It may just stop you in your tracks. That stuff on the battery in your car. A result of gasses created by a battery with low fluid levels, this white puffy stuff is robbing your battery of enough power to start your vehicle, and it needs to be cleaned. Most homes have the perfect ingredients for creating a solution that eats away at this stuff. Knowing this, you have to clean the discharge on a car battery because you have no reason not to.
Drive the vehicle onto two car ramps so that the front of the vehicle is lifted high enough off the ground to access the battery cable's anchor points under the engine. Open the hood of the vehicle so that the battery and its cables are within easy reach.
Disconnect the black negative cable from the battery. This will let you work with these power supply wires without a charge running through them when you do. Tie back the black negative battery cable from the battery after it has been separated from the battery post.
Mix together a solution made up of one part baking soda and two parts water. Blend the dry and wet parts together so that the solution is a cloudy mixture of baking soda and water. Have enough mixture to clean each of the cables and battery posts completely. Pour the solution into a container and bring to the battery of the vehicle.
Pour some of the solution onto the battery posts of the vehicle after placing a catch pan under the vehicle to catch the material that is going to be cleaned away with the baking soda and water mixture. The red positive cable can still be connected when you do this. Pour enough of the solution onto these corroded posts so that the entire area is covered with the solution. After wetting the posts and cable ends with the solution, move to the anchor points under the car.
Locate where the black negative cable is secured to the engine block and where the red positive cable is connected to the engine starter. Place a catch pan under each cleaning location to catch the corrosive material and the cleaning solution. Loosen each connection for cleaning if you notice discharge around the end of the cable(s). Coat the corrosion with the solution and wait five minutes for the solution to eat through the buildup of corrosive material that is there. Dip a toothbrush into the solution and use it to scrub away any remaining chunks and bits of material from threads or wire ends of the cable. Secure the cable ends back into position and tighten firmly after cleaning.
Finish cleaning the battery using the toothbrush method, and remove all the corrosive material that was present before the cleaning. Pour fresh water over the battery and cable ends that were cleaned to remove any of the baking soda and water mixture that was used during the cleaning. Reconnect the black negative battery cable to the battery. Start the vehicle, close the hood, and drive off the ramps.
