Most of us know this...but how many actually check? This is the first car I have owned where I do not do most of the maintenance on it. Also since the engine bay has all of the covers, I haven't really looked. My wife called me today after she got off work telling me my car won't start. I drive out to her work figuring the battery finally gave out, popped the hood to hook up the jumper cables and here is what I see:





The ring clamp was broken and not making full contact anymore. Called AAA for a tow, he shows up and wraps tape around it so I could drive the 3 miles to the local dealer.

There was another thread on here about someone else having hard starting and other oddities. I did notice over the winter that my car was a bit "strained" on starting when it was cold. Again I had just assumed my battery was on its last leg. I "think" it is the original battery. Even if it was replaced before I got it, I have had the car for almost four years.

I am assuming the dealer is going to want to change out that entire cable. Anyone know the part number? Wanting to be ready when they call me tomorrow with an estimate. If they are crazy on parts and labor, I will go get my car and try to make it to another local shop. I didn't really want to drive it any further than I had to. The dealer was only a few miles away, my house was about 20, and the other shop I use was about 15. I have had pretty good luck with this dealer (Jay Wolfe of KC) so far on being mostly reasonable.

 

I have never seen a terminal this bad before.

 

Have a look at this thread: Battery Cable/Clamp Corroded - Car Won't Start

You don't necessarily have to replace the whole cable. If you do, it's (iirc) about a $45 part and it is definetly DIY-able.

 

Thanks Bearcat. Exactly the same issue, although I am not sure if my battery is cracked or not. I really didn't look that much. I was just so disgusted that my car left my wife stranded and just wanted to get it to the shop to get fixed. I have been making her drive mine to put miles on the tires to make sure they wear out before next winter (see thread regarding Pilot Sports wearing funny) and doubtful she will be wanting to drive it now. I work from home now and if she doesn't drive it, it sits for a 8-9 days without being started.

At least now I know it is a $45 part list and have an expectation of cost when they call me tomorrow. They tell me $100-150, I authorize repairs. They say $300, I ask them why and find a ride to the dealer to pick my car up. Of course I will be bringing some electrical tape, hot glue, duct tape, and bailing wire to fix it enough to drive to the other shop. I am hoping they continue their top notch service I have gotten in the past and go for an hour or so of labor. I really just do not enjoy working on my own cars anymore. I changed my front brake pads out last year and I do the cabin and engine air filters. That is about the extent of it these days.

 

It seems like dealers typically want to charge 1 hour minimum labor, which is, say, $100 - $120. Even though this is about a 20 minute job if once you know how to do it.

 

Agreed. I am assuming $150 from the dealer which is fine with me considering labor and parts costs. I bet this would be a 2-3 hour job for me to do myself which isn't worth it. I have plenty of other things to be doing for 2-3 hours. Also I would have to dig through my paperwork to find my radio unlock code which would add another hour or so to the job.

 

Dealer called and said $228. I asked for a break down of costs and it was something like $85 for parts, 1 hour of labor, and taxes. I explained to him politely that the part is only $45 list and I do not accept that level of mark-up from them and refused to authorize repairs. He puts me on hold and comes back a few minutes later at $178. Much closer to what I had expected and authorized repairs. Pick my car up in the morning for review.

 

Does anyone know the best way to prevent this from happening? Other than checking on it every x amount of times?

 

Went through 2 battery cables.......just buy a new battery and new cable. Easiest and best way to fix the problem. I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned the battery terminal and just couldn't get it to not rot like that. New cable and battery fixed the problem real fast.

 

Picked my car up this morning with no issues. Got home and popped the hood and it appears they didn't bother to clean the blue stuff from the rest of the engine bay. That ticked me off a bit. Went to the car wash and sprayed down the engine bay to clean it all off. Now on the various exposed metal parts around that side of the engines, I have little scars from where it ate into it a bit. I expected them to clean up and fix the problem. I haven't had a chance to call the service dept back yet. Not sure what I expect out of it besides ranting. Not like any of that can be corrected.

Here is what I saw when I popped the hood. You can see the blue junk all over the place.



I am not sure what type of chemical reaction happened here, but you can see that some copper was deposited on the various exposed metal parts.

 

and this is why i never take my car anywhere but my own garage.

sorry man...that just sucks. hopefully someone will know of a magical potion to remove that crap.

 

It's an acid. All you can do is dilute and/or neutralize it.

 

From further discussions with friends, it would have been quite the challenge to dilute and/or neutralize. The blue stuff was copper sulfate which apparently reacts will aluminum quite easily once water was applied. I do not think the blue stuff was acid anymore since it has already reacted with the copper....but I never once took any Chemistry classes so no clue. They don't teach this crap in Electronic theory and Network classes.

I am actually not that worried about the looks of it all. It is just a car to me these days. As long as it runs properly, still looks decent, and makes me smile when I drive it I could care less.

I will be checking my battery every few weeks now just in case my case is cracked. Highly unlikely the previous connector corroded that badly on its own, but there were no signs that the battery was damaged from a top down visual inspection. If I get wild and crazy, I may pull the battery out sometime for a closer look.

 

I used to believe this. I just don't have the time and/or motivation to follow that principal these days. Even if it would have been in my garage, it probably would have had similar outcomes. It just wouldn't have sat on there for quite as long. And then it probably would have ended up on something else in my garage which would have just ticked me off as well.

In all fairness, the reason it was spread throughout the engine bay was actually the tow truck driver's fault. He brushed off the terminal enough to get contact made so I could drive it to the dealership. I had just "assumed" the mechanic would have cleaned it up when they worked on it. Or at least told the detail people about it so when they washed the car they could have popped the hood and sprayed it out.

 

Mine was almost that bad. So bad that I couldn't even remove the battery clamp myself when I got a new battery last year. I need to clean that thing.

 

terminal/battery clamp corrosion is inevitable if hydrogen is venting from the battery post area. the only thing you can do is regular inspections and maintenance outside of replacing a battery. then again the new battery may have the same problem. back in the day terminal removal clamps were a must to preserve the integrity of the battery posts.

your local auto parts store sells cans of anti corrosion for battery terminals. they are a lot more effective than the standard felt terminal washers. anti corrosion coatings and washers are just preventive measures but are not an end all to terminal corrosion.

 

Old school proceedure.

1) dampen post with water.
2) Sprinkle baking soda on it to nutralize.
3) let sit a while then scrub a bit with a brush .. even a tooth brush ( use the wifes cuz it can leave a funny taste in your mouth).
4) Rinse with water.
5) Remove terminal and clean both contact surfaces and reinstall.
6) Let dry.
7) Coat terminal with Vaseline ... to corrode like that you need oxygen present.

 

What about the use of something like di-electric grease?

 

i think that would work as well..both are probably non conductive..well at least dielectric grease isn't conductive. vaseline, from a quick google should also work as well.

 

im not 100% sure about di-electric grease. i was told a reason why it's not viable but i just cant remember.

 

Below is the procedure I used when I worked as a tech and use on my TL and never have experienced corrosion issues. I usually perform this once a year during one of my oil changes. When you replace your battery or perform regular maintenance you should purchase the following.

Battery post and terminal cleaner(wire brush), CRC or permatex battery cleaner and CRC or permatex battery protector.

1. Remove the terminal clamps

2. Spray cleaner on clamps and posts



3. Use the terminal and post brush (Wire brush)

Youtube Video on how to use it



4. Attach clamp to posts

5. Spray battery protect on posts/clamps

 

My mistake. I always thought dielectric grease was conductive.

You'd want something conductive though, right? You wouldn't want a non-conductive protectant (vasoline, etc.) between a battery post and a clamp, would you?

 

You put the Vaseline on "after" you reinstall the clamp/terminal. So n grease between them

 

yeah the grease is just meant to provide a barrier to moisture/corrosion. Establish the contact first as Jeestzn mentioned then slather on the grease.

 

I have checked my terminals twice now since this repair was complete and both times I had to take it back apart and clean everything. I even went so far to take it all apart, scrub it, clean it, put down the felt washers, and applied the treatment/dressing. That slowed it down, but it still came back 6 months later.

Taking it into the dealer next week for my oil change and asking about the warranty on the battery. The sticker says 6/08 which I am assuming is summer of '08 when I bought the car and it has a 100 month warranty. Doubtful the pro-rate credit will be worth much, so I will probably be picking up a new battery at Costco soon.

 

I used to spray a little spray paint after the connection was clean and tightened down.

You can use baking soda mixed with a little water to clean off the rest of the junk.