Dashboard lights still on after cleaning battery corrosion
Cleaning battery corrosion can leave drivers unsure if it is safe to drive and recharge the battery, fearing a potential alternator problem will drain the remaining power. This leaves them questioning whether a negative terminal issue is still affecting the car's electrical power while all the dashboard lights remain on.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Cleaning corrosion and tightening the battery terminal, then driving the car to let the alternator charge the battery.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“All the lights are still on when the car comes on.”source ↗
“I want to drive around so the alternator will charge the battery, but if the problem was the alternator then I will use what little power the battery has left.”source ↗
“The line is the negative terminal on my battery. Is that affecting the power of anything in the car”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 2Why is my check engine light on after changing the car battery?
- 3Why is my battery light still on after replacing the battery?
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- 18Car won't start or shift gears after dead battery
- 7Car battery leaking acid with no warning lights
- 2Why did I get shocked reconnecting my car battery?