new battery, acid leak AGAIN.. faulty battery, or electrical problem?
Hi all
when i bought my 02 Z06, the previous owner had changed the battery with an aftermarket type.
The after market battery was installed in october 2004. The OEM battery had leaked, causing some fault codes to show up, and severed a vacume line as well.
I stored my car 1 month ago, and last weekend, i was cleaning the engine bay and noticed that there was some wet area around the battery. I disconnected and removed the battery, and noticed that white/green residue around the screws and bolts.
When i removed the battery, i noticed that acid was leaking out from the top cap/cover area, as if it came out from the battery cap. I brought back the battery to the auto part store, they told me that it is normal for acid to leak out from the top cover because I must have some sort of electrical problem causing the acid to boil and so it has to come out of the cap/cover.
is this true?
also note... since i stored the car, i had a battery tender on it. However, since all the bolts holding down the battery braket were full of corrosion, i suspect that the acid had been leaking well before the battery tender.
The electrolyte that "boils" will escape through the caps. Most motorcycle batteries have vent tubes that drain expelled electrolyte onto the ground. Cars do not have such a system. My best guess is a "short" circuit that's causing the problem. I seriously doubt the Battery Tender would cause this problem UNLESS the Battery Tender is defective and suppling too much current to the battery effectively "boiling" the electrolyte.
hmm... maybe a short circuit? Is there any way that I can check for this myself, or would I have to bring the car to GM, and they would have to do a scan on the electrical system?
I think you need a new battery.I've had cheap batteries do that after a year they just start leaking.Buy a dry cell,they don't leak.
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Just when you think they can't get any stupider,they keep talking.
Battery leakage usually means overcharging. It can also be caused by case failure or by overfilling the battery with electrolyte.
My 04 Z had 2 cells overfilled from the factory, good thing I checked.
I would suggest.
1)Replace the battery
2)Check the battery voltage with a digital volt meter with the engine off
3)Start the engine and check the voltage.
The second reading should be higher than the first and around 14volts. If it is higher than say 14.6 I would have the system checked.
No-maintenance batteries are sealed. They should not leak. You might get them to vent if you charged them at a much higher voltage, or discharged them with a near-dead short (which prevents them from exploding due to high internal pressures). But normally, nothing's supposed to go in to or come out of the battery. That's what makes them maintenance free.
You'd know if you had a severe electrical problem, bad enough to make a battery leak. And other than that, about the only way to get them to leak is to break them, mechanically, by dropping for instance.
Two in a row, exceptionally bad luck or it's something you're doing in either handling or mounting the battery.
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thanks for all the help. I think I will just buy a new battery, one that is sealed and maintenance free.
Umm... everyone talks about this optima red top. I don't think i can buy this type of battery in my area, anyone have the exact model number, and maybe an online vendor for this?
thanks again
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