Getting to Know Your Car’s Battery

Hey there and welcome back to our series on automotive repair how to guides and tips for the new automotive mechanic in your family. Now if that happens to be you, I want you to understand that these articles aren’t being written for the professional but are instead being written for the average guy such as yourself that’s maybe looking to get his hands a little dirty on his own car one day. In today’s article I’m going to discuss some basic points about your car’s battery. The battery is extremely important to your car’s function, but once started, most cars that use alternators and not generators can actually be run without the battery connected and that’s a t estimate to just how far the modern electrical system in your car has come.
A car battery is little more than a big box filled with battery acid, which serves simply as an electrolyte, distilled water, and plates. It does help stabilize voltages, and can provide current when your car’s charging system is running below peak efficiency. You will typically find two large terminals on your battery, either on the side or on the top. You will have a positive and a negative terminal, just like most other major batteries out there. You can tell the difference because the positive will have a “+” sign by it while the negative terminal will have a “-” sign by it. There is often a red cap over the positive terminal, but that is not always the case. Typically most batteries are sealed units and don’t require service. However all batteries can be prone to developing corrosion on the terminals.
The battery is a very simple part in the overall complexity of your car. Now that you understand it’s purpose you can begin to effectively diagnose it for problems if you are dealing with a starting or charging situation that you are have trouble figuring out.

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