One of the main components in making your car move is the battery. Without that battery, you won’t be going anywhere. With advent of hybrid powered cars, that can take on more significance than in the past. So let’s just stick to the main battery for now.

Replacing a battery is a fairly simple process, with only a few steps involved. Following are the tools and steps necessary for a typical battery replacement. When replacing a battery — and any time that you’re working under the hood of a vehicle — wear safety glasses or goggles. Since batteries contain corrosive materials, it’s also a good idea to wear gloves.

Check your vehicle’s manual to find out the type of grounding system your vehicle has. The vehicle in our demonstration used a negative-grounding system. For a negative grounding system, remove the battery-cable connected to the negative post first. (For a positive grounding system, remove the positive cable first.) The cable terminal is held in place by a collar tightened and loosened by a nut and bolt. Use two wrenches, working in opposite direction, to loosen the nut. Lift the cable free of the terminal, and tuck it out of the way.

Once the cable has been loosened and disconnected from the negative post, do the same for the positive side.

With both cables loose, use a ratchet wrench with an extender to loosen the clamp device that holds the battery stationery in its place.

With the clamp loose, lift the battery carefully out. Batteries are heavy, so use caution when lifting.

Use a wire brush and a solution of backing soda and water to clean any corrosion that may have built up on the terminals. Roughing the surface of the clamps slightly with the wire brush also helps ensure a good, strong contact with the posts of the new battery. Follow up by cleaning and drying the terminals with a clean cloth. Make certain that the contacts are dry before installing the new battery.

Inspect the battery tray — which supports the bottom of the battery when it’s mounted in the vehicle — to see if there is debris or corrosion there. If so, clean the battery tray also with the wire brush, solution and clean cloth. With the terminals and battery tray cleaned, you can lift the new battery into place.

Secure the new battery in the tray using the clamping device that was removed earlier.

With the battery in position, reinstall the battery cables, reconnecting them in the reverse order from which they were removed. In our case, the positive cable was connected first, followed by the negative. Using two wrenches, tighten the terminal clamps using the tightening nut and bolt.

You should then start your car, and let it run for a few minutes, to ensure that your battery connections are good, and won’t fall off when driving.

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[tags]car battery, charge battery, car batteries[/tags]