This is what an overly corroded battery looks like. This happens naturally over time on vehicle battery terminals. Since you check your oil with every gas/fuel fill up (or, you should be at least!), you should also be keeping an eye on the amount of corrosion that’s building up on your car or truck battery. There are solvents that we can use here in the shop during a battery maintenance service that will help slow the corrosion process but nothing that can prevent it 100%. It is sometimes suggested that vehicle batteries are good for 5 years. We don’t believe this is the case. That 5 year life span is set by the manufacturer with the battery only being used to start the vehicle. This does not take into account any “extras” being turned on, you know, the computer systems, the lights and radio, those extras. Since most of us use those optional and non-optional items, we should really be changing our battery every 3 years. Bud’s suggests changing your battery BEFORE you start having serious starting, charging and drivability issues. If your battery is newer than 3 years and you have to jump it more than once (after a long sitting period or other non-daily driving reason) we first suggest checking the cable connection.
Each stock vehicle battery has either top or side mounted terminals. Connected to those terminals are the cables. The connection should be tight. The battery cable should not move at all by hand. If it wiggles, even a little, it must be cleaned or even replaced. You can purchase battery cleaning solvents or you can leave it to the professionals and not worry about it! Either way, the battery terminal and wires need to be cleaned until they are shiny so they will have the best connection. If you have diligently cleaned the terminal and the cable connections we suggest that you buy a new battery. Sometimes a new battery can solve the problem and sometimes there are other underlying issues.
Bud’s Auto Repair and Transmission does a 29 point inspection on every vehicle that we pull into our shop. If a customer purchases the full battery maintenance service we will; thoroughly inspect and clean all battery components, test the battery itself and the cables and then diagnose if the battery needs to be replaces or not. Our local Marysville and Snohomish county guests can be confident to know that they are in good hands at Bud’s!