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The unfortunate fact of the matter when it comes to car batteries is that, despite how innocuous some of their functions may seem, they’re just as finite as any other component in your car. When a battery starts to fail, you may start to experience difficulties starting your car, not to mention using its various electronic components like headlights or dashboard controls. That’s neither safe nor pleasant, so that battery needs to be replaced.

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The good news is that replacing a car battery isn’t actually that hard. It’s more than possible to just buy a new battery from an automotive supplier and handle the installation all on your own. However, just because it’s relatively simple, that doesn’t mean you can approach it half-heartedly. Removing and replacing a car battery requires the utmost care to prevent injury from electrical charges or battery acid. The key to this is using the right tools, including safety gear to protect your hands and eyes, corrosion scrubbing cleaning supplies, a sturdy wrench to fasten the battery in place, and washers to protect the terminals.

The absolute first and foremost priority in selecting tools for a battery replacement is ensuring your safety. Remember, that battery carries a hefty electrical charge, not to mention all the acid sloshing around in there. You can severely injure yourself if you don’t employ proper safety gear beforehand. This means both safety glasses to protect your eyes and thick, insulated gloves to protect your hands. You can find Milwaukee-branded safety glasses and work gloves at your local Home Depot.

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As another layer of safety and maintenance, you’ll also need to have battery cleaning supplies on hand. If your old pack was in especially bad shape, it may be covered in acid corrosion, and that stuff needs to go before you can install a new one. You’ll want a can of spray-on battery terminal cleaner to neutralize any acid corrosion as well as a battery terminal cleaning tool, which has a built-in brush for carefully scrubbing acid crystals away. You can get both CRC battery cleaner and a set of LotFancy terminal cleaners on Amazon. Household products like WD-40 and a baking soda solution can also work in a pinch.

Once we have the matters of personal safety and cleaning squared away, the other major category of tools for battery replacement is adjustment and terminal protection. Your original car battery’s terminals are likely secured in place with sturdy clamps, which can’t be undone with just your hands. You’re going to need a sturdy adjustable wrench to safely loosen them and disconnect the battery, as well as tighten them again on the new pack. A socket wrench set will also work just fine for this purpose. You can get a good adjustable wrench from Crescent at Home Depot.

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As for protection, you’ll want a set of anti-corrosion washers to install on the terminals. These washers help seal the terminals, which prevents corrosion-causing elements like moisture, vapor, and debris from getting in there. When you get a new battery pack, it may come with a set of washers for your convenience, but if it doesn’t, the battery terminal cleaning tool set we highlighted before comes bundled with a set of washers.