Are You Sure That Your Car Battery Is Properly Connected?

Are you having a hard time starting your car in the morning and experiencing this problem ever since you replaced the battery? In this case, have a close look at the battery itself and the way that it is connected. What should you be looking for?

What to Expect

The primary job of the battery is to provide a boost of energy to the starter motor mechanism in order to crank the engine into life. In the meantime, it will provide a much smaller source of energy to ensure that the ancillary devices within your vehicle continue to operate when the engine is not running.

However, the battery cannot perform its task if it is not properly connected to both the chassis of the car and your main electrical system. You need to ensure that those connections are all tight and look very carefully at the terminals, cables and battery posts.

Checking Condition

When you replace an old battery with a new one, you may not pay close attention to the cables or connectors but simply reattach them and move on. However, with time, a certain amount of corrosion may have built up on the inside of the terminal connectors, and if so, performance will suffer. The battery may not be able to earth itself properly through the chassis connection, and if it cannot complete the relevant circuit, you won't be able to start your car. So, if you find any corrosion on the inside of the terminals, make sure that you clean the battery posts at the same time. After all, some of that contamination may have been carried across.

Looking at Connections

Next, look at the cable condition, especially where they connect to the battery terminals, as sometimes, due to the vehicle's layout, these cables may be under a lot of tension. Alternatively, they may have been incorrectly attached in the past, but either way, they can sometimes crack or split, especially near to the terminal itself.

If you can see any signs of degradation, you will need to replace the cables and probably the terminals. Be careful when you reattach the cable-to-terminal clamp and do not overtighten. Likewise, do not overtighten the terminal clamp-to-battery post. If the terminal appears to be loose as it sits on the battery post, even if you have tightened the bolt and nut as much as possible, you may need to add battery shims in between. Alternatively, you may need to double-check that you have the correct battery for your vehicle or buy new battery terminals.

Expert Help

Schedule a service visit if you'd rather not get your hands dirty or feel uncomfortable dealing with anything electrical. The technician will have a look at your battery efficiency and make sure that everything is connected correctly.

For more information, contact a local car battery provider.

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