Battery corrosion

My truck battery is corroding on the same terminal over and over, and despite my best effort of thorough cleaning, the corrosion returns. It turns out that the battery itself is leaking though the terminal, so unless I replace the battery, I will always have this problem.

I too remember the old days where it battery corrosion was a big problem around all of my batteries.

When the smart mode charging came out for both chargers and alternator charging systems the battery terminal corrosion is not so much a big deal now.

About all I do these days is squirt a little WD40 on the terminals and keep them tight. The main reason I use the WD40 is that I have squirt can handy around all my items.

Roy Ken

F450 wrote:
Does anyone have a cure for battery terminal corrosion?

First clean them and get some protectant.
Make sure they are not over filled.
Keep the voltage correct.

Should look like this:

I haven’t had much trouble with terminal corrosion since the old tar top days, when I would stick a penny in the tar as a sacrificial lamb…

Once the terminals and cables are cleaned up, spread some grease on the connection points. Good luck.

my experience is that once I had battery terminal corrosion that it was just a matter of time before I had to take more serious measures .
I have used the baking soda and vaseline , and removed the battery and did a thorough job .
But 6 -8 months later I had to redo that baking soda routine .
If the corrosion persists and if it is not repaired the steel battery tray itself will corrode and rust .
A new battery tray is actually an expensive item .
In the end I had to switch to the AGM battery to stop the constant deterioration .

There are commercial battery terminal cleaners. There is also baking soda.
There are commercial battery terminal protectant sprays to prevent corrosion. There is also Vaseline.
Clean the terminals good and then apply protectant form a spray can or glob on some vaseline.

Golly, battery post corrosion used to be a big problem when I was younger. But, todays alternators on vehicles are so much better at not over charging the battery that corrosion is almost a thing of the past. Unless your battery is getting weak and that is why the alternator keeps charging it so much. If you have big corrosion problems you probably have a another problem somewhere that is causing it. Either with the battery or in the charging circuit somewhere.

2oldman wrote:
Yes, AGM batteries. Overcharging is a common cause.

AGM Batteries .
They do not corrode your battery tray .
AGM recharge slightly faster .
AGM are more forgiving if you draw them down further than conventional.
I bought 2 exide Edge AGM batteries for $ 140 each at BiMart recently .
made in the USA .
Four year 100 % replacement guarantee .