Cincinnati cars stay charged with these battery tips

We have all hopped in our car at one point or another, put in the key in the ignition, gave the old girl a crank and been met with an engine that won’t turn. Instead you get that the most terrifying sound in the world…”CLICK”. Dead battery…bummer. Car batteries, like tires and oil, need to be changed more often than any other part of your car, but you usually won’t know when to change it until it’s too late and you are stuck in a near deserted parking lot 40 miles from home. You have three options, getting a jump from someone, call a tow truck too take your car to the shop or walk.

Before you have to make any of these decisions, a little battery maintenance will go a long way in getting the most amps out of it.

This is a handy trick. If you have poor pole contact, you are going to have a temperamental battery. Keep your battery terminals clean. No doubt you’ve popped your hood before and have seen the blue/white battery acid buildup on your pole and connectors. You can fix that! The most common way of doing this is with a wire brush and a solution of baking soda and water. This will help you get rid of all the corrosive build up which may be hurting the connection of your battery. If you don’t have baking soda, then you can use regular soda like Coke. Yup, is there anything that stuff can’t do? All soda’s have carbonic acid which will help get rid of any corrosion. Just pour it on the battery terminals, but be sure to wipe off the sticky residue with a damp cloth or sponge after it has dried.

What if your battery is dead but you are in an area where you can’t get it charged? There are a few things you can put inside your battery to help get you one last burst of energy to get you to a place with where you can get a new battery. One way is to put two aspirin into the battery. The aspirin reacts with the acid and will give you one last big boost to get your car turned on. You can also do the same thing with Epsom salt. Dissolve an ounce of Epsom salt in warm water, and then add the mixture to your battery to extend it’s life for a little bit.

With the cold weather coming, you may experience battery problems, so be sure to change your battery now if you haven’t done so in the last 6 months or year. If you are having serious battery issues, then it might not be your battery at all, but your alternator…but that’s another post. If you need ANY come into any Superior Automotive Center location.