Hey guys

So the cold weather is here calling for some battery maitenance. One thing i have always been bacl and forth on is coating the battery terminal posts.

Should i coat them? And if so with what? ive heard copper grease, dielectric grease (which i believe to be silicone paste).

Real maintenance means you charge your battery (out of the car), minimum once a year (in winter time).

If it's classic, serviceable type, you check electrolyte level and density (how strong acid is).

Grease on the terminals is the last thing on the list. Almost any grease will do the job (sealing against the air and moisture).

Vaseline works to...just saying

everson38 said:

Hey guys

So the cold weather is here calling for some battery maitenance. One thing i have always been bacl and forth on is coating the battery terminal posts.

Should i coat them? And if so with what? ive heard copper grease, dielectric grease (which i believe to be silicone paste).

Click to expand...

Vaseline is the best coating for battery terminals. It just needs a smear.

Silicone based materials should be avoided.

Robert G8RPI.

GrandePunto PL said:

Real maintenance means you charge your battery (out of the car), minimum once a year (in winter time).

Click to expand...

I have to doubt that though. I had my original battery for 11 years, and it was never charged outside of the car. And I'm in Finland, where the car has been used even in -40 C / -40 F daily weather And it never failed to start during that time. I only changed the battery now when it finally started to have minor trouble during cranking, like once or twice during a week.

We do connect the car to a block heater overnight, when the car is outside in below zero. While it does not charge the battery, it probably makes the battery strain lesser when the engine itself starts easier.

I never did any maintenance to battery. Cars used for city drive, short trips. Each battery lasts 5 years, and then I noticed : slower engine starts, and/or (on older cars) dasboard counters reset+clocks resets after each start. But on modern cars I hear only longer starts, I mean 1 or 2 seconds longer than usual. So each 5 years I buy new battery and thats it

I do zero maintenance on my Punto Evo battery, it’s stop start so I don’t think you can on this battery anyway. I never put grease on the terminals, I never have done. The battery in my mk2b Punto lasted about 9 years without any major problems. The Evo battery is the original as it still has its fiat logos all over it, and this will also be 9 years old this year.

The only think I have done is put a solar charger in the Evo because it’s only being used once every couple of weeks at the moment.

The worst thing for a battery is short / infrequent journeys. My mum has a Fiesta, she uses it to go to the supermarket which is 5 miles away and the hairdresser which is also about 5 miles away. Supermarket once a week and hairdresser once a month and apart from other short journeys that is it, I've just had to put a new battery in and her car is 10 years old. She's had it from new and this is the 3rd battery.
I've now bought her a trickle charger to keep the battery topped up. Hopefully that will help it last longer.

My MX5 just gave up its original battery after 19 years. It probably would have done another year or two but the starts were getting too slow first time!