

• Let your vehicle cool for at least 30 minutes before you try to get close to the battery. It’s a good idea to put on safety glasses and thick rubber gloves, too.
• Take a look at the battery terminals. If one or both of these is caked in white, green, blue, or teal residue, you’re dealing with corrosion.

Remove Corrosion from Your Car Battery

Before you start to remove corrosion from your car battery, make sure that you have exactly what you’ll need on hand. Make sure that you have the proper safety gear, and think about picking up a respirator, too. Although you can pick up a recommended battery cleaning solution from our parts department, a little bit of baking soda and water can do the trick, too.

Cleaning Battery Corrosion with Cleaner

1. Remove the connecting cables (first black, then red).
2. Spray the cleaning product on the battery until you’ve coated the entire affected area.
3. With thick rubber gloves on, use your wire brush to scrub the area until the corrosion is removed. Make sure to get the battery case as well!
4. Reattach your cables in the reverse order, and close the hood.

Cleaning Battery Corrosion with Baking Soda and Water

1. Remove the connecting cables (first black, then red).
2. Apply baking soda over the entire area that’s affected by corrosion. This will neutralize the battery acid.
3. Add a small amount of water to activate the baking soda and cause a chemical reaction which will remove the corrosion.
4. Clean and dry the area with a paper towel, and clean up any residue using a scrub sponge.
5. Reattach the cables in the reverse order, and close the hood.

It’s never a bad idea to spray an anti-corrosion solution or apply an anti-corrosion gel to your terminals after you’re through. Doing so can help to prevent the issue from recurring!

What Causes Car Battery Corrosion?

If you’ve put all this time into cleaning your battery, you might be wondering what causes car battery corrosion in the first place! Your battery heats up and cools down naturally as you drive, and releases hydrogen gas as part of the ventilation process! When this hydrogen comes into contact with surrounding materials near the terminals, corrosion is bound to occur. All car batteries need to be replaced eventually, but cleaning and managing corrosion can help to extend your battery’s life.

Jaguar Englewood is Your Source for Batteries and Service!

Whether you need to pick up a new Jaguar battery or you’d prefer to have an expert remove corrosion from your car battery, our team is here to help! Just make sure to check out our service specials and parts coupons before you make your appointment.

Interested in learning more about DIY car care? Start by finding out how often to rotate tires.