A car battery is undoubtedly one of the few most important parts of your car. You will be left stranded on the door if your car battery fails you. Thus taking care of your car battery is very important.
If you are keeping your car without using it for a while, it is best to keep your car battery disconnected. If you are not sure how to unhook a car battery, read on to find out how to do it in simple steps.
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Why Disconnecting The Battery When The Car Is Not Working Is Important?
If you are leaving your car without using it for a while, you should remember to disconnect your car’s battery. Otherwise, you might have to deal with costly repairs including replacing it. This is because components like the clock and on-board computer of the car drain power from the battery even though your car is not in use. Thus your car will fail to start when you try to after a while.
Experts say that new advanced vehicles have many more electronics and modules that drain power from your battery even when the car is not in use. So to extend your car battery’s life it is important to keep it disconnected when your car is not in use.
Safety Tips Before Disconnecting The Battery
Before going directly to how to unhook a car battery, you have to know certain tips to follow to safely disconnect it.
- A battery can hold some electric current even when it’s not running. You have to make sure you are not wearing any sort of jewellery like rings, watch or bracelet while doing the procedure. The chances of the battery causing an electric shock when in contact with metal are higher.
- Make sure to do the disconnecting procedure in open spaces. The procedure may involve emitting hazardous gases from the battery and the less your exposure to it, the better. Wearing gloves and masks while doing the procedure is important.
- Another thing you have to make sure of is that there is no moisture or water content near where you are working. As mentioned above, car batteries, even if they are not working, maybe carry some electric current. Water is a good conductor of electricity and the chances of you receiving a shock when working in a damp environment are high.
How To Unhook A Car Battery?
Now let’s go to the procedure you need to follow to disconnect your car’s battery. The total completion of the procedure may only take less than 5 minutes. So even if you are in a hurry to go somewhere away but you forgot to disconnect your car batteries, you can do this very fast.
Steps To Follow
In 7 simple steps we will explain to you how to unhook a car battery, so read on.
1. Switch Off The Ignition And Use Safety Equipment
Before going further into the procedure of how to unhook a car battery, you have to first make sure that your car’s ignition is off and the key is not in the switch. You should also make sure that your car is in the ‘Park’ position or it is in the first gear if your car has a manual transmission.
You should also wear safety gloves, goggles and maybe a face mask too before starting to unhook the battery. Your battery carries a small electric charge and is capable of releasing flammable gas too so it’s better to take precautionary missions.
2. Open The Hood
The next step you have to follow is opening the hood of your car. You can do this by either pulling the hood lever or pressing the hood button that is usually located somewhere below or near the steering wheel.
3. Locate The Battery
Keep the hood open by using the hood stand. Once you located the battery which can’t be very hard to find, look for the battery’s negative terminal. The terminal will be marked with a negative (-) sign on a black cover that covers it.
4. Disconnect The Negative Terminal Of The Battery
The negative terminal of the car battery should always be removed first. This is to reduce the risk of sparks which can lead to the explosion of your car battery.
After locating the negative terminal of your car battery, use the wrench to loosen the nut that covers the terminal. Finding the right size wrench may be hard but if you have one, turn the nut in the clockwise direction to loosen it. If you have your safety gloves on, you can go on and remove the nut once it’s loosened.
5. Disconnect The Positive Terminal Of The Battery
Once you have successfully removed the negative terminal of the battery, switch to removing the positive terminal now. You can locate and follow the same procedure you used to remove the negative terminal for the positive terminal too. Be careful while doing so. You have to make sure no metal parts of the car come in contact with the battery’s positive terminal. In case there is some charge left in the system, the electric circuit can get disturbed if the terminal comes in contact with any of the metal parts of your car.
6. Locate And Remove Battery Bracket Or Strap
If you want to completely remove the battery from your car, you have to remove the metal bracket that holds the battery in its place. You will find this bracket or strap at the bottom of the car battery holding the battery in place. Removing this will help you remove the battery altogether.
Did You Remove The Car Battery To Install A New One?
If you unhooked your battery and removed it altogether to replace it with a new one, here is how you should do it. After you safely remove the old battery, you can follow the procedures to add the new one. You can follow the same procedure for removing the battery in reverse for installing a new one.
Place the battery in the proper position and put it on the bracket or strap to secure its position. First, put the negative terminal followed by the positive terminal. You may have to reset the radio and clock setting in your car after replacing the battery.
Frequently Asked Questions:
So, here are some of the frequently asked questions about whether can I just disconnect the car battery, what should be detached first when removing the battery etc?-
Can I Just Disconnect My Car Battery?
What Should Be Detached First When Removing The Battery?
Should Battery Disconnect Be On Positive Or Negative?
What Happens If You Disconnect The Battery While The Car Is Still Running?
Do You Connect Black Or Red First When jumping A Car?
Conclusion
Knowing how to unhook a car battery can always come in handy for you. This is a task which can be done very easily on your own in no time. Make sure to keep your car battery disconnected when you are not using your car for a while so that you wouldn’t have to spend money on buying a new one later. Hope this article helped you!
