Posted: 9/9/2012 4:12:31 PM EDT
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I needed a new battery in my Honda Odyssey today,
so it was off to the auto parts store I go. I cannot believe the damn things cost $100 nowadays. My real question is: Do people still put grease on the terminals and wires to keep them protected from mositure and corrosion? My dad taught me this when I was a kid, so since I had some heavy duty bearing grease lying around, I took a nice glob of it and covered the two posts good. |
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Never used the grease and I've never had any issues.
A buddy changed out a battery and didn't take his old one back to get the core charge back so I took it home. I've got it laying around so anytime I get a battery I take it to swap out and then I remove the old one and install the new one at the same time so I don't have to work on something then stop to go get the battery then work on something again and I can get it all done at once. |
AGM etc...
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Quoted:
I've put some of the gell/grease from the auto parts store. Seems I'm getting a new battery every 2-2.5 yrs....thought they lasted longer. I'm pretty sure they lasted longer in the past and it seems like they used to get weak and give you some warning before they just died. Between our vehicles in the last 5 years I've had 3 batteries that just died when they were working perfectly fine before. Once I had just moved my truck for about an hour and it started up fine before I moved it and it was deader than a doornail when I went to start it back up. |
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Quoted: Battery terminals should be secured dry for conductivity. After that a good coating of die-electric lube/grease applied will preserve the connections and prevent corrosion. That's all I got. I usually just leave the terminals dry, but I had an old 82 Chevy truck that the terminals always wanted to corrode. I used die-electric grease on that truck to help fight the corrosion. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
I've put some of the gell/grease from the auto parts store. Seems I'm getting a new battery every 2-2.5 yrs....thought they lasted longer. heat kills 'em just as dead as cold. Heat is what kills them. The cold only makes a bad battery stick out more. |
| For my work truck if I can leave with a bill under $500 I'm doing good as my semi takes four of em. Sometimes you can get them so cold that a new battery still won't do a thing for you. That temp is somewhere between 0 F and -50 F. My motorcylce battery which is all of 240 CCA is still $110. Its a 1/4 the size of my truck battery but still the same cost. |
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Quoted: Vaseline works too. Any coating to protect it from the air and moisture.  Vaseline will very quickly melt, in the high under hood temperatures in the summer. Basically, it will all be gone after one summer. Wheel bearing grease is the correct choice. Put some on the bottom of the connecter, then put it on after you make the connection, on the top. You don't want it on the battery post where the cable end makes a connection: it's an insulator, too. |
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Quoted: Quoted: I've put some of the gell/grease from the auto parts store. Seems I'm getting a new battery every 2-2.5 yrs....thought they lasted longer. I'm pretty sure they lasted longer in the past and it seems like they used to get weak and give you some warning before they just died. Between our vehicles in the last 5 years I've had 3 batteries that just died when they were working perfectly fine before. Once I had just moved my truck for about an hour and it started up fine before I moved it and it was deader than a doornail when I went to start it back up. newer cars put more load on the batteries more amps pulled all the time more amps charging in during peak alternator charging time new high output alternators only put out peak ability in a narrow rpm band |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Vaseline works too. Any coating to protect it from the air and moisture. Vaseline will very quickly melt, in the high under hood temperatures in the summer. Basically, it will all be gone after one summer. Wheel bearing grease is the correct choice. Put some on the bottom of the connecter, then put it on after you make the connection, on the top. You don't want it on the battery post where the cable end makes a connection: it's an insulator, too. My Dad was an automotive and aircraft mechanic for almost fifty years. He told me to always coat the terminals with never seize. I've never had any corrosion using this technique. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Vaseline works too. Any coating to protect it from the air and moisture. Vaseline will very quickly melt, in the high under hood temperatures in the summer. Basically, it will all be gone after one summer. Wheel bearing grease is the correct choice. Put some on the bottom of the connecter, then put it on after you make the connection, on the top. You don't want it on the battery post where the cable end makes a connection: it's an insulator, too. My Dad was an automotive and aircraft mechanic for almost fifty years. He told me to always coat the terminals with never seize. I've never had any corrosion using this technique. Anti Seize is nasty messy stuff, but it does work. I can see why they'd use it on batteries. |
I prefer to use this product:
You spray it on the terminal and battery post, wait a few seconds to let it dry, then install the terminal. That's what old boy was talking about here: Quoted:
I use the red spray from the auto parts store. Just bought 2 new batteries for my diesel at $151.00 each. ETA - remember to brush/scrape the terminal down to clean metal beforehand. |