WARNING
Battery acid is highly corrosive - it can cause injury, chemical burns or poi-
soning! Corrosive vapours in the air irritate and damage the respiratory
tract and the eyes. The following guidelines must be observed.
■
Always wear protective gloves, eye and skin protection when handling
the vehicle battery.
■
If your eyes or skin come into contact with the electrolytic fluid, immedi-
ately wash the affected area for a few minutes long with a lot of water.
Seek medical assistance without delay.
■
Keep the vehicle battery away from people who are not completely inde-
pendent (e.g. children).
■
Do not tilt the battery otherwise battery electrolyte may flow out of the
battery vent openings.
WARNING
Working on the car battery may cause explosion, fire, injury or chemical
burn! The following guidelines must be observed.
■
Do not smoke, use open flames or light or transmitting devices.
■
A discharged vehicle battery may freeze slightly. Never charge up a fro-
zen or thawed vehicle battery. Replace a frozen vehicle battery.
■
Never use a damaged vehicle battery.
■
Do not connect the battery terminals, bridging the two poles will cause a
short circuit.
CAUTION
Ensure that battery acid does not come into contact with the bodywork – risk
of damage to the paintwork.
Note
■
We recommend having all work on the vehicle battery carried out by a spe-
cialist garage.
■
You should replace batteries older than 5 years.
Check condition
Fig. 157 Vehicle battery: Open the cover / acid level indicator
Read and observe
and on page 134 first.
The battery condition is checked regularly by a specialist garage as part of the
inspection service.
Check the acid level
For car batteries with acid level indicator, acidity can be checked on the basis
of a colour display. In vehicle batteries with the label “AGM” there is no acid
level examination.
Depending on the equipment, the vehicle battery may be provided with a cov-
er, this can be opened in the direction of arrow » Fig. 157 -
.
Air bubbles can influence the colour of the indicator. Therefore, carefully knock
on the display » Fig. 157 -
.
Black colour – electrolyte level is correct.
Colourless or light yellow colour – electrolyte level too low, the battery must
be replaced.
Battery discharge
If frequent short journeys are made, the vehicle battery does not recharge suf-
ficiently.
The battery capacity decreases at low temperatures.
If the vehicle is not used for longer than 3 to 4 weeks, disconnect the negative
terminal
of the battery or charge the battery constantly with a very low
charging current.
134
General Maintenance
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