1995,1996,1997,1998,1999,2000 Plymouth Breeze, Dodge Stratus, Chrysler Cirrus battery charging and diagnostics

Always remember that your battery produces hydrogen gas, which is highly explosive. Never create a spark, smoke or light a match around the car battery. Always charge a car battery in a ventilated area.

The battery in most vehicles is located inside the wheel well of the left front fender

Remove the battery from the vehicle.

On maintenance type batteries remove the cell caps. Make sure the electrolyte level is okay before bidding beginning to charge the battery. Cover the holes with a clean cloth to prevent spattering electrolyte.

On batteries with the terminals located on the side install bolts in the terminal solar charger can be attached.

Connect the battery charger leads to the battery post then plug in the charger. Make sure to set at 12 V if it has a selector switch. If the battery charges not have a built-in timer, it's a good idea to use one in case you forget-you won't overcharge the battery.

If you're using the charter with a rate higher than 2 A, check the battery regularly during charging to make sure it doesn't overheat. If you're using a trickle charger, you can safely let the battery charger overnight after you checked it regularly for the first couple of hours

It's battery has removable cell caps measure the specific gravity with the hydrometer every hour during the last few hours of the charging cycle. Hydrometer's are available inexpressibly from the your local auto parts store. Follow the instructions it come with the hydrometer. Consider the battery charge when there's no change in the specific gravity reading for two hours in the electrolyte in the cells is outgassing freely. The specific gravity reading from each cell should be very close to the others if not, the battery probably has a bad cell or cells.

Most batteries with seal tops have built-in hydrometer's on top that indicate the state of charge by the color displayed in the hydrometer window. Normally, a bright colored hydrometer indicates a full charge and a drawer dark hydrometer indicates the battery still needs charging. Check the battery manufacturers instructions to be sure you know what the colors mean.

If the battery is assailed top and does not have a built-in hydrometer you can look up a voltmeter across the battery terminals to check the charge a fully charged battery should read approximately 12.6 V or higher.

More diagnostic procedures