Ram YouTuber Offers Great Tip to Avoid Battery Terminal Corrosion
Finally, we learn something useful from a YouTube Short – how to keep “Chia pets” away from your car battery.
Almost all of us have experienced it – fuzzy battery terminals. Sure, things may start out great. You get yourself a new battery, maybe you take a brass brush and clean up your terminals to clean them up. Maybe you even let the kid at Autozone sell you the tiny packet of conductive grease and those two little foam discs.
You pound the terminals onto the posts, tighten them up, and you’re good to go. But what happens when you pop the hood for your next oil change! You’ll often see what YouTuber myfoundrylife calls “Chia pets.” So what causes it, and how do you prevent it?
As myfoundrylife explains, there is a seal between the plastic battery housing and the lead posts. When that seal fails, gas and battery acid leaks out, causing corrosion of your battery terminals. This results in the dreaded “Chia pets.”
Not the Good Kind of Chia Pets
So, how do you prevent it? One piece of advice goes back to when you installed your battery in the first place. Remember when we mentioned pounding on those terminals to get them over the posts? Well, that’s about the exact opposite of what you want to be doing. You see, pounding on the posts with a hammer will weaken or even break that seal. It’s best to carefully spread the ends of the terminals apart before you slide them on the battery.
If you break that seal, no fuzzy terminal protectors or special grease will solve the problem. However, you can save yourself a few bucks with a simple trick from our new friend myfoundrylife.
As he explains, sulfuric acid, which is inside your battery, can only be contained by a few materials – including plastic. Plastic is a petroleum product. See where we’re going with this?
A small drop of motor oil on the top of each terminal will help to support the seal and prevent corrosion and leaks. As the oil permeates the surrounding area, it will keep acid and vapors at bay. Just a small drop at each oil change will be fine.
Many commenters confirmed that this little trick works like a charm and has for years. Who knew? Leave it to a guy with a clean Cummins-powered Ram to teach us something new. Thanks, myfoundrylife!
Join the Dodge Forums now!
