Battery hold down bolts corrosion

[NMhunter]

Corrosion is oxidation. If you can keep the oxygen away, you keep the corrosion away. I've found axle grease or vaseline on battery terminals stops all corrosion. It is best when done before the corrssion starts.

Pour baking soda and water (or Coca Cola) on it to neutralize the acid and then brush it clean. Apply the grease after everything is well dried.

On boats, we use nylon straps to hold down batteries. When my Jeep Liberty's hold downs rusted out, I replaced it with a nylon strap. Worked great.

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[kshaw]

If you are using Simple Solution to clean your engine compartment, make sure that that you are using either the NASCAR version or aircraft approved version. The regular version will cause corrosion on all your aluminum parts and the Army issued a service bulletin preventing its use on their helicopters. It will not show up immediately, but you will eventually notice that there is a grayish white power showing up on some parts. That is corrosion. If you see it, use one of the anti-corrosion sprays that I mentioned above.

 

[Mark S.]

If you are using Simple Solution to clean your engine compartment, make sure that that you are using either the NASCAR version or aircraft approved version. The regular version will cause corrosion on all your aluminum parts and the Army issued a service bulletin preventing its use on their helicopters. It will not show up immediately, but you will eventually notice that there is a grayish white power showing up on some parts. That is corrosion. If you see it, use one of the anti-corrosion sprays that I mentioned above.

I believe you meant "Simple Green." This is from the manufacturer:

When used with caution and according to the instructions, Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner has been safely and successfully used to clean aluminum. Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner, Crystal Simple Green Industrial Cleaner & Degreaser, and Simple Green Pressure Washer Concentrates have been used on aircraft, automotive, industrial and consumer aluminum items for over 20 years. However, caution and common sense must be used: aluminum is a soft metal that easily corrodes with unprotected exposure to water. The aqueous-base and alkalinity of Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner can accelerate the corrosion process.

Therefore, contact times for unprotected or unpainted aluminum surfaces should be kept as brief as the job will allow - never for more than 10 minutes. Large cleaning jobs should be conducted in smaller-area stages to achieve lower contact time. Rinsing after cleaning should always be extremely thorough - paying special attention to flush out cracks and crevices to remove all Simple Green product residues. Unfinished, uncoated or unpainted aluminum cleaned with Simple Green products should receive some sort of protectant after cleaning to prevent oxidation.

Simple Green has also developed break-through water based cleaners that are safe for use on metals, plastics, rubber and high tech alloys. Extreme Simple Green Aircraft & Precision Cleaner and Simple Green Pro HD are available on both the industrial and retail markets, respectively. These products were initially developed for the aircraft industry and extensive testing shows that they are safe and effective on a variety of metals and other sensitive surfaces even in the most extreme circumstances.

 

[elav]

I know how to fix the problem, and I am going to take it to my Ford dealer to replace it under warranty. I'm curious if anyone else has seen this.

I wonder if the fasteners were over-tightened causing the paint to crack? The part hasn't failed so I would be surprised if the dealership will replace this under warranty - let us know how this works out for you.

 

[Hot pepper red]

I didn't think of the fasteners being over-tightened causing the paint to fail-- Great point!

 

[Jube]

You may have acid leaking around the battery post.

 

[Meanderthal]

I found this on the Internet that is enlightening about corrosion from the acid in batteries: "The color of the corrosive buildup can tell you a lot about what is causing your battery to corrode. White or gray corrosion is caused by a battery that's leaking excessive battery acid due to a crack in the battery's casing. A buildup of green material is caused by oxidation within the battery's copper cable. Blue corrosion is copper sulfate which results when the copper terminal clamps are exposed to hot sulfuric acid." The color on the hardware is a whitish grey and I don't see any signs of a cracked case--more than likely it's normal battery venting with hardware not designed to withstand corrosion.

So, where is the pink/red stuff coming from?

 

[Hot pepper red]

That is battery terminal corrosion inhibitor that I sprayed on it to protect the hardware that is corroding. After I sprayed it on the hardware the black paint on the fasteners started to flake off--there is corrosion under the paint. I am taking it in to the dealer this weekend for them to look at it.

 

[Meanderthal]

As a reference, we are both in CO, so maybe relevant. My BS has just under 15k miles and 2 winters, though not a lot of snow driving.

A little dirt there but I don’t see any corrosion.

I have also taken the battery out at one point.

 

[Hot pepper red]

I'm at a little over 13k and two winters also. I think I'm lucky to get a bad install or bad hardware. Probably bad hardware.

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