Carsut – Understand cars and drive better

Category: Car Battery

Car battery has to be replaced over the time. Here you can find the best information to maintain, recharge, and replace a car battery. You can also find reviews, prices, and cost to replace a car battery.

How to Disconnect a Car Battery
Often, there are times where you need to store your car, reset the computer or work under car hood. Whether it is for storage, upgrade, reparation or other purposes, you need to disconnect the car battery in the correct way. Disconnect a car battery wrongly could risk electrocution and nobody wish that to be happened. Therefore, it is vital to learn how to disconnect a car battery and reconnect correctly when you want to use it.

Tools to disconnect a car battery

Basically, you just need a few simple tools to disconnect a car battery. They are:
- Socket wrench
- Socket wrench extender
- Safety googles or protective eyewear
- Insulated gloves
Steps to disconnect a car battery

Step 1: First of all, make sure you turn off the engine and remove your car key from the ignition. Make sure your vehicle is in Park (see also: Learning to drive an automatic car).

Step 2: Open the hood and put a pad over the fender to protect it from corrosive battery acid.

Step 3: Locate the negative terminal. Usually there will be a black cover. You can also see a negative (-) sign near to the connector post. The positive terminal usually has a red cover and a positive (+) sign near to the connector post.

Step 4: Prepare the right sized socket on your wrench and remove the nut from the negative terminal. Use a wrench extender if you need a longer wrench to reach the nut.

Step 5: After the nut on the negative terminal is loosen, pull the negative terminal away from the battery.

Step 6: Repeat step 4 and step 5 to remove positive terminal. It is vital to keep the positive connector away from any metal part of the car. Thus, remove is carefully. You can now reset the computer or work on your car without to risk electrocution. It is recommended to remove the car battery from the car if you are doing this for storage. See also How to winterize your car.

To reconnect the battery when you want to use it, reconnect the negative (-) terminal first and then positive (+) terminal.

How to disconnect a car battery without losing memory

You will need an extra battery and a set of jumper cables if you want to disconnect your car battery without losing memory.

Step 1: Connect both the positive and negative terminals from the extra battery to your car terminals using jumper cables. Negative to negative and positive to positive.

Step 2: Disconnect the negative terminal from your car battery but make sure it is still connected to the extra battery that is healthy.

Step 3: Disconnect the positive terminal from your car battery but make sure it is still connected to the extra battery.

Step 4: Remove every bolt or screw that are holding the car battery in place. Remove the old battery from your vehicle and replace with a new one. Clean the tray if it is dirty. Connect the positive terminal and then negative terminal to the new battery.

Step 5: Now you can remove the jumper cable. Remove the positive cable (Red) and then only remove the negative cable (cable).

Almost 99 million wet-cell lead-acid car batteries are manufactured every year, thus, it is a must to dispose your old car batteries in proper way. The best way is bring it to a recycling center that accepts batteries.
May 14, 2016
How to Winterize Your Car

While winter is around the corner, it is vital for everyone car owner to know how to winterize your car. Sometimes, it is tough to drive in winter time because of the road conditions, weather, and unexpected things that will happen during cold months. It is essential to know the basic things you need to check and prepare the best for your car before entering winter. Car parts such as tires, gasoline, brake pads, and all the fluid in your engine system play an important role during the winter. If you have no idea of what to do to your car for cold day, check out the 10 most vital things to do to winterize your car in a proper way.

10 Tips to Winterize Your Car Correctly

These are the 10 most important things you need to do in order to winterize your car correctly without spending extra money.

1. Engine coolant

It is necessary to have the right mixture of 60% coolant and 40% water in your radiator before the weather gets too cold especially if you live where temperatures get below freezing, for e.g., Alaska. The water in your radiator may turn into ice if the ratio is not right. 80% water and 20% coolant is definitely a bad idea. Your car engine will not function properly with ice in the radiator. Double check your owner’s manual or check with your mechanics for the perfect coolant mixture.

2. Engine oil for the winter

According to DMV, it is recommended to use thinner and less viscous engine oil during the winter. For example, if you use 10W-30 for your car in the summer, you can consider switching over to 5W-30 before entering cold months. It is highly recommended to refer to your car owner’s manual or seek for further advice from your mechanic. See also: Car engine won’t start.

3. Measure tire tread and consider snow tires

If your car tires are bald, replace a set of new one. To measure the tire tread, use a penny to go through the tire tread. It is time to replace a new one if you can see the Lincoln’s head. On the other hand, you can consider buying snow tires with studs if you live off the beaten path. Snow tires are built to deal with snow, ice and sleet. It can improve your car’s traction.

4. Run a serious checking on belts and hoses

Send your car to a trusted workshop and have your mechanic to check all the belts and hoses under your car’s hood. Replace those hoses if you see a crack on them or if you see any leaking. Hoses are cheap but if they break while you are driving, tow car will be the only way to get home.

5. Check your battery, terminals and cables

Weak battery is often the number one reason a car won’t start. The capacity of a battery is reduced by the cold weather. Run a complete checking on your battery, terminals, cables, fluid for any cracks and breaks. Test your car battery with a car battery tester. Replace a new car battery if it is not in healthy condition. See also: how to test a car battery.

6. Brake pads

It is cool to see a car accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in a few seconds but it is also important to be able to stop a car from 60 to 0 mph. Check your brake pads and see if they need to be replaced. See also: how long do brake pads last.

7. Replace your windshield wipers and washer fluid

It is tough to drive in the rain during winter time especially if you are on the road late at night. Visibility levels are definitely low and it is recommended to replace your wipers with silicon wipers if they are in bad conditions. Silicon wipers are stronger and they often last longer. Also, you are suggested to use washer fluid with an antifreeze solution.

8. Keep a set of emergency kit in your car

Anything can happen during winter because the weather is cold and the sky is always dark. The best way to combat with winter is to keep a set of emergency kit inside your car such as flashlights, hydraulic jack, wrench, spare tire, emergency warning triangle, extra bottles of engine oil, brake fluid, coolant, blankets, boots, bread or food as well as tools to change out a flat.

9. Always pump your fuel tank full

In our car maintenance guide, we often mentioned that low fuel level will lead to many problems. Fuel pump failure is just one to be mentioned. Cold weather can cause condensation to form on the walls of a near-empty gas tank, and soon water will drip down into the gas. As water is heavier than gasoline, it might travel into fuel lines and then all the way to your car engine. This will not burn the engine but it will burn your wallet.

10. Use antifreeze

Consider to put a right amount of antifreeze in your radiator. A 50:50 ratio is the ideal amount. Antifreeze can keep fluids from freezing at temperatures as low as -34 degrees Fahrenheit (-36.67 degrees Celsius). Pre-mixed Antifreeze is cheap and they are available almost everywhere including gas stations and some grocery stores.

That’s the top 10 things on how to winterize your car. Please leave a message with the comment features if you think something important is missed out.

August 9, 2015
How to test a car battery (Video)
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This is a ~two-minute video showing you how to test a car battery using a car battery tester (voltmeter or volt gauge). The voltmeter has a digital reading and it comes with a universal car cigarette lighter power plug. Make sure you have left your car in the garage more than 12 hours if you want an accurate result.

Step 1: Locate your car cigarette lighter power socket.

Step 2: Connect the voltmeter to your cigarette lighter socket.

Step 3: Turn on the ignition.

Step 4: The first reading (not yet starts the car engine):
- 12.60 V means the battery is 100% charged.
- 12.35 V means the battery is 75% charged.
- 12.10 V means the battery is 50% charged.
- 11.95 V means the battery is 25% charged.
- 11.70 V means the battery is discharged.
Step 5: Start the car engine. The reading should be in between 13.8 V and 14.4 V.

Step 6: More than 14.50 V means overcharging. More than 12.60 V means no charge.

The battery is needed to be replaced if the reading is lower than 11.0 V all the time.
July 25, 2012
Car Battery Tester – Test Your Car Battery

In the market today, there are many types of car battery tester available from the cheapest $10 up to few hundred dollars. The reason some battery testers with higher price tag is they have extra capabilities including higher measurement range, bad cell detection, high/low voltage to test both the battery and starter. Some advance tester provide high amp charging function and engine start assistance too. However, as a normal user, we normally just need a battery tester that shows the available voltage power.

Here we have go a cheap car battery tester (you can called it voltmeter or volt gauge) purchased from Autobacs. It cost $22 dollars and we got it for $7 during a sales promotion. This gauge comes with a digital reading, a protective cover, and a universal car cigarette lighter power plug and lead wire. We recommend using this voltmeter to test your car battery because you don’t have to care about the DC or AC reading and you don’t even need to open up your car hood. It is 100% safe for people who know nothing about cars. Moreover, the digital reading is more accurate and easy-to-read. (more…)

July 23, 2012
Walmart car battery prices
As far as I know, Walmart car battery prices may vary depending on the store location. Customers may end up paying different price for a same battery at different store location. I came across this because I am a regular customer of Walmart. Walking into their automotive store and check out the car battery prices has become one of my hobby. Surprisingly, many people actually do not know Walmart is selling car battery and has hundreds of different types of batteries sitting in their store. Moreover, Walmart car battery prices are often cheaper than some other stores especially during promotions period.

Walmart car batteries can be found under Wal-Mart Tire & Lube Express section. In Walmart store, one of the most sought-after car battery brands is the EverStart. This is because EverStart batteries are exclusively available only in Walmart. EverStart offers a few types of lead acid batteries that are suitable to use for cars, trucks, SUVs, or heavy-duty vehicles at affordable price with great performance. Many of the EverStart batteries provide adequate starting power that meets manufacturer’s specifications and suitable for all-weather climates.

Warranty wise, some of the batteries such as EverStart 96R, 86FT, 36-R-3, 51R-4, 58R-3, 51-4, and 41-4 comes with 24 months free replacement. Consumers who prefer a little bit more security have an alternative to try another famous battery which is Champion. Most of the Champion car batteries come with a 36-month free replacement warranty including Champion CHAM-24F, CHAM-65N, CHAM-75N, CHAM-H6, CHAM-34N, CHAM-35N, and others. In the recent years, some of the warranty period has dropped to just 12 months. This is one reason why there are some car batteries come with only one-year warranty. Other than EverStart and Champion, Walmart sells EXIDE, BOSCH, DieHard, and AAA. All these batteries are manufactured by few famous manufacturers including Johnson Controls, East Penn, JCI, and Exide.

Besides car batteries, Wal-Mart Tire & Lube Express section also has some other parts that are important to maintain a car well. These include battery charger, battery box to protect the battery, booster cables, heavy-duty battery terminal, battery cables, jump start cables, and battery monitor.

When is the best time to buy a car battery from Walmart?

The best time to buy a car battery from Walmart is when a particular store is clearing out the overstock battery, which means a great promotion or a good discount. This happens when a manager lowers the price for a particular item to clear stock. In order to know when will be a next promotion, it is recommended to join Walmart customer mailing list.

Why buy from Walmart?
- Without doubt, Walmart provides one of the most convenient ways to get a car battery replaced.
- Walmart provides a free installation by professionals.
- Walmart offers a core charge – they take in old battery and a discount will be given on the new battery.
- Prices for batteries in Walmart are from $29 up to $350 depending on the brand, model, performance, and size.
In conclusion, Walmart has over 2,400 stores across United States. As a Walmart customer, I used to charge my car battery at one of the store in L.A. for just $2.50 when my car alternator is giving problems. How convenient it is! If you have never buy a battery from Walmart, ill strongly suggest you to do that at least once.
June 15, 2012