A couple of weeks ago, as I was putting in my new Needswings oil catch can, I noticed some brown visible through the little area next to the battery. My first thought was "how the heck did mud get in there?" and got ready to clean it out.



After pulling out the battery, I stood there staring in shock!



Not just rust, but the acid ate through a vacuum line under there.



The only thing I can figure is when I bought the car, the dealer was so proud of the fact that they just replaced the battery. I thought that it just went dead and didn't give it a second thought. It must have cracked, exploded or leaked severly, and they replaced it without cleaning it up at all. Needless to say, I will be checking everywhere regularly from now on!

So I picked my jaw up off the floor, wiped away the tears and started on the repairs. The battery tray comes out easily - only 2 nuts and it just lifts out. I disconnected all the cables to the electronics, loosened all the mounting hardware for the ECU box (there are 3 nuts holding it on in the passenger footwell that are nearly impossible to get to ) and was able to lift up the ECU box sufficiently to be able to reach under it. Got out my trusty wire brush with a very long extension and scrubbed everything down to bare metal.



With the metal cleaned up, I wiped everything down with alcohol and used some rusty metal primer.



Fixed the broken vacuum line and repainted everything...



And now I can sleep at night again!

The moral of the story - don't leave any stone (battery) unturned because Rust Never Sleeps!

 

I know what I'm going to check tomorrow!

Nice save by the way!

 

i have the same issue and my negative post is always crusted even though i use dielectric greease liberally. im thinking its the little catch box on the battery? im testing longevity cause my battery is the oem from 2002!!!!!!

 

Good catch Jon, glad it wasn't too bad under there! I'll be checking both of mine this afternoon.
See you at TMS.

 

wow, I am headed out to mow the lawn, and recheck my batteries....I don't remember seeing anything like that, but need to polish on the cars a bit anyway....thanks for the update

 

The overflow catch basin that is visible fits in a hole obviously, what isn't so obvious is that there is a matching hole at the opposite end of the battery and this has to have a plug in it.

There is no use trying to catch spilt acid at one end if it can flow out the other.

The catch basin should be tight in the hole as should the plug at the other end, wrap a little Teflon tape around the spigot if it's loose.

 

I had the same problem with my SRT6 that has an aftermarket battery, but no overflow line. I've gone through the repairs you mentioned twice. Can you tell me where the vacuum line goes because mine is broken but not replaced? I also just noticed that there is only one plug in the two (one on each side) overflow tubes and it looks like it's happening again. I will remove and run an overflow tube down and below the frame - maybe that will help.

I also have inserted the red/green battery pads on all three XFs but I suspect battery overflow rather than corrosion falling off the terminals. The XFs with oem batteries do have the overflow catch boxes.

 

One end of the vacuum line goes to the rear of the intake manifold, the other end goes into the passenger compartment through the firewall underneath the battery tray - sorry, but I didn't take the time to track down where it ended up. I didn't notice any difference in how my car ran after fixing it, though.

I repaired it with some rubber vaccum hose. I cut off the corroded ends of the existing line, went to AutoZone and picked up a foot of hose that fit tight over the existing line and used it as a splice. I figured the rubber line would hold up better if the battery ever leaked again...

 

Jon, I had the same problem and went through similar steps to repair it as well. I put in an new battery within a year of buying the car and it wasn't like that when I put th new battery in. What I found was that the battery tender that I kept on it was causing just enough acid to weep out and create the corrosion. Since cleaning up the mess and removing the battery tender, I have not had any more problem with it and I do check it every week now........paranoid!

And, I too have yet to figure out what that vacuum line goes to but I repaired it by sliding a rubber vacuum hose over the split ends (which just happended to be the perfect size to seal). I have yet to find anything that does, or does not work with the line open or closed.

 

This is definitely something I'll have to look into.

Would this be a reason to consider and OEM replacement versus a cheaper battery with no vent tube?

I was considering upgrading to the interstate MTP-91 but I might reconsider if it will cause rust.


**EDIT** Nevermind, I saw Steve is having the same problem on his 32 and he's using OEM.

Ugh...

 

Before discarding the OEM battery or any battery that has the overflow trap and plug, remove them and install on the new battery if they do not have them.
Batteries with this type of vent should have them supplied when new, if not ask for them.

 

For the last 16 years I have put OPTIMA batteries in my cars when I replaced them. NEVER HAD ANY CORROSION on the posts or the trays. I am replacing the original in my '05 this week. Right now Farm and Fleet has the 34R for 129.99 and there is a 25.00 rebate from OPTIMA good through august 31st 2010. Not a bad deal for 104.99!


-Dave