Battery Maintenance even for so called Maintenance-Free Batteries

Hot weather, long stays on the battery tender or just normal use in the car all contribute to electrolyte evaporation loss in one's car battery.

Time to check the level and top it off.
Even if you have one of those maintenance-free Interstate batteries privately branded Autozone or other the one-piece cover that functions as a lid for the six cells underneath can be pried off. It is pried off by firmly forcing a rigid spatula into one of the long seams/edges of the cover and prying it up gently as the spatula is moved along the edge. The cells can then be topped off with distilled water adding years to the battery's service life. 

The fluid in the battery is concentrated acid. So, consider wearing gloves and eye protection to avoid injury. Also, avoid touching the underside of the battery cell cover as there may be a small amount of fluid on it. Wash your hands after working on a car battery.

A rigid painter's Spatula.

The top-off level in each cell is to add just enough fluid when you see the liquid touch and cling to the round fill ring (dashed line in the illustration below) at the bottom of the neck of each cell access hole.

If you see the cell plates above the water level when you first look into one of the cells you are just in time to save your battery as they should be submerged at all times. 

On my 993 I was able to leave the battery in place and
just remove the plastic cover over the lower hood latch
to gain access to the entire length of the battery's cell cover.

At one time batteries had individual screw-on or snap-on covers for each cell or two covers each covering three of six cells this is no longer the case with so-called maintenance-free batteries. 

Battery Cover

On many maintenance-free batteries, the cover is a single plastic band that runs across the entire width (longer dimension) of the battery in the middle of the battery top covering all six cells.  This is how my most recent Interstate branded battery is. On the Interstate battery, the cover can be obscured by an adhesive label but can still be pried up.

Unfortunately, some designs of maintenance-free batteries don't allow one to get to the cells to fill them, or at least I haven't figured out how to do it. Now, I just stick with the 993/964 compatible style Interstate brand or store brand battery manufactured by Interstate with the long cover strip down the middle that doesn't have this issue. 

Don't forget to reattach the fish tank hose battery breather tube when you are done. On my Interstate Battery, there seem to be two breathers one at each end of the battery so I purchased a plastic tube vacuum line tee and added some additional fish tank hose so both are vented through a hose. Others have plugged one of the vent holes connecting a single vent tube to the remaining breather. I don't smell any acrid odors in the frunk by using the vent tubes and that works for me!

Hope this helps, 

Andy 

                                          

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