Auto Care Ideas: Battery Extender and Vehicle Identification

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Battery care is part of auto care. Try our battery extender method and you might find your old juice box has some oomph left in it.

Even the most ecologically-minded of us often find cars to be a necessary evil. With that comes a whole raft of auto care complications related to keeping them running and keeping them safe. Our readers seem to have a never-ending supply of ideas for that. Here are a couple.

Battery Extender

W.W. Donovan has a way to avoid (temporarily, at least) being inconvenienced by a dead battery cell. Mr. Donovan, a Floridian who resides in Titusville, says the following “fix” works about 90% of the time. Using a hydrometer, he first finds which cell is dead, and adds one teaspoon of Epsom salts to that “empty pocket”. Next, W.W. tops off all the cells with water and places the battery on a charger. If no charge can be measured, he adds another teaspoon of Epsom salts. If after three such applications no charge is noticed, the battery falls in the 10% failure category. However, the Sunshine Stater says this cure should carry most batteries through a few more months (perhaps until you can afford to buy a new one).

  • Published on May 1, 1983
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