1995 855 Negative battery cable corrosion

lcc014 · Post by **lcc014** » 29 Sep 2015, 13:01

Recently, I noticed that negative battery cable had white color powder. I brushed it off with metal brush and cleaned negative battery terminal with battery cleaning tool. 1 day later, the white color powder appeared on the battery cable again. It looked like corrosion to me. This has never happened before in last 20 years. My battery was purchased from dealer back in 2008. There is no fluid around the negative battery terminal.

Is the battery leaking acid and cause corrosion on battery cable ? Is it time to get a new battery ?

Thanks.

Ching-Ho Cheng

Post by **tryingbe** » 29 Sep 2015, 14:42

I put grease on my terminals.

http://www.permatex.com/products-2/prod ... ase-detail

Post by **abscate** » 29 Sep 2015, 16:54

Salty sea air and old copper. It's not battery acid, it's just entropy.

7 years on a New England battery...well done !

lcc014 · Post by **lcc014** » 30 Sep 2015, 07:07

Thank you for the response. I am thinking of battery replacement as winter is coming ....

Post by **erikv11** » 30 Sep 2015, 08:30

It's almost certainly battery acid and the battery is almost certainly the problem. You can either seal around the post with something like dielectric grease and a battery pad, see if that slows it down, or get a new battery. I agree 7 years is pretty good life out of a battery.

It is possible that the battery is leaking because of overcharging, so keep an eye on the charging system. You don't want to kill a new $100 battery.

Post by **erikv11** » 30 Sep 2015, 08:30

delete

lcc014 · Post by **lcc014** » 30 Sep 2015, 08:39

I will check the battery voltages: car on and car off to make sure that charging system does not put out more than 14V to charge the battery.

Thanks.