MattyG

This morning there was frost on my car indicating that the overnight temps had dropped down. Up to now my 2GS430 has had no starting issues or any other problems battery related.

Lo and behold when I went to start it - no start. Just clicking/buzzing noises. Not good. Worst case possibilities in my mind. Had my 5 year old Exide battery finally given up? Worse still, did I have a battery drain that I didn't know about? Do I have to buy a battery booster? Buy a really expensive fancy battery?

I quickly checked under the hood and then gave it one final desperate try. Nope. Clicking buzzing etc.

Fast forward a bit and I think about it and then go back under the hood and do a basic and very simple look-see. Looking at the battery terminals: there's a buildup of blue-white crud on the positive battery terminal.

Cleaned it up and reattached the negative terminal after putting the positive back on and the car's immobilizer is honking the horn loudly. Power!

One of the most basic things I neglected while under the hood this summer, had disabled my car.

So after all that I topped up the battery's electrolyte with distilled water, cleaned up the terminals and put some lithium grease on them and all is good.

Lesson learned: start with the basics and do the basics while you can do it before the cold sets in.