Doing This Will Make Your Car Battery Last Twice as Long

Three weeks ago, I had to change a battery I bought in Nov 2013 for a Mustang I only drive every other weekend. That battery lasted almost 10 years by doing most of what Scotty recommends. The only reason I got a new one was that the battery was physically deforming, the plastic itself was warping and shrinking for some reason, but the battery was still testing “healthy.”

If you put a new battery in your car, spray, both terminals with white lithium grease, then wire them up.

Scotty I live in Phoenix and its difficult to get 3 yrs on a battery any tips for the high heat states other than move ?

I PUT VASELINE AROUND THE BATTERY CONNECTIONS and my battery lasted 6 years. I dont really drive that particular car much either. I'd say vaseline is all you need. That particular battery usually only lasts 3 years. Life is simple but ppl insist on complicating everything.

Hello Sir, my 2010 Subaru Forester battery gets low all the time. Firstly, the engine light, blinking cruise light, and traction light were on, then showed it to a mechanic, he got these codes on OBD P0851 and P0335 he changed the new neutral switch, but the lights came back on in a day or two. Then I checked myself for the P0335 crankshaft sensor, it is working. I drive the car very little; my car battery keeps getting discharged around 10 on the multimeter, then when I drive the car a little, it goes to 12.7 and when the car is started it shows me 14.4. Plus, when my battery is charged properly around 12.7 those lights go off, when it starts going down, these lights come back. Plus, I checked for the drain, and the reading showed me on the negative terminal -0.13 so is something taking the battery power, or the battery is not good? Please guide. Thanks, a lot.

Well, it's about time you didn't red line your engine. 5 K is even taking it pretty high. Try to keep it under 3k to prolong your engine's life.

Great tips 👍🏽

Question if you take the battery out of the car how do you save all the stored memory in the computer??

$140.00 I wish. Here in UK my battery was $250.00 for AGM

Kilmer.Your are a legend!!

Another tip is get rid of the STEEL HOLD DOWN BRACKET. I will conduct discharge from post to post over time, shortening battery life. Replace it with heavy plastic or wood.

You should of used these tricks on your electric bike !

I put insulation my 1000 CCA battery, it lasted 7 years, the heat & cold wears them out. I notice all asian cars get corrosion on the terminals, could it be the steel terminals?

What about distilled water in freezing temperatures?

And don't trust the local auto parts store, I had trouble starting and I went to Autozone and they said my battery was good but my alternator was sketchy. Luckily my Ram was still under warranty and the dealership said it was the battery and replaced it and that solved the issue!

It's 2023. The battery for my ram 1500 was $250.

My pet peeve is batteries that don't have a lifting handle. On my car they are extremely difficult to remove because the battery has to be lifted straight up and there is no room to insert a hand or fingers.

Scotty reminds me of my Dad. Tie his hands and he couldn't say a word. 😅

Makesure you get theright trickler charger: some just keep charging, and it boils your battery dry.

For long lasting batteries, NOTHING BEATS AGM batteries! AGM stands for absorbent glass mat; instead of a liquid electrolyte, it's a gel. You can let them sit for weeks, and your bike will still start up. I've only used them in bikes, not my cars yet. But yeah, AGM batteries hold their charge very well.

Great guy,...gives very helpful information that even an experienced mechanic can learn from.

Dude! Your awesome! Thanks for every tip ive learned from ya!

Think Scottys wrong here. Battery’s don’t need “exercise” just need recharging occasionally to keep them full. Car battery’s naturally self discharge over time and don’t like deep discharge so a small battery trickle charger with a plug top timer to charge for an hour every day might be an idea for cars in infrequent use.

Scotty I have a fear of batteries, when I was a kid my dad would be working with them and to show me how it works and what not he had some smaller wires making contact and tease me or teach me it wasn’t that bad. Can you go over what not or what to wear when dealing with batteries. Side note I don’t touch my house light because I get shocked often. In passing brushing with ppl sometimes I get zapped sometimes to extreme in my view. I try to avoid polyester in general. Your input is valued thank you.

Trickle chargers are nnot enough.

I don’t want nobody teaching me about cars but this guy !

Scotty, i been wathing for years now. But i finally have a problem i cant figure out. My sons car is a 00' toyota Celica GTS. No mods. Has brand new battery as of May 2023. For some reason when you turn the key to on the dadh lights come on etc, but when you try to start it, it kills everything as if you blew a breaker. Battery test 12.6volts. When i take off the negative term it resets everything and dadh lights will come back on. Try to start it and kills it again. Im thinking its the starter, but thats not normally what happens when they go bad. Theres no clicking or stripping noise. Nothing. He just went to start it one morning and started doing this? Terms are clean btw. I'm stuck, need some help. I thought I'd seen it all, nope.

Great tips Scotty please do some ore like this video for us the laymen. As it is my battery was quite expensive and the old one that was fitted at Mazda's manufacturer. I was told by Mazda and auto electric electrician told me that having a slowly dropping battery voltage can and will cause issues within the car's electronic control module and for example will keep some relays being stuck on in not shutting off hence my battery would drain the battery overnight because some relays had slow leakage ie: the fuel pump would slowly drain the battery over night. A new battery solved that problem because there was now enough voltage and letting the relays to shut off.

Awesome, thank you teacher.

Thanks Scotty for always educating! Learn a lot watching your videos keep it up!!!

I usually poor boiling hot gluten free water on my terminals to clean. It works great!!! Nobody gets hypochondriac sick...

Please may you put a video out on how to use the tester to test your battery and alternator

hi i got a question,, my vehicle was recently towed a few kms from a gas station to a garage because diesel fuel was put in the tank by mistake , i did not witness the towing as it was my mother who was driving the car at the time and supposedly no one touched or worked on the car while it was in the parking lot of the garage as i told them i have not decided what to do after i was given an estimate ,long story short the next day when i went to pick the vehicle up from the garage it would not start, there was enough power to run the dashboard, cargo light radio etc but it would not be enough to crank the engine, i got a boost from the neighbor who drove me there and it seems fine after that, was wondering if the towing had anything to do with draining my battery? the only other thing i could think of is if someone forgot the cargo light on but no it was shut off when i inspected it ,so any thoughts on what may have happened here?

How do you work with a garage ,in that state..Not very professional.

Gotta love you scotty
Thank you for the knoledge. Ive learned so much through out all these yrs watching you and taking notes

I replace my battery every 4 to 5 years regardless. I've bern using interstate batteries for 25 years, never let me down!

This guys just sending positive energy to the world 😊

Cleaning with Coca-Cola takeout battery from a car or track put on ground pour out Coca-Cola on battery terminal take a old toothbrush clean after clean rinse water gets paper towels dry clean and put batteries back into a car or track apply Vaseline on battery terminal battery post you saved power battery all year round.

Thanks Scotty!!

Simply put few drops of Mobil oil on both terminals

John Lennon knows his cars

How pissed is this chap?

install a quick disconnect on the neg terminal.....................you welcome

Lead-acid batteries are fickle things. But making them last is in fact all about keeping them charged, as Scotty says.

I'll just quote from 'ThoughtCo' since their paragraph is nice and concise:

" When the battery is fully charged, the negative plate is lead, the electrolyte is concentrated sulfuric acid, and the positive plate is lead dioxide. If the battery is overcharged, electrolysis of water produces hydrogen gas and oxygen gas, which are lost. Some types of batteries allow water to be added to make up for the loss.

When the battery is discharged, the reverse reaction forms lead sulfate on both plates. If the battery is fully discharged, the result is two identical lead sulfate plates, separated by water. At this point, the battery is considered completely dead and can't recover or [be] charged again. "
- Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.


One thing that isn't mentioned, is that lead sulfate is a brittle substance, and can flake off if the battery is exposed to vibration or shock. Thus, when the battery is low, you have a higher chance of a jolt physically damaging the plates. Once the lead sulfate flakes settle in the bottom of the battery cell, they're lost to the circuit.

Man, I miss when batteries cost $140. $250 for mine.

Thanks for the advice Scotty. Last night I forgot the keys on the on position in my car and this morning the battery were dead, just a dumb mistake. Do i need to buy new batteries or i can charge the battery and they will be ok.
Thanks again.

Dam, this guy is good!

i noticed using one of my CAR APP's measuring the voltage on my acura rsx. the voltage tends to drop alot from 14v, isn't it suppose to be steady? im seeing 12.4v to 13v, i just changed out my alternator and my battery is about 1yr old .. why does the voltage fluctuate that much ?