How To Change A Dead Car Battery

The worst thing that can happen to you when you are running late to office is to find your car’s battery is dead. This is bound to leave anyone frustrated. It is also a sad truth that these kind of issues arrive almost always at very delicate times. There can also be many reasons behind why the car battery gave up on you like that. Some of the prominent ones are: cold weather, frequent short journeys, excessive strain on the battery and battery age. Going by the data, a dead battery is indeed the number one issue behind breakdown down service requests by car owners.

We have already discussed how you can start your car when your battery is dead in our previous features ‘How to Jump Start Your Car’ and ‘How to Push Start Your Car’. However, if you come to find out that you have indeed extracted every ounce of your car’s battery power and that it is beyond coming back to life, you will have to replace it.

Though you can go to a workshop and get the car battery replaced, we say it is not that difficult to do the same yourself. This is how:

Make Sure the Car Battery Needs Replacement

Before you set out to get yourself a new car battery, it would be better to make sure that your battery does indeed needs a replacement. You can do this by:
• Looking for any type of sulfate build-up around the terminals – it will be generally whitish or blue residue. If found, remove it and it might help with your faulty battery. However, do not touch any residue with bare hands as it may contain dried out sulfuric acid.
• Check the battery with the help of an alternator or the battery meter that some cars arrive with. Ideally a battery should have 12.4 – 12.8 volts without engine being on and no extra accessories being added.

Buy the Correct Replacement Battery

Getting an authorized car specific battery is always recommend. Once you are sure you need a new battery, make sure you search for the exact spec and dimensions for your battery. Refer to the car’s owner’s manual for the exact battery spec including ‘Ah’ rating.

Where To Buy

You can get a car battery from any of the authorized service stations. You can even go online and search for the same as well. An online medium can help you save time in going to the market or dealer and purchasing the battery.

Replacing The Car Battery

Locate the old battery and unhook it:
Once you have located your battery, you would need to make sure you know where the positive and negative terminals of the battery are. The positive terminal will be in red and have a + sign while the negative will have a minus sign and is black.
Disconnecting the old battery:
You will need to disconnect the negative terminal of the battery first. This is needed to save the positive terminal from short circuiting if it comes in contact with a grounded part of the car. You will be able to simply loose the terminal with a wrench. Once done, you can now remove the positive terminal. Always keep in mind that you mark the cables well (if they didn’t come marked) or else you can destroy your entire electric system.
Remove the old battery:
Carefully loosen the battery holder and keep any screws or clamps safe. Remember the battery will be heavy and can easily weight more than 15kgs, thus you need to pull it out safely.
Put in a new battery:
Clean the terminals of the new battery and the cables completely. Place the new battery in the battery holder and fasten it to its place. Make sure the terminal match the cables. This time, connect the positive terminal first followed by the negative terminal. Apply battery grease on the terminals. Now, you are good to go. Drive Safe.

A new battery will easily last over a couple of years if you drive the car often. For much sure car maintenance tips from CARS24, head over to our maintenance section.