3rd Gen Battery maintenance 101 day for me today

My baby’s first in two years!

No matter how hard I tried to avoid some elbow grease, and after two year's time, it finally caught up with me, and I do try. I trickle charge it once a month when possible, check battery fluid levels and fill as needed but still can’t avoid this…



First order of business is save computer memory to avoid drivability concerns and retain settings.

I used the Shumacher obd2 memory saver from autozone you can get for $16,




hooked it up to a 12v constant power supply, turned all inside and lights to off and off to the grind I went.



Sprayed terminals with battery cleaner, gather tools, flat screw driver, pliers, terminal wrench, terminal cleaner and steel brush. I know, overkill, but it’s how I roll.


Once all was clean, I applied RTV silicone at bottom of terminal post or between where the post meets plastic battery body to seal any microscopic openings in between and block off the fumes to help contain or minimize all that junk it produces.
Some people prefer post pads, some grease, some nothing but this works for me so whatever floats your boat or makes your day.




I Checked the battery level, and topped off with fresh filtered water, some prefer distilled, some tap but that is what I’ve always used and it works for me.

After its all well and done, it all looks like this.




I Turn the key, crank it over and all work as though nothing happened…

Err...Well not exactly, I did notice a 100 mpg and 100 hp increase on this already awesome hun hehe!

And now it’s miller\TW time!

Cheers!

 

No dielectric grease on the contacts, or that purple spray stuff/anti-corrosion terminal spray?

 

Nice work.

 

Corrosion on the positive terminal may indicate overcharging; corrosion on the negative terminal, undercharging.

Does your trickle charger have an auto shut-off to prevent overcharging?
Does it have a desulfator?

 

Good work. I spray with white lithium grease and forget about it.

 

Good cleanup. I spray mine with fluid film and let it roll.

 

Good work.

 

I found no sign of any grease, it came bone dry from the factory. Maybe as more ppl check and clean their terminals and find them bone dry they can start a thread on this travesty.

Uh but wait, they might start sealing the battery terminals so we can’t service them either lol!

 

When I have battery corrosion I usually just loosen the terminals, pour a bit of coca cola on it, wait a minute, wipe all that crap off and grease and tighten it. Coca cola works wonders lol.

 

Yep, trickle charger is fully auto and working as intended.

Overcharging is always a concern on or off the vehicle. I actually have seen many a battery warped or even smoking over the years and heard one explode in the shop all the way in my office.
The sound was very loud and eerie as I prepared for the worst, but luckily there was no one near when it happened. The tech did not appear to have done anything wrong, it just took a dump.

But I guess that’s why they have all those warning about batteries and charging, and why I prefer a slow trickle charge now and then.
Also I feel a fully charged battery is easy on the charging system imo.

Cheers!

 

Yeah, I get that, coke is awesome. But also the reason I never buy or keep them around, no telling what they'll do inside my belly should I fall into temptation and drink one lol!

 

My wife was a NP (retired now) lol and she told me that, compared to the digestive acids in the gut, coke is weak haha but I understand.

 

Well, the good news is, you have very good company with Warren Buffet, coke's most avid investor and one of the world's riches person on the planet.. He's about 88 yr old and has been drinking it most of those years by his account.

I just don't want to take the coke hit on my belly account for fear of loosing it lol!

 

For Battery 101.

I have battery cleaner that I’ve used on the vehicles of family, friends and neighbors. I clean them and then ring them, as I always keep extra rings.

I’ve had corrosion on battery terminals many times and have also done the cleaning, but not since using rings on all of my new vehicles. They cost a buck or two.

These rings placed on this battery when new have been on this 2013 model year vehicle going on 5 years. The rings are getting dry but are still protecting from corrosion.

Save yourself from the need to clean your battery terminals. Get the rings.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Treated-Ba...ash=item46721a65d6:g:4NMAAOSwa~BYaa6I&vxp=mtr

 

The stuff in Coke that is active here is Phosphoric acid. It's added in to prevent bacterial growth essentially. Of course if you're a wreckless homebrewer like me, you can use Starsan which is a sanitizer for brewing equipment and bottles; it kills the bacteria but does not effect yeast. Since we're dealing with battery acid here, seems like one could try using PBW, or powdered brewery wash, which has a basic pH rather than the low pH of Phosphoric acid. Note to self, next time I clean terminals, compare the two.
The "treated battery terminal pads" I couldn't find out what they're treated with. Anyone know? I always thought they were just like cute little Christmas colored ornament things, but you learn new things all the time.

 

Mostly mineral oil.

 

You can get a lifetime supply (for most of us) of 50 rings for cheap on Amazon. $16.95.

Ad states that they’ve been making them in the USA since 1914. These would be good if you don’t like those unsightly standard Christmas color rings.

Like you said, it states that they contain oil and also says corrosion preventative substance but doesn’t specify what it is.

 

I've also heard for years Arm & Hammer baking soda works wonders in cleaning the terminals, but I never have used as I always have a cleaner laying around but if anyone has, maybe they can chime in or verify its effective.

And as a side note I should mention how incredibly smooth the engine was running the following day while I was scanning the engine for any pending codes,and checking temperature and parameters with my BlueDriver Bluetooth gizmo. Smooth as an old V-8 cadillac of years past

 

Long time baking soda user here. Mix it with a little water. Cheap and effective.

I had the same corrosion issue a few months ago. Cleaned then lightly coated with vaseline.