Technician Safety Information

CAUTION: Batteries produce explosive gasses. Batteries contain corrosive acid. Batteries supply levels of electrical current high enough to cause burns. Therefore, to reduce the risk of personal

Injury while working near a battery:
- Always shield your eyes.
- Avoid leaning over the battery whenever possible.
- Do not expose the battery to open flames or sparks.
- Do not allow battery acid to contact the eyes or the skin.
1. Flush any contacted areas with water immediately and thoroughly.
2. Get medical help.
- Follow each step in the jump starting instructions, exactly.

Certain electronic devices on the vehicle maintain a small continuous current drain (parasitic load) on the battery, such as a PCM or a VCM. A battery that is not used for an extended period of time will discharge. Eventually permanent damage will result. Discharged batteries will also freeze in cold weather.
1. Do the following in order to maintain the battery state of charge while storing the vehicle for more than 30 days:
- Ensure that the green dot is visible in the built-in hydrometer.
- Disconnect the negative battery cable to protect the battery from discharge by parasitic current drains.
2. When it is time to reconnect the battery, use the following procedure:
- Lightly wire brush any oxidation from the contact face of the battery terminal and the battery post before reattaching the cable.
Tighten
Tighten the battery cable bolt to 15 N.m (11 lb.ft.).
- Reset the clock and the push-button tuning radio before the vehicle is put back into service.
- Maintain a high state of charge when the battery cannot be disconnected.
- Establish a regular schedule for recharging the battery every 2045 days.
- When a battery is found without a green dot visible in the hydrometer, promptly recharge the battery.
- To reduce charging time, use a battery charger that can produce a charging voltage of at least 16 Volts.
- Original equipment maintenance free batteries are not damaged by charging rates of 50 Amps or more.
- The battery will not be damaged as long as the battery does not spew acid from the vents or get hotter than 52° C (125° F).
- Check the battery being charged every 45-60 minutes.
- If gassing or overheating does occur, reduce the rate of charge, or stop if necessary.
- Avoid overcharging by stopping one hour after the green dot appears in the hydrometer.
- Allow ample charging time. Refer to Battery Charging.
- A battery that has remained in a discharged state for a long period of time is difficult to recharge or may be permanently damaged.