Car Battery Replacement – DIY or call an auto electrician?

Car Battery Replacement – If your car battery is not performing as it should be then its likely you will need to replace it. Whilst this may seem daunting to some, this is not as big a job as it sounds and may be possible to do it yourself, as long as you are careful. Faulty batteries can be very dangerous for a number of different reasons. The acid inside them is extremely corrosive and if there are any leaks it can do a lot of damage. Electricity itself is very powerful and if you connect the wrong wires to the wrong connection points then you could end up seriously injuring yourself or seriously damaging your vehicle.  If you do decide to do it here are some top tips.

Tips on how to replace your Car battery

1. Park your vehicle on a level surface in a place with enough space to get full access to the bonnet and the engine.
2. Ensure you wear protective clothing covering your eyes and hands at all times. Battery acid is highly corrosive and can cause permanent damage if it comes into contact with your eyes or skin.
3. Before you disconnect anything, ensure that you have all of the security codes for the electrical components of your car. Radios, Sat Nav’s etc. usually ask you to put in a code once you have replaced the battery and you may not be able to use any of these features until you have entered the correct number.
4. Open the bonnet and find the battery, it shouldn’t be too difficult to locate. Most of them are next to the engine but in some makes and models of car they are to be found in the boot or under one of the seats.
5. If it is difficult to tell the wires which connect the battery apart then you should label them as positive and negative before you disconnect them. Rewiring the car in the wrong order could seriously damage the electrical system.
6. Disconnect the negative cable, making sure that the clamp doesn’t make contact with any metal components of the engine.
7. Do the same for the positive cable.
8. Carefully take the battery out of the vehicle. Be warned, batteries are quite heavy and can be awkwardly positioned so you may need another pair of hands to help you remove it safely.
9. Prepare the new battery and double check that the battery you are about to put in is the correct model for the car. Then screw the battery back in to place.
10. Reconnect the positive cable first, taking care to ensure that it is securely fastened in place and that the cable is not in the way of anything else. The clamp should be as close to the base of the post on the positive terminal as you can get it.
11. Then reconnect the negative cable, taking care to ensure that it is securely fastened in place and that the cable is not in the way of anything else. Again, the clamp should be as close to the base of the post on the negative terminal as possible. You can start the car. If the replacement has been successful, the engine will start and there will not be any warning lights on the dashboard.
12. Enter all of the security codes to restart your electrical equipment and you’re good to go!

Summary

If the car doesn’t start then there is a good chance that you have done something slightly wrong. Don’t try to correct the problem yourself unless you are 100% sure of what the problem is. You could ruin the whole of your vehicle’s electrical system which would be a much bigger job to sort out.

If all this sounds a little daunting and you don’t feel 100% confident in all these things, then you may be better taking your vehicle to a specialist auto electrician near you. The last thing you want is to do any lasting damage to your vehicle or injure yourself in any way?