[Rodek]

Folks,

My Box is only 4 months old. It's a '06.5 BOP. Today, I noticed it has severe corrosion on the positive battery terminal. It's eaten a chunk out of the stockwire connector and is chewing away at the batery post as well. Should I be having this problem? Don't the dealer (during prep) or factory apply some sort of anti corrosion protection to the terminals? I live in the Pan Handle of Florida. I have two other vehicles and none of them have this problem.

 

[Tomas]

Take your baby back to the dealer and have them fix the problem. That sort of corrosion should not happen, and could even be from a defective seal on the battery...

Tomas

EDIT: I just checked the Pre-Delivery Service documents for the 2006 xB and the dealer does not put any anti-corrosive on the battery terminals during pre-delivery. The only battery checks are state of charge and a visual check of installation.

T

 

[squirrel]

I automatically put that red "grease" for battery connections on my posts.. I need to do it on the Matrix also come to think of it. I got the packet at Kragen's.

 

[Frogbox]

take it to the dealer, let them fix it.

Then take her home and coat the posts with vasaline, cheaper than that red grease and works the same.

 

[Rodek]

Thanks for the replies folks. She's due for an oil change so I'll ask the dealer to take a peek at it.

 

[grizzly_choppers]

Just keep in mind that the corrosion itself is acidic so be careful about breathing it in and such.

For other cars (that aren't under warranty) don't forget about the old baking soda and water solution for removing this kind of corrosion. It works amazingly well.

-Alex

 

[squirrel]

Just keep in mind that the corrosion itself is acidic so be careful about breathing it in and such.

For other cars (that aren't under warranty) don't forget about the old baking soda and water solution for removing this kind of corrosion. It works amazingly well.

-Alex

And 7-up works also.

 

[short bus]

And 7-up works also.

good ole coke

 

[Tomas]

The reason I suggested the dealership is that there should be no way for the battery acid to reach where he's seeing the problem if the seals on the battery are OK. It really shouldn't happen on modern batteries in good condition. (Of course my old '55 Chevy was ALWAYS growing something ugly on it's battery posts...)

Tomas

 

[RAIDERBEAST]

I think the xb has a plastic tray that the battery sits on. if not, you can put a piece of rubber under the battery so its not sitting on the metal. I had a 68 nova that had that ish all the time. I cut a piece of rubber floor mat and put it under my battery and no more corrosion. be sure to remove all the corrosion first cause that stuff just grows if theres any around.

 

[Big_Kokujin]

You MUST explain to me how a metal tray effects the termanl corrosion.

 

[surfcitylocal]

You MUST explain to me how a metal tray effects the termanl corrosion.

I believe it has something to do with the time-space continuum and how it is effected by solar alignment. Or it could be the flux capacitor is out of alignment. Then again, global warming may be causing the problem as well.

 

[RAIDERBEAST]

when the basic battery is sitting on a good conductor it will actually drain through the plastic battery case. I dont know for sure, but I think the corrosion is a product of a constant draw on the battery. nomatter how slight. what I do know is after putting the rubber mat under my 68 nova battery I never had that any more. when before the corrosion would be back about a month after cleaning it off.
I can assure you that the flux capacitor was in complete alignment at the time. ask your local battery salesman what they say about storing the batterys on metal.

 

[Tomas]

ASIDE: Just FYI, there is a constant draw on the battery in the xB from several sources. First off, the door lock controller and the remote entry receiver are constantly drawing power because they are on 24/7, waiting for you. Because of it's circuit design, if the dome light is set to come on with the doors opening, it, too, draws a slight bit of power, even when off. There is a timer/controller for the emission control system that runs constantly, that, among other things fires up the pump for a system integrity check 5 hours after the engine was last shut down. The OEM radio pulls power 24/7 to maintain it's memory. If you have an alarm system, it is drawing power 24/7. I suspect there are other devices throughout the vehicle that have a slight designed-in draw even when "off."

Tomas

 

[Rodek]

Very good info here folks. Tomas, Is there a device I could use as a novice to mesure the continuous draw off the battery? I sometimes park the xB for a week at a time. I've considered using a "trickle charge" charger to keep the battery at a constant charge. might this help??? I also like the idea of putting a rubber mat on the battery tray Raider. I never would of thought about that. Now, are there other xB'ers out there experiencing anything similar to my problem?

 

[RAIDERBEAST]

ASIDE: Just FYI, there is a constant draw on the battery in the xB from several sources. First off, the door lock controller and the remote entry receiver are constantly drawing power because they are on 24/7, waiting for you. Because of it's circuit design, if the dome light is set to come on with the doors opening, it, too, draws a slight bit of power, even when off. There is a timer/controller for the emission control system that runs constantly, that, among other things fires up the pump for a system integrity check 5 hours after the engine was last shut down. The OEM radio pulls power 24/7 to maintain it's memory. If you have an alarm system, it is drawing power 24/7. I suspect there are other devices throughout the vehicle that have a slight designed-in draw even when "off."

Tomas

^^^^^all true.
I just thought I'd chime in and say what has worked for me in the past. I know that there are constant draws on every car.I guess what Im trying to say is, your basic battery has a positive post and a negative post. in the battery there are abunch of plates some fluid ect... normally power leaves the pos. and and grounds back through the neg. like a circle. I think its not normal for the battery to ground out through the case back to ground. its pretty much a short. Im not saying this is what is happening with the xb in question. like I said thats what cured the terminal corrosion symptom for me in the past...

as for testing you could use a basic mulit meter. test from the positive battery terminal to a body ground. that should give you a overall # of what is being drawn. if the # is too high you do have a problem...

 

[darkaynjil]

Very good info here folks. Tomas, Is there a device I could use as a novice to mesure the continuous draw off the battery? I sometimes park the xB for a week at a time. I've considered using a "trickle charge" charger to keep the battery at a constant charge. might this help??? I also like the idea of putting a rubber mat on the battery tray Raider. I never would of thought about that. Now, are there other xB'ers out there experiencing anything similar to my problem?

You will want to put a DMM (digital multi-meter) set to DC Current between the negative battery terminal and the negative cable. This will tell you what current is being drawn from the battery. Mine was somewhere around 400 mA (too high imo, been going through batteries with the dealer, two more and i get my money back under texas lemon law...) If you're drawing over 200 mA, then the battery is going to be significantly discharged over a period of 30-48 hours. I have an 06 xB.

 

[Tomas]

Glad you changed "completely" to "significantly" discharged - at a constant 200mA discharge rate it would take over ten days to discharge the typical car battery.

 

[Tomas]

http://autos.yahoo.com/maintain/repairqa/battery_electrical/ques028_3.html

 

[darkaynjil]

Glad you changed "completely" to "significantly" discharged - at a constant 200mA discharge rate it would take over ten days to discharge the typical car battery.

True, however - I have found that gel-cells tend to have lower amp-hour ratings than standard auto batteries tend to have. Also, top charge voltage on a gel-cell is typically 13.8 volts rather than 14.2. If I let my xB sit for about 48 hours, and check voltage with a meter, I typically measure around 11.2 volts which drops to 9.1 volts @ crank - just enough to start after a 6-7second crank. I have a scheduled service coming up in a few days with the dealer to talk to him about the charging system (It doesn't jump higher than 13.2 volts at crank or even slightly revving the engine, and tends to put out 13.0 volts if left at idle.) It could be normal for a charging system designed to charge a gel-cell, though. Gel-cells typically require a very steady charge voltage. I'll post in a few days after my visit to the dealership.